Committee
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Add search criteria
Results: 1 - 15 of 959
Denise Amyot
View Denise Amyot Profile
Denise Amyot
2021-06-23 17:03
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good afternoon. Bonjour. It's a real pleasure to be here with you today to share how colleges support the recruitment and retention of skilled immigrants and help improve labour market outcomes.
Colleges play a unique role in the immigration ecosystem. They interact at many key touchpoints in the immigration journey by attracting international students, supporting the retention of immigrants through partnerships with settlement organizations, and providing skills training on the way to citizenship and beyond through re-skilling and upskilling as the labour market evolves.
Given that 95% of Canadians live within 50 kilometres of one of our campuses, this role is doubly important in rural communities. In these communities, colleges become key partners with the municipalities and employers as part of regional economic development strategies, and help to attract and retain newcomers, among other things.
Colleges often custom-design short courses—and I may come back to this—to meet specific employer needs, including micro-credentials or what are known as micro-certifications.
For example, colleges currently support the rural and northern immigration pilot and the Atlantic immigration pilot.
My three recommendations to you today relate to the rural and regional pilots and the role of international student pathways.
First, as the federal government builds on the rural and regional pilots and considers other immigration strategies with municipalities, it is imperative to increase the recognition and engagement with colleges to strengthen the recruitment, the labour market integration and the retention of immigrants.
Second, engage Colleges and Institutes Canada and member institutions in the development and implementation of permanent residency streams for international students graduating from colleges.
Third, equip post-secondary education institutions to provide support to improve the labour market outcomes of international students.
I'm tabling today Colleges and Institutes Canada's policy brief that came out last week on the role of international students in supporting Canada's immigration objectives. The second paper on the role of colleges in Canada's immigration ecosystem will follow in September.
I will now turn to Mark Frison, who is the president of Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, Manitoba, with whom I'm sharing my time today. He is also a board member of Colleges and Institutes Canada.
Go ahead, Mark.
Mark Frison
View Mark Frison Profile
Mark Frison
2021-06-23 17:07
Thanks, Denise.
I'd like to punctuate Denise's comments about the capacity that institutions can bring to help with rural immigration efforts with three different examples that I've been involved in over the past 20 years.
The first goes back to 2003-04, when I had the privilege of being involved in building an immigration strategy for Cape Breton Island. At that time, one of the members of our association, Cape Breton University, was deliberately starting to increase the number of international students they were recruiting. That number has grown dramatically over the past several years and now represents more than half of the students who attend that institution.
As a result, in 2019, the population of the Cape Breton regional municipality increased for the first time in over 50 years. That's my entire lifetime. It's the first time they'd seen a population increase, and it was directly attributable to the growth in the number of international students at that particular institution.
The second example comes from 2006, when I happened to be the president at a college in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Many small and medium-sized enterprises began recruiting internationally because of labour shortages there, but there was no settlement agency in the southwest part of the province. The college stepped up and founded the settlement agency, operated it for the first few years to incubate it and then put it out on its own. I think this helps to illustrate Denise's point about how the distributed nature and reach of colleges can be used to build community capacity to support immigration.
Finally, here in Brandon, the college I'm at now has grown from fewer than 30 international students in 2013 to over 600 in 2019-20. Our strategy has been to align with provincial population and labour market goals, as most of the students who come to our institution are keen to eventually become citizens.
As one example, in the agriculture field, where one in five jobs in Manitoba is expected to go unfilled, we've partnered with food processors to develop a program whereby international students can come here to train and do paid work placements, which helps to offset their tuition costs and connects them with employers. This program is now in its third intake, and it has generated significant interest from families who already work at many of the food processors in the area. We know that if you can get folks to come through the program who already have family to live with in Brandon, the likelihood that they're going to settle there for the long term will be that much greater. The program has generated over 150 inquiries from family members about how they can get their family to come through it.
I note, which is important for the Government of Canada, that some of these projects would not have been possible without support for infrastructure, facilities and equipment through folks at regional development agencies. Thinking about how colleges can be unlocked to help with these goals requires that we think about this broadly in terms of the different vehicles that the Government of Canada can bring to bear on such situations.
Thank you.
Philip Landon
View Philip Landon Profile
Philip Landon
2021-06-21 11:27
Thanks very much, Chair and committee members, for the invitation to appear on behalf of Universities Canada. I'd like to acknowledge the Algonquin nation, from whose traditional unceded territory I'm speaking today.
