3.2 Group of Experts on Francophone Immigration

Group of Experts on Francophone Immigration

Immigration has been one of the strategic priorities of the Commissioner’s Office since it was established. This longstanding issue continues to grow and evolve, and it is one of the government’s priorities.

Immigration is an area of shared jurisdiction between the federal and provincial/territorial governments, and both levels of government provide funding for language training, settlement services, and employment supports.

Ontario does not receive funding to support Francophone immigration from the federal government. New Brunswick is the only province that receives support under the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018.³⁶ Yet, nearly 70% of Francophone immigrants outside Quebec are in Ontario.

This is a major issue for the Ontario government, which needs greater interministerial cooperation in promoting, recruiting, selecting, welcoming, integrating, training and retaining Francophone immigrants, no matter where they are from. The Commissioner has emphasized these points in particular over the last few years.

Effectiveness of the intervention

The Commissioner has dealt with the immigration issue in seven reports since 2011. In his 2011-2012 annual report,³⁷ he recommended that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration establish an advisory committee to guide the Ministry’s efforts on Francophone immigration and develop a consultative and interministerial strategy for Francophone newcomers in Ontario.

The recommendation was timely, as the government had announced the development of its first immigration strategy, with the assistance of an Expert Roundtable on Immigration.

Shortly thereafter, on the basis of recommendations from the Expert Roundtable, the government unveiled its new immigration strategy,³⁸ with a target of 5% Francophone immigration. These announcements by the government demonstrated a strong desire to take greater control of Francophone immigration.

In 2013-2014, the Commissioner entered the fray again and recommended that the Minister establish a group of experts to oversee the development of a government-wide strategic plan, with specific timelines, to achieve the 5% target, accompanied by transparent accountability mechanisms. The Commissioner repeated the recommendation in a 2014 joint report on immigration with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada.³⁹

That same year, the Commissioner and his federal and New Brunswick counterparts urged the governments to adopt four guiding principles to guarantee a concerted approach to this shared issue.

Four guiding principles recommended by the Commissioners:

• Immigration must help increase the demographic weight of Francophone minority communities.
• Immigration policies and programs must address Francophone immigrant recruitment, integration and retention needs.
• Strong partnerships, long-term strategies and sufficient resources are needed to ensure that immigration supports the development and vitality of Francophone minority communities.
• Governments must measure progress achieved and ensure attainment of immigration objectives in Francophone minority communities.

These interventions and recommendations resulted in the 2015 creation of the Group of Experts on Francophone Immigration.⁴⁰ The Group published a report containing its observations, including a suggestion that the negotiations on a new Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement should have a Francophone component. This is an aspiration the Commissioner has stated in the past and still shares.

36. Time to Act for the Future of Francophone Communities. https://csfontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Time-to-act-for-the-future-of-francophone-communities.pdf, p. 14.

40. For more details, see http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/english/keyinitiatives/imm_str/strategy/goex_report.shtml (page consulted in March 2017).