Lack of an action plan

The Commissioner has repeatedly commented on the lack of a concrete action plan for promoting, recruiting, selecting, training, integrating, welcoming and retaining Francophone immigrants in Ontario. At a time when Ontario has just joined the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) as an observer, the province remains a popular destination for immigrants.⁴¹ The IOF expects that there will be more than 700 million Francophones in the world by 2050, and nearly nine out of 10 will be from Africa.⁴²

Immigration and economic contribution opportunities for potential immigrants from Africa are increasing. The entire province of Ontario, including French Ontario, can benefit from this. Although the government established the Group of Experts on Francophone Immigration in 2015 and the Group made new recommendations in 2016, there have been few concrete effects.

In its recent progress report,⁴³ the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration touches briefly on Francophone immigration and states its intention to take the recommendations of the Group of Experts into account.⁴⁴

“The province will continue to work with its partners, such as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Office of Francophone Affairs, as well as other ministries on how to best implement the recommendations in the Group of Experts’ report related to promotion, selection, pre-arrival, arrival, settlement and integration.”

The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has already taken action to promote, recruit, select, integrate, welcome and retain Francophone immigrants in Ontario based on the recommendations made by the Group of Experts. This includes Ontario’s active engagement and participation in the first ever joint meeting of Ministers responsible for Francophone Affairs and Ministers responsible for Immigration in Moncton, New Brunswick on March 31, 2017. Not all provinces or territories participated, but both Ontario Ministers attended the meeting in-person.

This intention is laudable, but it still does not provide the province with a concrete plan for Francophone immigration. The situation is especially urgent, as the 5% target for Francophone immigration is far from being reached.

The Ministry has plenty of suggestions on how to go about reaching the 5% objective. In March 2017, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO) published its White Paper on Francophone Immigration in Ontario.⁴⁵ In it, the AFO presents some interesting suggestions, such as working with Quebec to maximize recruitment of Francophone immigrants abroad and improving the strategies for tracking immigrants who move from one province to another after they arrive. Ontario could certainly benefit from those suggestions when developing an action plan.

In this year of the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the Commissioner would like Ontario to live up to its intentions and develop a plan that reflects them. He therefore recommends that the Minister establish a permanent advisory committee on Francophone immigration to guide her through this process.

Recommendation 5

The Commissioner recommends that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration:

(a) establish, early in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, an advisory committee on Francophone immigration that would report directly to the Deputy Minister, with a mandate to facilitate the implementation of the Group of Experts’ recommendations, and whose members would be

a. the Deputy Minister for Francophone Affairs, as co-chair;
b. senior officials from other ministries such as Education, Municipal Affairs, Advanced Education and Skills Development, and International Trade;
c. representatives from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada;
d. community experts and stakeholders from the Francophone immigration sector;

(b) develop comprehensive strategies, with specific objectives and timelines, for each of the following: promotion, selection, settlement, integration, training and retention;

(c) establish an interministerial and intergovernmental strategy with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to consistently implement the recommendations of the Group of Experts;

(d) publish an annual report on the progress and results achieved against the objectives.

41. According to the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration of Ontario, nearly half of Syrian refugees between 2015 and 2016 settled in Ontario. For more details, see http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/english/keyinitiatives/progress_report_IS_2016.shtml (page consulted in March 2017).

45. For more details, see https://monassemblee.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WhitePaper_IMMFR_ENG_FINAL_22March.pdf (page consulted in March 2017).