Standing Committee on Official Languages

Comité permanent des langues officielles

For immediate release

Ottawa, April 18, 2024 -

Today, René Arseneault, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages (the Committee), presented a report in the House of Commons entitled: Openness to the International Francophone Community: Optimizing Francophone Immigration to Canada.

The Committee found that improvements must be made in the area of francophone immigration. Measures must be taken quickly to increase francophone immigration to minority francophone communities and to Quebec. In view of the modernization of the Official Languages Act, which identifies increasing the demographic weight of francophones in Canada as one of its objectives, the Committee issued 19 recommendations. They concern issues such as targets, intergovernmental co-operation and federal programs relating to francophone immigration to Canada.

This report is the result of a study during which the Committee received briefs and heard testimony from multiple stakeholders, including the Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees, academics, immigration lawyers, and representatives of organizations involved in immigration matters.

The report is available on the Committee’s web page on the Parliament of Canada website at http://www.parl.gc.ca/LANG-e. Anyone unable to access an electronic copy of the report can obtain a paper copy by contacting the Committee Clerk.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages is composed of 12 MPs. The chair is René Arseneault (Madawaska—Restigouche) and the vice-chairs are Joël Godin (Portneuf—Jacques Cartier) and Mario Beaulieu (La Pointe de l’Île). The other members are: Niki Ashton (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski), Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge), Francis Drouin (Glengarry—Prescott—Russell), Bernard Généreux (Montmagny—L’Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière du Loup), Angelo Iacono (Alfred Pellan), Annie Koutrakis (Vimy), Stephanie Kusie (Calgary-Midnapore), Darrell Samson (Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook) and Marc Serré (Nickel Belt).