The public debate has rekindled, for several weeks, an ancestral fear for many Francophones: that of seeing the proportional weight of French gradually diminish in Canada, to the point where the very vitality of the Francophonie would be called into question.
This fear is sometimes used to justify populist measures which, while being harmful for living together, do not, in the end, do much to improve the vitality of French.
Denouncing these measures does not mean that the fear behind them is illegitimate. On the contrary, there are a thousand and one ways to transform this entirely laudable concern for the sustainability of French into concrete, constructive and promising demands.
I spoke about it with Alain Dupuis, director general of the Fédération des communities francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) — the national voice of the 2.7 million francophones living in a minority situation in the nine other provinces and the three territories. For decades now, the FCFA has been fighting for the Government of Canada to increase the proportion of French-speaking immigrants received outside Quebec.
In the 2001 census, the proportion of Francophones in a minority setting was 4.4%. In 2003, Ottawa therefore committed to ensuring that 4.4% of immigrants received in Canada would be Francophones, so that the Franco-Canadian and Acadian communities could at least be maintained over the years.
Note that the definitions of “Francophones” used here are more inclusive than those used in Quebec. The FCFA defines a francophone as anyone who speaks French — period. Immigration Canada, for its part, includes in its definition of Francophone immigrant any person who has French as their first official language. It is therefore not a question here of mother tongue, necessarily.
Has this target of 4.4% already been reached? No never. Even in 20 years, Ottawa has recruited more than 2% of new permanent French-speaking residents only twice: in 2019 and 2020.
“It’s important, these delays, explains Alain Dupuis. It represents a loss of vitality, it represents a weakening of institutions, and of course a major labor shortage. Francophone communities are therefore less diverse than the general Canadian population “because the federal government does not allow communities to benefit from immigration and all its benefits.”
The result is that the proportion of Francophones in a minority setting is decreasing year after year. From 4.4% of the population in 2001, these communities represented only 3.8% of the population in 2016. The FCFA is impatiently awaiting the data from the 2020 census, and projects that if the situation is not rectified, it will only represent 3.1% of Canada “outside Quebec” by 2036.
It is therefore true that, for the moment, Ottawa’s migration policies are playing a role in the demographic decline of the Francophonie—in the nine other provinces and the three territories. This is why the FCFA denounces the situation, and asks the federal government to rectify things.
This winter, the organization commissioned a demographic study to determine which target should be put forward. To maintain the current proportion of so-called “outside Quebec” Francophones, he calculates that Immigration Canada would have to admit 8% of Francophone immigrants. If we want to repair the damage caused by Ottawa’s broken promises, we need an even more ambitious target.
The FCFA would like the federal government to commit to admitting 12% of Francophones by 2024, and to increase this target to 20% by 2036. One in five immigrants within 14 years: this is what is targeted for not only maintain Francophone communities, but put them back on the path to growth. In absolute numbers, this means admitting 40,000 French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec by 2024.
To do this, the FCFA would like Ottawa’s migration policy to establish detailed objectives in each immigration category, for each region, based on the specific needs of the communities. “The shortage of teachers, for example, is very important for French-language schools, deplores Mr. Dupuis. There is also a labor shortage in early childhood, health and the public service, and several companies are struggling to recruit Francophone staff. »
Some work is currently being done on the federal side on this issue. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says he wants to reach the historic target of 4.4% by next year. And the proposed reform of the Official Languages Act provides that Ottawa will henceforth be obliged to adopt a more comprehensive policy on Francophone immigration. That said, no one at the federal level has yet commented on the targets required by the FCFA.
It seems to me that there is an opportunity here for Quebeckers to show solidarity with francophone communities across the country. There is no question here of abusing the charters of rights and freedoms or of being wary of diversity in order to protect French. On the contrary. The aim is to welcome more economic immigrants and their family members, more foreign students, more asylum seekers and refugees mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb and France. . And this, for the benefit of the whole society, of the economy as well as the linguistic balance.
The vast majority of Quebecers could easily rally behind the targets proposed by the FCFA and support the organization in its efforts. Nothing says that immigration cannot be a tool for growing the Canadian Francophonie. If we’re in the mood to squabble with Ottawa, I’ll give us that battle.