Official Languages committee  There was the Destination Canada program to recruit French and Belgian immigrants.

Official Languages committee  There was—

Official Languages committee  There will be a meeting next year with France, Belgium—

Official Languages committee  There will be one in November. And there was one in November 2010.

Official Languages committee  There are also initiatives in other countries, for example in Lebanon. There are programs, job fairs, so that local employers can seek out the expertise they need under the Provincial Nominee Program. For our part, we insist on francophones. We want to have a pool of francophones.

Official Languages committee  There is the issue of permanent residency. When an employer sponsors an immigrant there is usually a one year mandatory commitment to the employer. The employee can only work for that employer that year. After he has got permanent residency, he can go and live anywhere in Canada.

Official Languages committee  I don’t know about immigrants from other countries because I don’t have the statistics on that from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In any event, last year, between 20 and 23 people used our service. Many of them stayed, but since we conduct follow-ups about every six months, it is a little bit difficult to know at that point whether these people have stayed or gone.

Official Languages committee  Folks do in fact come to me to get this information. They are told about the advantages of the Canadian north, but also about the drawbacks, so that they can make an informed choice. We don’t simply bring people here in order to swell the numbers in our francophone community. We know that some people will come here and realize after two weeks that it is not what they were looking for, and won’t stay.

Official Languages committee  Good morning. The Centre d'accueil francophone Immigration des Territoires du Nord-Ouest provides a referral service for newcomers informing them of community resources and services available in French, health care, and youth services. A broad array of activities is on offer and everyone has access to services in French.