Wishing to deepen its understanding of the issues affecting Francophone newcomers in a minority situation, researchers will soon launch an Observatory on Francophone immigration. This could, as of November, become a platform for disseminating knowledge on Francophone immigration.
Upon her arrival at the University of French Ontario (UOF) in 2019, Professor Linda Cardinal began extensive consultations with several Francophone organizations in a minority context to determine which research niches should develop the university. “It was not surprising that the theme of immigration stands out”, says the one who leads the observatory project. “We need more data and information on Francophone immigration in a minority situation,” he was told.
The creation of the observatory comes in response to this demand, says Amin Moghadam, a Franco-Iranian researcher member of the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (CERC), at Metropolitan University of Toronto. . CERC became the observatory’s official partner after Linda Cardinal contacted its director, Professor Anna Triandafyllidou.
As requested by the organizations consulted, the observatory will have multiple functions. It will serve to professionalize the community through educational workshops and to fuel public debate. The researchers will circulate data and prepare documents that will allow governments to be told that “there may be a blind spot here”, gives the example of Professor Cardinal. “It’s to support the interventions of political actors, to have a role of consultant, almost”, illustrates Amin Moghadam.
The French-speaking CERC researcher — one of four French-speaking members of the chair — also wants to better understand the reality of French-speaking migrants and their integration in Canada. Amin Moghadam is particularly interested in access to property. The observatory could, for example, analyze whether mastering or not mastering a language has an effect on the residential trajectory of migrants. “There has to be this will and ambition to take into account the varied dimensions of a phenomenon,” he says.
Political impact?
The inauguration of the observatory in the fall could take place a few weeks or months after the adoption of Bill C-13, which will modernize the Official Languages Act. When this bill is passed, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will be responsible for developing a policy on francophone immigration, among other things. Linda Cardinal sees this as a place where the observatory could have an impact. “We hope that an observatory like ours could contribute to achieving this objective,” explains the UOF professor.
For now, the observatory is awaiting funding from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the department it wants to help under Bill C-13. The researchers applied for $350,000 in funding from the ministry. The observatory would like to hire staff to coordinate the group of researchers and take care of communications, says Professor Cardinal. The group would also like to sign partnerships for research projects, she says.
“The instigators of the project were able to present the nature, objectives and expected benefits of the observatory. It was an opportunity to identify points of convergence and opportunities for potential collaborations,” said an IRCC spokesperson. “IRCC will follow up with observatory representatives in due course to discuss next steps. »
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.