Chapter 2 – The Selection Phase: Great Expectations
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Moving to Canada is complex enough a venture. Moving into a minority community adds another level of complexity. A successful approach to immigrant integration really begins at the selection phase with an immigrant who knows what awaits him or her. This includes information about the opportunities that a minority community has to offer in areas such as education, services and community activities. But the community also needs to paint a realistic picture of the challenges, such as the need to know the majority language and the difficulties of finding suitable employment. Minority community members often do not realize the extent to which their bilingualism facilitates their lives, both in terms of social contacts and economic activity. While Francophone minority communities associate English with the danger of assimilation, they do, at the same time, take knowledge of this language for granted and need to realize what it means for an immigrant not to be able to communicate in that language.
Functional bilingualism, employment and community integration: essential elements for settlement success in an official language minority community.
It is a misconception that the danger of an immigrant assimilating linguistically to the majority community is reduced if that immigrant does not speak the majority language. Based on the interviews conducted for this study, the opposite is the case. Francophone immigrants who settle into a Francophone minority community and have little or no knowledge of English will have the need to learn English so overwhelmingly thrust upon them that they are much more likely to send their children to an Anglophone school out of the simple and understandable, although unfounded, fear that a Francophone education will not provide the requisite English language knowledge. Francophone immigrants, on the other hand, who speak English, will be in a far better position not only to become settled more easily but also to recognize the advantages of maintaining French for their children.
Honest information about these realities means that an immigrant will not arrive with unrealistically high hopes. It is essential that prospective immigrants and minority community members be in contact with each other as early as possible and provide one another with broad information about each other. This enables the community to provide proper guidance well before immigrants and their families make their final jump to Canada.
Up-to-date Information on Communities (Recommendation 2)
In 1999, the Commissioner had recommended to Citizenship and Immigration Canada that current information about official language minority communities be made available to immigration officials. The Commissioner maintains her recommendation and further proposes that a website be created to provide information about official language minority communities which would also serve as a three-way interactive communication tool facilitating direct contact between minority community representatives, immigration officials and potential immigrants.
Éducacentre: Language and Settlement Skills for New Francophones on Canada's Pacific Coast
Many Francophone immigrants make use of Éducacentre, British Columbia's key Francophone institution for adult education and training. Founded in 1992, it now has campuses in four locations across the province: Vancouver and Victoria as well as Abbotsford and Prince George. All of Éducacentre's clients receive a case-by-case evaluation of their needs and are then presented with a choice of appropriate courses (offered by Éducacentre itself or at other institutions). Éducacentre caters to the typical mix of Francophone newcomers in B.C.: Francophones from Quebec, Europe and Africa.
[our translation] "Éducacentre becomes a cultural meeting place and we cannot but be very content to see this happen. We have also noted that the French language is mastered perfectly by people from countries where French is not even an official language." (Chevalier 2000)
Éducacentre's activities are focused in three main areas:
- Assisting clients in their employment search
- Teaching English as a Second Language
- Basic computer training and training for specific occupations
Prendre sa carrière en main (PCM) is certainly the program which stands out. It records the highest enrolment figures and has been running since 1996. Funded entirely by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), it offers students basic computer training, takes them to the resource centre at Vancouver's public library, helps students to draw up and keep current their résumés, and videotapes students as they participate in mock job interviews. All of these program units are accompanied by intensive English language training. More than one third of Éducacentre's job seekers find employment after their session at the school.
English language training is an important course component at Éducacentre. More than half of its clients have difficulty speaking English. Especially professionals, such as engineers and nurses, come to take these classes as they are required to pass an English language test for accreditation in their professional organization.
The tourism program Superhost Fundamentals, developed in cooperation with BC Tourism, provides training in this second-most important industry in B.C. All courses are given in French but prepare students to take any required certification tests for occupations in the tourism industry in English.
Éducacentre has also reached out to other Francophone organizations. In collaboration with the Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique, a course for young entrepreneurs is offered (Initiation à l'entrepreneuriat). It teaches participants to work out a business plan and organizes meetings with a counsellor from the Société to ensure that theory is put into practice.
Still, many of Éducacentre's successful clients will not work at the same professional level as in their home country. One of Éducacentre's counsellors talks about her frustration at having to tell her clients that they need to lower their professional expectations, at least initially. A source of even greater frustration, though, is when clients appear eager and active one day, making extensive use of Éducacentre's resources and counselling, but suddenly disappear never to be heard from again. Such behaviour can have a strong demotivating effect on the staff since they wonder whether the effort as well as personal and emotional investment they are making will be in vain. That is why follow-up is extremely essential. Éducacentre staff spend considerable energy staying in touch with former students so that they can track their integration success. Such information helps to evaluate the efficiency of their programs and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that Francophone newcomers enrich the Francophone fabric of Canada's Pacific Coast.
