Ottawa, October 18, 2005
Francophone rural immigration: everyone a winner
Notes for an address to Carrefour d’immigration rurale
Dr. Dyane Adam - Commissioner of Official Languages
Check against delivery
Ladies and gentlemen,
First, thank you for inviting me to speak to you about immigration and official languages—issues which are important to us all.
We are here today to talk about challenges and about successes—your successes. The achievements of the Carrefour d'immigration rurale and of St. Leonard are headline news across the country, and are becoming a model for other regions. Like you, I am thrilled that your community is such a dynamic and committed one, and that it is working to preserve its unique character while still being open to the world.
Your success stems from the efforts of a great many individuals and groups working together in search of practical solutions, and from the profound sense of solidarity which binds and drives you.
Introduction
Three weeks ago in a speech to senior federal government officials, the Prime Minister pointed out the vital importance of immigration for our country in view of demographic changes under way. He said:
Canada needs more immigrants, plain and simple, and we need them to succeed. Too often, today’s new Canadians, despite higher levels of education on average, are not achieving economic success as quickly as in previous generations. We will keep, indeed we must keep, our doors open to immigrants of all classes and refugees from around the world.1
It goes without saying that, while immigration may create challenges for all Canadians, it is a particular challenge for Francophone and Acadian minority communities. For a variety of reasons, these communities, which are often rural in nature, have until very recently received virtually no immigrants.
We all realize that we stand at a key juncture. Francophone immigration is vital to these communities, since even a small number of immigrants will have a considerable impact on their future vitality. For example, a modest increase in newcomers could ensure that federal and provincial services are continued or increased, and could also serve to attract further immigration.
We must set aside irrational fears that immigration will have unforeseeable social effects. Small towns and villages are not threatened by diversity but by its absence. If immigration is taken up as a Francophone community issue, it will strengthen the community by expanding its demographic base and enriching its cultural, social and economic fabric.
What are people who choose Canada looking for? Economic prosperity of course, but beyond that, they are looking for both physical and psychological security, which is essential before people can plan for the future and think about improving their lot. They are also looking for openness to difference, for respect, and for dialogue with the local community. These are often basic values for them, and these values are our values. We have expressed them in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: individual freedoms, democratic freedoms, the rule of law, the real equality of our two official languages, and multiculturalism.
Canada offers newcomers a country which has committed itself to reducing inequality of opportunity. Our country has committed itself to equitable delivery, in English or French, of essential public services such as education, social services and health care. We strengthen Canada’s bilingual identity by supporting the development of the Francophone and Anglophone minorities without distinctions as to ethnic origin. It is this solidarity which makes our country strong and which is so attractive to immigrants.
I would like to briefly go over the current situation and identify the challenges of integrating newcomers into French-speaking communities, in Canada generally and in the Atlantic provinces in particular. In so doing, I will be pointing to St. Leonard as a model of what is possible.
I. The current situation
The harmonious integration of newcomers is not some onerous task that we must get through but rather a challenge we must meet so that our society may continue to develop. In that respect it is like any other great step forward for society.
Immigration will be playing a determining role in our society over the next few decades, mainly because of the low birth rate, the exodus of young people, and the aging of the population. This is true for Canada as a whole, and it is certainly true for the Atlantic provinces.
For example, according to some studies, New Brunswick will see a rapid decline in its population over the next 5 years, and 10 years from now there will be a shortage of skilled workers. Over the next 30 years, the population will plummet by 7%, to some 700,000.
One quarter of the population will be over 65, and another third will be 45 to 64. As well, between 40% and 70% of newcomers will stay in New Brunswick for three years or less.2 The same trend is already affecting Newfoundland and Labrador, and will soon affect Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
According to Statistics Canada, 44% of the Atlantic region's residents live in rural communities, twice the national average. The last two census years (1996 and 2001) show a decline of almost 5% in the population of the Atlantic region's rural communities, while the overall population fell only 2%.3 Rural communities may offer a very good quality of life, but they are having trouble attracting newcomers.
Let’s admit it. The news is bad. The outlook is for a shortage of skilled workers, economic decline because of the decreased population, and a heavier tax burden. Taken together, these factors could lead to a weakening of small communities, both Anglophone and Francophone, and a growing exodus of young people.
What can be done? That is the question.
II. The challenges
The arrival of French-speaking immigrants is something fairly new for Canada’s Francophone communities. However, since my term as Commissioner began, I have seen the federal government, provincial authorities, public servants, community groups and individuals mobilizing to deal with it. For example in April of this year the federal and New Brunswick governments worked to set up a national centre for Francophone immigration to rural areas, right here in St. Leonard.
For a few years now, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages has been working to help create a national strategic framework for immigration by examining the challenges of integrating newcomers into minority official language communities. In 2002, we published two studies on this issue.
The first study4 revealed that, as I already mentioned, few French mother-tongue immigrants settle outside Quebec (those who do represent about 1% of all immigrants in the rest of Canada). Yet the Francophone population in the rest of Canada is close to one million strong, representing 4.5% of the Canadian population outside Quebec. We would expect that a higher proportion of French-speaking immigrants would settle in the other provinces. Yet while 18% of Canada’s population were born abroad, the same is true of only 5% of the members of minority Francophone and Acadian communities.
The second study5 described the experience of immigrants as they settle and integrate into a minority official language community. It put forward some observations and practical recommendations, including:
- set specific targets for immigration to these communities;
- do more to inform potential immigrants of the possibility of settling in such communities;
- ensure that the communities are full-fledged partners in the integration process;
- when implementing programs, assign responsibilities to all federal departments as well as to the provinces and communities.
