The Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Jean Boulet, had to intervene so that the workers of the clothing manufacturer Peerless regain their francization course in the workplace, the abolition of which had been decreed by his department, a decision whose ineptitude caught the eyes, but not those of the civil servants.
This is following a headline from the To have to, published Tuesday, that the minister did neither one nor two and immediately restored this model program. His department assumed the salary of a professor who taught on the premises of the manufacturer. Due to the pandemic, classes were suspended, and they should have resumed in September had it not been for the bureaucratic ax that fell. The Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) wanted Peerless to start from scratch and turn to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity. And the civil servants invited each of the employees to consult an Internet site in order to register for a part-time course given outside their place of work.
For 20 years, Peerless and the Teamsters Union (FTQ) have formed an exemplary tandem in the area of francization. While many companies today are still reluctant to offer French courses in the workplace, thus preventing their employees from learning the common language, Peerless is a pioneer.
This is not the first time that the company’s francization activities have been threatened. In 2016, then Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil, also reacting to a headline from the To have to, had restored the aid granted to Peerless, which had allowed the resumption of classes. It can be seen that the MIFI is not distinguished by its institutional memory.
In recent years, the CAQ government has doubled the budget allocated to francization, which has increased to $168 million. But it is unclear what results these new expenditures have produced. Adopted last May, the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (PL 96) provides for the establishment of Francisation Quebec, which must in particular increase the offer in the workplace. However, Minister Boulet indicated that the new organization would not be operational before the summer of 2023.
In the meantime, some francization courses would be given in the workplace. But failing to collect the data in a coherent way, the MIFI is not able to specify how many companies are participating in the effort or how many employees are taking these courses, if we rely on the information provided by the ministry. . Thus, there are currently 653 active francization agreements, of which 270 were signed between 1er April and July 29, 2022, indicated the ministry, while adding this: “As a general rule, an agreement targets francization within a single company. However, the same company may have signed more than one agreement. Conversely, an agreement could also include more than one company. So it’s impossible to interpret the numbers. Hopefully the minister has some more statistics on hand.
If francization in the workplace is necessary, it is because, in particular, more and more immigrants hold jobs. According to Portrait of immigration in Quebec, published by the Institut du Québec, the unemployment rate for immigrants aged 25 to 54 has fallen remarkably over the past 10 years, dropping from 12.7% to 5.3% last April; it is even lower than that of immigrants established in Ontario. Their occupancy rate in Quebec is close to 82%, very close to the 84.6% posted in the same age group by the general population.
This is great news, but it reduces the number of newcomers who can enroll in full-time courses. Then, leaving work to take part-time courses elsewhere often leads to a significant loss of time, which can conflict with the family obligations of workers. Many immigrants do not persevere.
Conversely, attending francization courses in the workplace with colleagues encourages perseverance and stimulates exchanges in French between workers throughout the day. At Peerless, the formula has proven itself, and it was foolishness to force its abandonment.
It is a formula that must be spread with the necessary adaptations according to the different working environments. Admittedly, while waiting for the implementation of Francisation Québec, we find ourselves in an in-between; a review of the offer of services and their delivery is to be expected. But that’s no reason to undermine initiatives that work.