Universities Canada represents 96 universities whose teaching, research and learning mission is fundamental to preparing students with the skills they need to participate and compete in our economy. Universities Canada and its member institutions were actively engaged with this committee during its 2018-19 review of the Copyright Act, as well as with the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology’s study of the act, and contributed to the government’s 2016 review of Canadian cultural policy.
Universities are creators, owners and users of copyright material and are committed to a balanced approach to copyright. Universities are an integral part of the Canadian cultural community. They care deeply about the success of the Canadian cultural industries. They see their roles as educators who are preparing the next generation of Canadian creators, cultural entrepreneurs and audiences. Universities offer education and training in more than 3,000 distinct academic programs that cover the entire gamut of culture, including the fine and performing arts, design, journalism and communications, as well as the humanities.
Our sector is committed to copyright compliance and to helping both emerging and established artists and creative industries thrive. We know first-hand that the financial challenges faced by many Canadian artists, musicians and writers are real. We understand the very real impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the cultural sector. Canada’s universities have also faced unprecedented challenges during these times, and have been able to pivot and adapt to online and hybrid models to ensure that students continue to learn and achieve during the uncertainty of the past 15 months. Budget pressures have been significant.
For all the pressures from the pandemic, we're optimistic that they will improve in the coming months as Canadians are vaccinated and we return to normalcy, but longer-term pressures are rooted in digital disruption, which is changing how content is consumed around the world. It is the single largest challenge to copyright owners.
We see this fact reflected on campuses across Canada. To meet the evolving needs of their communities, libraries are changing what they buy. Students expect to be able to access course content at any time, anywhere, and across multiple platforms.
Over a 15-year period, the circulation of university libraries’ print collections has steadily declined. Studies at one institution show that nearly 70% of the library’s print collection has not been taken off a bookshelf, let alone signed out, since 2004. At the same time, Canadian universities' library expenditures are increasing annually. In 2018-19 university library acquisitions totalled over $400 million. According to Statistics Canada, universities spent more than $1 billion in the last three years combined on purchasing content for our libraries and for our students. We are purchasing more than we ever have.
For universities, the rise in digital library content and the use of e-reserves at many of our institutions are part of the opportunities that give our students more educational opportunities and make university more accessible. Unlike printed books, digital content purchased by university libraries generally includes reproduction rights. In most cases, content is shared through links protected by digital locks rather than copied.
Universities remain committed to copyright compliance. They have established copyright offices on campus, usually in libraries, that exist to advise and promote compliance among faculty, students and staff on copyright law, including how to interpret and apply fair dealing. Many universities choose to enter into a licensing agreement with a collective. Others purchase direct licences and exercise their statutory user rights, such as fair dealing. The Supreme Court of Canada identifies fair dealing for educational purposes as a right and has repeatedly recognized the importance of balancing copyright interests.
The marketplace for creative industries is changing. In their testimony on May 22, 2018, government department officials spoke at length about how the digital shift is causing large problems for the marketplace. What can the federal government do to mitigate the impacts of disruption on the creative economy? We encourage committee members to consider policies and programs that directly assist individual creators and support industries that help get creators’ work to the marketplace.
Canada’s future prosperity and success in the creative industries depend upon an exchange of ideas and knowledge. Changes to fair dealing would stem this vital flow, hampering the education, research, innovation and creation that are essential to a vibrant and thriving cultural ecosystem.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you today. I welcome any questions.
View Emmanuel Dubourg Profile
Lib. (QC)
I call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting number 39 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee is meeting on the study of the federal support for French-language or bilingual post-secondary institutions in a minority situation.
Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. Should any technical challenges arise, please advise me.
Lastly, I remind all participants and attendees that you cannot take photos or screen captures.
I would now like to welcome our witnesses. I thank them for accepting our invitation to appear before the committee.
For the first hour, we are hearing from, as an individual, Jean Poirier, former member of provincial Parliament and former president of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, as well as Lynn Brouillette, president and chief executive officer, and Martin Normand, director of strategic research and international relations, both from the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne. We are also hearing from Luc Bussières, rector of the Université de Hearst.
I see that Marie-France Lalonde has raised her hand.
Mrs. Lalonde, go ahead.
Jean Poirier
View Jean Poirier Profile
Jean Poirier
2021-06-10 15:44
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen members of the committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you.
This committee has heard many statistics concerning the disparity in funding among post-secondary institutions in Canada, as well as between French-language and English-language institutions.
I would rather like to focus on the reasons why the federal government must support French-language communities outside Quebec more directly and rethink the way funding is allocated to communities. Answering that question actually helps better understand the challenges related to this matter.
