Official Languages committee  I'll do it very quickly, to let my colleague finish. In the white paper on the reform of the Official Languages Act—

Official Languages committee  I will let Ms. Veronis wrap up.

Official Languages committee  This white paper put forward the idea of establishing an immigration corridor for education. We have yet to see how this announced measure will unfold. We've heard that there has also been targeted guidance for candidates. So it would seem that an IRCC officer could guide candidates who wanted to come and teach in Canada, for example, to facilitate the transition.

Official Languages committee  I have two suggestions. The government could provide separate programs for francophone immigration—that is, programs that specifically meet the needs of francophone communities—rather than general Canada-wide programs. In addition, it should have a policy that also targets immigrants' socioeconomic success to ensure that the message received abroad clearly explains that, when you immigrate to Canada, you're welcomed, you're well integrated and you can succeed here in French.

Official Languages committee  In the case of our institutions, closer collaboration between IRCC and our institutions would free up time for officers and our members' internationalization case managers. They could then focus their efforts on recruitment and partnerships with institutions abroad. There would be a greater capacity for work.

Official Languages committee  No.

Official Languages committee  The first implication is financial because, in terms of available money, this is half of what had been promised. Our institutions had allowed themselves to dream about what could be done with such an amount. For example, we planned to improve access to programs and services, or offer incentives to attract new clients.

Official Languages committee  I'll be brief because I want to give Mr. Viglione a chance to answer the question. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada already has a francophone immigration directorate. The problem is responsibility. You said so yourself: If that office were placed higher on the org chart and reported directly to an assistant deputy minister who had interdepartmental responsibilities, real work could be done within the department to ensure that the francophone lens is applied everywhere, not only in matters under the responsibility of the francophone immigration directorate.

Official Languages committee  Even though the professional associations are under the jurisdiction of the provinces, I believe that the federal government can be a leader on an issue such as this. It can challenge the provinces on the issue of credential recognition. It can ensure that the language issue is taken into consideration in the work that the professional associations do and that there is fair access to training material that provides access to certain disciplines.

Official Languages committee  As an association, we don't do that type of work. In some instances, our members have mobility agreements with foreign institutions, and sometimes we can even delocalize certain curricula to facilitate upgrading. So that kind of work is done. We also do promotional and recruitment work at specialized fairs for certain disciplines.

Official Languages committee  All right. The institutions do it and we can come back to that. I noted the support we provide for academic success and employability in my remarks. The international student clubs on our campuses can also do a lot of support work.

Official Languages committee  Yes, I can answer your question. Thank you. First, I would suggest that we make sure a language lens is included in IRCC's immigration programs. I'll explain why. In recent years, during the pandemic, a program was available under which the transition from temporary to permanent residence could be expedited.

Official Languages committee  The most recent figures that we have date back to before the pandemic. Based on what we've heard from our institutions, the situation has vastly changed since September 2022. We'll have to conduct a new data collection. However, although I don't know the exact percentage offhand, there are approximately 5,000 international students in our network of 22 institutions every year, which represents a lot of graduates annually.

Official Languages committee  I'm talking about students who have been accepted at our institutions. We don't have data on those who apply for permanent residence. That's harder to determine once they've left our institutions. However, the vast majority of international students in our institutional network come from Africa.

Official Languages committee  As Ms. Veronis suggested a little earlier, once they arrive on campus, our first job is obviously to make potential applicants aware of the reality of our institutions so they understand the reality of the communities where they will be settling—