Let me note in passing that we have not been idle since these studies appeared. I have raised these matters in a number of speeches and at meetings and appearances before parliamentary committees. Also, my office has organized a round table on the subject, to which we invited academics and community representatives.
Following up on my statements and on those of Francophone and Acadian community leaders, Citizenship and Immigration, working with the official language communities, adopted in November 2003 a Strategic Framework to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities. The Department allocated $9 million over 5 years for projects promoting such immigration. The goal is to increase Francophone immigration until it is 4.4% of all immigration to provinces other than Quebec, that is, until it is equivalent to the demographic weight of minority Francophone communities.
Aside from increasing and regionalizing Francophone immigration outside the big cities, the key objectives of the Strategic Framework include:
- improving the capacity of minority communities to receive newcomers and improving their settlement infrastructures; and
- ensuring the economic, social and cultural integration of newcomers in these communities.
The objectives are to be achieved through initiatives such as:
- promoting Francophone minority communities abroad;
- more sustained efforts to attract foreign French-speaking students;
- more sponsoring of refugees;
- improving reception and settlement infrastructures;
- developing tools for immigrant reception;
- educating communities about the contribution of immigrants;
- facilitating access to the labour market;
- and fostering cultural diversity.
The list of possible activities goes on and on.
The good news is that things are happening, even if we may wish that they would happen faster. In many cases, it has been necessary to start from nothing. The ways and means that must be used to attract and retain majority or minority immigrants vary greatly. In the case we are considering today, we need to encourage a structured, community-based approach with measurable targets and objectives. We need a marketing plan, so to speak, to let immigrants know about the ability of communities to offer newcomers a warm reception, job opportunities and full integration into a pleasant, indeed unique lifestyle.
Consideration must be given to accommodation, employment, education, learning of the official languages, early childhood issues, health, discrimination, and so on. This calls for partnerships and co-operation among stakeholders:
- governments and municipalities;
- school boards (to integrate children and to teach official languages);
- the private sector;
- the volunteer sector;
- and, above all, the communities themselves.
So there is a lot of work to be done by way of information and awareness-raising before immigrants arrive. Also, awareness must be reciprocal, so that hosts and newcomers have the same objectives and expectations. The newcomers must be seen as “our new neighbours,” to use a familiar expression. We must remind ourselves that these individuals and families are not coming here to take but to give; they are going to help us build our future as they build their own.
There must be mutual respect, support and understanding of all the newcomers’ needs— material, psychological and cultural. Integration will be successful when there is a good understanding of the obligations of all parties toward each other. Newcomers bring with them much hope, but they also have fears. They have so much to learn: language, culture, customs, traditions, social obligations, and so on. But we too have things to learn from them. We must know how to listen and understand.
It is one thing to attract immigrants. The question is whether they will stay and put down roots. Success is measured in years, and that means ongoing monitoring of their situation. We need to know very early on why a newcomer is thinking of leaving, and what could be done to make him or her stay.
Finally, we need to play up successes, because immigrants attract other immigrants. With immigration, word of mouth is often one of the best methods of getting information across. Immigrants never forget the individuals and communities who helped them.
III. The St. Leonard success story
Canada’s Francophone communities have been quick to grasp that they can be active, innovative partners when it comes to immigration. The experience in St. Leonard testifies eloquently to this. Who among you did not feel your heart swell with pride when 28 new Canadians from 12 different countries took their citizenship oaths at the Grande-Rivière school? This shows what local commitment at the grassroots level can accomplish. Every journey is made up of a thousand small steps. And your organization is on the right road.
In St. Leonard, as in most rural communities seeking immigrants, the municipalities need to get involved to ensure that the other two levels of government are listening, and to rally community leaders. If the St. Leonard project is a success, that is due in large part to the involvement of the municipality and the efforts of the Francophone association of New Brunswick municipalities.
This approach probably explains why, last April, the federal government gave Carrefour a key role to play in its Models for Rural Development and Community Capacity Building Program. The organization has a mandate to develop a new approach to attracting and integrating Francophone immigrants into rural communities.
Carrefour was selected for this project, which is valued at close to a million dollars, because it has always had a human approach, a “new neighbours” approach, at the core of its strategy. It has understood that integrating newcomers into the community is not a one-way street. It is precisely a carrefour, that is, a meeting place where there are mutual concessions and mutual support, and where everyone benefits.
St. Leonard’s experience is definitely a model that should be used elsewhere. Carrefour is currently operating in Prince Edward Island and Manitoba as well. Let’s hope that concerted efforts in these three locations will lead to other branches springing up across the country.
Conclusion
Our future as Francophones living in a minority setting requires a broad dialogue on the reception of newcomers. Our common goal is to build strong communities and to develop host communities that are open to the world and to diversity.
The global village is here, now. St. Leonard is called upon not only to develop a model of Francophone rural life for tomorrow, but also to codify the model in consultation with other Francophone communities.
Programs to attract new immigrants to the Atlantic provinces and to Francophone communities elsewhere in Canada are essential to regional development and to improving our social cohesion.
Beyond that, this work is marked by a spirit of generosity, and everyone will be a winner. In looking toward the future, our efforts are rooted in the best of our past.
Thank you.
1 http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news.asp?id=586.
2 Notes for an address by Hon. Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to the New Brunswick Policy Forum on Immigration, Fredericton, June 17, 2005.
3 http://www.rural.gc.ca/team/newsletter/Spr05/ourcommunities_e.phtml.
4 Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Immigration and the Vitality of Canada's Official Language Communities: Policy, Demography and Identity. Ottawa: Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2002.
5 Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Official Languages and Immigration: Obstacles and Opportunities for Immigrants and Communities. Ottawa: Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2002.