For over 50 years, I have been advocating for the promotion and defence of French language and culture, both locally and internationally. I have done that as a member of Parliament for Queen's Park over four terms. I have also done it as president of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, as a community development officer, and so on.
As a fourth generation Franco-Ontarian, I think I am in a position to properly evaluate the past, current and future situations of French outside Quebec.
For more than 262 years, Canada's francophones have been aspiring to true equality between this country's two official language groups. However, that true equality has been slow to materialize. A person does not need to hold a doctorate degree in this field to understand the reality of our experience. All they need to do is avoid watered down history texts published over the years, texts that have been approved by governments, even the church, and which have been redacted. Those texts have hovered over our reality, which has not always been rosy. I would even talk about institutional and individual francophobia. In those texts, authors carefully avoided describing real obstacles we must constantly face—that reality and that francophobia—generation after generation.
Provinces have even adopted laws and regulations to ban the teaching of French. For example, we, Franco-Ontarians, have for decades been subjected to the Government of Ontario's infamous Regulation 17.
The symbol that unites us, as francophones, is the fleur de lys. However, if we were to let certain members of the majority adopt a symbol more representative of the way they see our quest for equality, I am sure they would choose a bar code, like the ones on products. We are being perceived as an unjustifiable cost, a frivolous expense and a waste of public funds. That is what I have often heard.
At a time when we absolutely deplore the horrible racism that has been and is still being directed at first nations, Blacks, Asians, Muslims and so many others, it should also be understood and accepted that Canadian francophones also deserve a slogan like “French Lives Also Matter”.
You have witnessed the way the Government of Ontario stopped supporting the creation of the Université de l'Ontario français and the way it has abolished the position of independent French-language services commissioner. You have seen how Laurentian University, although bilingual, has cut French programs in an unfair and shameful manner; how Campus Saint-Jean, in Edmonton, is on the brink; and how an advisory committee, in Newfoundland and Labrador, even proposed abolishing francophone and anglophone school boards.
Provincial governments still refuse to understand, accept and implement their role, their duties and their commitment toward their own French-language communities. That is why the federal government, in its mission to achieve substantive linguistic equality in the country, must get involved and ensure that francophone communities can fully benefit from French-language programs at the post-secondary level.
The Official Languages Act must better reflect the real needs of our French-language communities. Since we still don't have full linguistic equality, asymmetric amendments to the act must be a possibility, if necessary, to comply with our distinct and urgent needs, as we are still catching up.
Thank you for your attention.
Lynn Brouillette
View Lynn Brouillette Profile
Lynn Brouillette
2021-06-10 15:49
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today.
The Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne, or ACUFC, brings together the 22 francophone or bilingual post–secondary institutions located in eight Canadian provinces. Our mission is to increase access to French-language post–secondary education in francophone minority communities, and to represent the collective interest of our members with federal institutions.
I would like to use my time to present four main ideas to the committee. The brief we have submitted to the committee elaborates on those ideas.
First idea: Francophone communities and students get the short end of the stick when governments toss the ball back and fourth concerning the funding of post–secondary education. Today, I want to present our point of view on what the federal government can and must do to address funding issues directly.
Second idea: We feel that the government must think of other methods to provide federal support to post–secondary institutions. The primary vehicle the federal government has used to support post–secondary institutions in our communities is the official languages in education program, or OLEP. As you know, that program complements the funding provinces provide. The program contains many good aspects that must be retained. However, that program is over 50 years old, and it is time to check whether it still meets the needs of post–secondary institutions.
Third idea: We have no doubt that the federal government has the right to provide minority francophone and bilingual post–secondary institutions with direct support without undermining provincial jurisdiction in education. I will explain. Our institutions cater to francophone minorities in Canada. Their civic mission is different from that of institutions that cater to the majority. They must assume additional responsibilities and perform additional duties. The initiatives our post–secondary institutions must implement to fulfil that civic mission come directly under federal jurisdiction. I have three examples for you.
First example: Our post–secondary institutions must contribute in a special way to the vitality of francophone minorities. The federal government is the steward of that vitality, and it has an obligation to take action in that respect. That is a federal responsibility.
Second example: Our institutions must increase the rate of French and English bilingualism in the country. It is the federal government's objective to increase the rate of individual bilingualism, and it must find innovative ways to achieve that objective. That is another federal responsibility. Our institutions can help the government accomplish that goal.
Third example: Our institutions provide the necessary structures to welcome an international clientele. They establish partnerships with settlement agencies in the transition toward permanent residence. The federal government is in charge of francophone immigration, as it has set a target to meet. Once again, this is a federal responsibility.
