Vision and Challenges for the 21st Century: Symposium on Official Languages
Description
The Symposium on the Official Languages is organized in partnership with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Canadian Parents for French (CPF), Canadian Heritage and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Canadian Parents for French is a Canadian organization that strives to create and promote opportunities for young Canadians to learn French as a second language. Canadian Heritage is responsible for promoting English and French in Canadian society and for enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities. It therefore plays a leading role in the advancement of bilingualism in Canada. Intergovernmental Affairs is a major partner because it is responsible for coordinating the official languages file for the Government of Canada. It is also responsible for the Action Plan for Official Languages, launched in March 2003.
By supporting the symposium, these four organizations are demonstrating the value of Canada’s two official languages and a commitment to ensuring that young Canadians across the country have the tools they need to succeed, which includes greater access to second language learning.
Participants
The symposium will bring together about 100 stakeholders from key sectors of Canadian society, such as the arts, culture and sports, business and education. They will discuss the issues involved and propose methods of achieving the objective of the Action Plan for Official Languages. This goal is to double the proportion of young Canadians who can express themselves in both official languages by the year 2013.
Objectives of the Symposium
The symposium aims to:
- strengthen the support of governments and the general public for the objective of doubling the proportion of young Canadians who know their other official language;
- suggest strategies for achieving this goal, particularly in regions of Canada where progress is needed, by highlighting best practices and previous successes; and
- implement practical, systematic monitoring that will have a ripple effect.
Benefits of bilingualism
- Canadians understand the value of bilingualism. The latest survey shows that 77 percent of Canadians support bilingualism. In fact, since the early 1980s, bilingualism has enjoyed the consistent support of the vast majority of Canadians in all parts of the country, including in Western Canada.
- Bilingualism is an asset for all Canadians. According to a COMPAS poll published in December 2003, more than half of business leaders think that people who speak more than one language have a better chance of finding employment.
- According to a study by the Association for Canadian Studies, It Pays to be Bilingual in Canada: Though Not Everywhere, bilingual Canadians earn an average of 10 percent more than unilingual Anglophone workers and 40 percent more than unilingual Francophone workers.
- In a workforce that is increasingly mobile and often called upon to work in regions other than where one’s basic education was obtained, knowledge of another language is an increasingly useful skill to have.
- Bilingualism provides a competitive edge in the global marketplace. After English, French is spoken in more countries and on more continents than any other language. Whether at home or abroad, being bilingual opens a world of possibilities for Canadians. More than half of Canadian business leaders believe that people who speak more than one language have an easier time finding work and 8 out of 10 Canadians believe that these people will be more successful.
- For all these reasons, parents across the country are realizing that second language learning is an investment in their children. When choosing a second language for their children, 3 out of 4 Anglophone parents choose French. Demand for quality education in French immersion and for English immersion schools continues, despite the deficit in available teachers.
To learn more about the Symposium, visit the Office of the Commissioner of Official languages Web site.