Fourth idea: We are noting that political will is evolving more quickly than administrative vehicles, so the government must take action in that area. To that end, we ask you to make three recommendations in your report to the government.
First recommendation: That the government adopt regulations for applying part VII of the Official Languages Act.
Second recommendation: That the government adopt a public policy statement to support the post–secondary sector in a francophone minority context in its areas of jurisdiction.
Third recommendation: That the government develop a permanent program for supporting post–secondary institutions in a francophone minority context in order to take action in categories of need related to federal jurisdiction.
In closing, I will say that the government must take action, as it clearly states in its official languages reform document that communities cannot be strong unless institutions are also strong. We must avoid a weakening of francophone minority post–secondary institutions leading to a weakening of community vitality.
I would be pleased to answer your questions.
Luc Bussières
View Luc Bussières Profile
Luc Bussières
2021-06-10 15:54
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the vice-chairs and members of the committee for inviting me to appear today.
I feel the need to start with a bit of background on Université de Hearst, which still has a relatively low profile outside northern Ontario, in particular, and Ontario, more broadly. Université de Hearst has been serving francophones for 68 years. I'd like to share some historical milestones. Séminaire de Hearst was founded in 1953 to provide secondary education to francophones. The institution's name and status changed in 1959, when Séminaire de Hearst became Collège de Hearst and began offering university courses. The third major development in the institution's history was in 1972, when it became known as Collège universitaire de Hearst and gained provincial recognition as a public institution. Since then, our funding has come from the province directly, not through Laurentian University, with which we have been affiliated since 1963. From that point forward, our affiliation with Laurentian University has been academic, as opposed to financial. In 2014, we were authorized by the province to formally adopt the name Université de Hearst.
Finally, just recently—on June 3—the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed Bill 276, giving Université de Hearst a charter and making it an independent institution. Once that process is complete, our affiliation with Laurentian University will come to an end. Université de Hearst will join the ranks of Ontario's 20 or so stand-alone universities.
Université de Hearst is firmly rooted in northeastern Ontario, with three campuses: Hearst, Kapuskasing and Timmins. Our contribution to the educational, social, cultural and economic development of the region's francophone community has been widely recognized by our many partners for quite some time.
If an institution like ours is not well connected to its community and fails to be responsive, it will struggle to survive in the face of social, demographic, economic and political change. In 2014, we completely revamped our post-secondary service delivery model. Here's a recap of what we have achieved since. First, enrolment has gone up by 125%, even though northern Ontario's demographics are not in our favour. Second, international students, from 25 countries, now make up 60% of our entire student body. Third, we achieved all of that with an offering of just three undergraduate programs.
Despite our nearly 70‑year history and despite our resilience and ability to innovate, our financial situation has always been—and continues to be—a cause for concern. From 2011 to 2021, we ran seven budget deficits. We have an annual budget of $8.5 million. We generate roughly a third of our revenue, and the rest, $5.8 million, comes from subsidies. Through the official languages in education program, or OLEP, we receive approximately $450,000 from the federal government. That amount has not changed since 2003 and accounts for less than 8% of our total subsidies.
However, to perform the role expected of us, we need significantly more support, especially from the federal government, which should invest in strengthening the institutional underpinnings of francophone communities. We are the federal government's natural allies in ensuring the vitality of minority communities, training a bilingual workforce and achieving francophone immigration targets. At stake is the federal government's responsibility to protect, promote and, ensure the vitality of, the country's linguistic duality. That is why the federal government must increase the funding it provides through the OLEP and establish measures to remedy the impact of the extended freeze on the federal contribution. Also necessary are new ongoing programs to support post-secondary institutions in minority language communities.
In conclusion, it is imperative that the federal government act to ensure the decline of our community institutions does not undermine the vitality of our communities, as Ms. Brouillette mentioned. Through Official Languages Act reforms, the federal government can take swift and robust action to ensure Canada's linguistic duality has a stronger and more sustainable future.
We are counting on your support.
Thank you.
View Steven Blaney Profile
CPC (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have the same question for all three witnesses. They can answer in the same order in which they gave their presentations. First, though, I want them to know that their opening statements were music to my ears.
Ms. Brouillette, I know you spoke with my assistant. I didn't have the chance to meet you virtually, but I'm glad we have that chance today.
Mr. Poirier, thank you for being such an ardent advocate. I really appreciated what you said about substantive equality for minority communities. You underscored the need for an asymmetrical approach.
I'll be in the House later, and we realize what communities are going through. I am a Quebecker and I recognize that you and I face the same thing; the reality is catching up to us.
Ms. Brouillette, you said the federal government has to make a concrete commitment. We aren't hear to criticize the provinces. They aren't perfect and they face constraints.
We, in the federal government, need to develop mechanisms to increase funding for the cornerstone that is Canada's linguistic duality; we need to leverage the Official Languages Act and fulfill our constitutional responsibilities. That is precisely what Mr. Bussières was talking about; he is calling on the federal government for enhanced structural support.
My question is for each of you. I'll start with Mr. Poirier.
Mr. Poirier, have you come up with mechanisms, targets and costs? Do you have a per-capita funding formula to propose? How do you think the federal government can discharge its constitutional obligation to support educational institutions on an asymmetrical basis?
Before you answer, I want to tell you that the committee began its study on the crisis facing Laurentian University, only to realize that it was the tip of the iceberg. We heard the same worrisome things from the people in Moncton. The Campus Saint‑Jean is also in the same boat.
We really feel this study will be useful.
How, then, should the federal government structure the support it provides? What mechanisms should it put in place to establish a fair and stable funding formula, one that meets the needs of minority communities?
Jean Poirier
View Jean Poirier Profile
Jean Poirier
2021-06-10 16:02
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Blaney, what you're proposing is a change in philosophy that could lead to a complete overhaul of how support is provided to French-speaking communities outside Quebec.
I cannot tell you today how exactly to get there, but I do suggest that you really examine the matter to come up with a recommendation by the end of your study. It has to have the backing of francophone communities, who must come away with the sense that they are genuinely being supported.
Truly, you will have to consider an asymmetrical approach, because applying the same approach to all groups is not working. That is clear from Canada's changing demographics, as the census results and figures show. As Bernard Derome, the former Téléjournal news anchor, would have said, if the trend holds, there won't be any students left to attend French-language post-secondary institutions.
I cannot tell you how to do it, but do it, please.
Lynn Brouillette
View Lynn Brouillette Profile
Lynn Brouillette
2021-06-10 16:03
Thank you for your question.
We feel strongly that the federal government must play an important role, and it is essential that federal jurisdiction in relation to post-secondary educational institutions be clearly defined.
The federal government has the power to act. It could introduce a new program, something we strongly recommend, while reviewing the existing program, OLEP.
View Steven Blaney Profile
CPC (QC)
Thank you.
It's fitting that you say so, since that is exactly what our leader is recommending—a new funding mechanism.
Mr. Bussières, do you have any recommendations of a more practical nature? In terms of your university's needs, do you have a certain figure in mind?
How much should the federal government contribute, possibly on a per-capita basis?
Luc Bussières
View Luc Bussières Profile
Luc Bussières
2021-06-10 16:05
In addition to reviewing the OLEP, the federal government needs to establish a new program, and that program has to have more than one facet or component. A mixed approach is what's needed.
The 22 institutions Ms. Brouillette talked about earlier face a fairly different set of circumstances. I'm tempted to say that the per-capita funding formula is not always well-suited to very small institutions like ours. Large institutions do not need the same level of support or even support components.
View Joël Godin Profile
CPC (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair and Mr. Blaney.
My question is for Mr. Bussières.
Mr. Bussières, I realize that your university is small, but do you think performance should factor into the funding formula?
After listening to you and the other university officials, I gather that enrolment isn't the problem. Students want to study in French.
Should the government establish a program based on the rate of francization? That would be an effective basis for developing a new program, something that would motivate people, don't you think?
Goodness knows universities compete against one another, but this could present an opportunity to protect the French language and support its development.
What do you think?
Luc Bussières
View Luc Bussières Profile
Luc Bussières
2021-06-10 16:06
We've never had a problem. We've never had a problem rising to a challenge or being held to account. Our student body is entirely French-speaking, so achieving further francization would be difficult, but we can contribute to bilingualism.
View Paul Lefebvre Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Paul Lefebvre Profile
2021-06-10 16:07
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will indeed be sharing my time with Ms. Lalonde.
Good afternoon, Mr. Bussières.
As you probably know, I hail from Kapuskasing. My mother graduated from Université de Hearst and Laurentian University; she was a social worker. We are very proud of that in my family. She was able to work from home. I fully understand how important small universities are in small communities, and Hearst is known as the Gallic village of Ontario.
I'd like you to talk about your small university and its resilience.
How did you make it through the difficult years?
In its 2020‑21 budget, the federal government announced an additional $121 million in support over the next two and a half years. What would that funding mean to you?
How would that investment help you?
Results: 1 - 15 of 959 | Page: 1 of 64

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
>
>|
Export As: XML CSV RSS

For more data options, please see Open Data