Ottawa, March 28, 2004
Duality, Diversity, Communities: Avenues for Research to Promote Immigration
to Official Language Minority Communities
Speaking Notes for the Metropolis Conference
Dr. Dyane Adam - Commissioner of Official Languages
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Dear colleagues,
This year, Canadians are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the French in a region we now call Acadia.
Of course, they weren't the first people to live on that land, as the First Nations were there already. But these pioneers were the first to use the Aboriginal word "Canada" to identify themselves and the regions they were discovering in North America.
History tells us that Jacques Cartier had asked Aboriginals for the name of the land in which they found themselves, and the Aboriginal responded by saying ... simply ... "Kanata" or "Canada." Later, they realized that the word didn't describe the whole territory, but actually meant "village."
When the British settled in Canada, the descendants of the earlier French colonists would ask them to consider themselves as "Canadians" rather than as subjects of the Empire.
And so, it is in this spirit of openness and inclusiveness that was formed our national identity. That identity has since been shaped by all the cultures that thrive in our country today.
"Identity" is therefore a fluid, constantly evolving concept, one that opens new horizons and that keeps enriching us.
Montréal, for instance, is the most bilingual, multilingual and multicultural city in North America where cultures from around the world leave their mark, especially in the realm of arts and culture. This vitality and way of life have made Montréal famous, along with its many festivals, such as the Jazz Festival, Francofolies, the Just for Laughs Festival, the World Film Festival, Festival Nuits d'Afrique and the Fringe Festival, to name just a few.
I. Duality and diversity: inseparable values
This fluid identity allows Canada to attract people of different cultures from around the world and to make them part of a new and original social fabric, a fabric that is rooted in our two official languages, and the diversity brought about by immigration and our Aboriginal heritage.
Linguistic duality has contributed immensely to Canada becoming an open society with a readiness to shape its future. The successful negotiation of a compromise between the English and French cultures has, in fact, not only shaped our constitution but also our values and our way of living together. Canadians cultivate and renew their respect for and appreciation of differences every day.
Those Canadians with the keenest sense of what these values mean are quite possibly the ones who have joined the Canadian family most recently. It is indeed quite telling that immigrants support linguistic duality not less but more strongly than do Canadians born in Canada. Asked whether Canada's two official languages make it a more welcoming country, seventy percent of Canadians born in Canada agree but 75% of immigrants believe this to be true.1
I have for a long time maintained that linguistic duality and cultural diversity are not only complementary but inseparable. These figures tend to confirm that immigrants on the whole share this view.
One of Canada's greatest challenges today is to maintain our social, economic and demographic stability, in spite of our ageing population. Canada rightly believes, and rightly so, that Iimmigration is a key element in addressing these challenges and that it is a factor contributing to our prosperity.
However, not all communities and regions benefit equitably from immigration. This is especially true for Francophone communities across the country, including Quebec. Considering their demographic weight, these communities only attract about one quarter of the immigrants that they should.
In fact, immigration into these communities is not a matter of large numbers. Still, those immigrants who do find their way to them are essential to fostering the type of society we wish to develop. Our two official languages and our model of accommodating differences help us to develop a vision that is deeper and more varied than the one-dimensional view we would have without them.
Francophone immigration is also a factor in promoting community vitality: since these communities are quite small, the addition of even a small number of immigrants has a considerable impact on their vitality. For example, the arrival of a small number of new residents would be enough to justify and obtain health services, fostering overall community well being.
II. Promoting Francophone immigration
A number of measures have been taken to promote Francophone immigration to Quebec, where the population is declining in relative terms and where Francophone immigration represents less than 40 percent of all new arrivals.2 The Anglophone community also faces similar difficulties in some regions, such as in the Eastern Townships. Quebec was the first province to sign an immigration agreement with the federal government, which resulted in an active involvement of the province in this area.
This being said, my remarks here today will concern largely immigration in minority environments, where the challenges are much greater.
The Government of Canada has adopted a new immigration act, from which flows a regulation stressing the importance of knowing official languages in evaluating the file of a potential immigrant. No less than 24 of the 65 points one needs to be accepted as an immigrant to Canada involve knowledge of our official languages. The law also contains clauses about preserving minority language communities.
A strategic framework was also worked out in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada to ensure that, by 2008, the number of French-speaking immigrants settling outside Quebec corresponds to the demographic weight of Francophones in these regions. To this end, the Government of Canada has also created a steering committee to put forward concrete solutions. I know that there are also, as I speak, two Citizenship and Immigration Canada delegations visiting many parts of the world to inform and recruit potential Francophone immigrants.
We do not yet have any figures indicating the impact of these recent changes, but more and more research is being undertaken, as seen in the workshops and studies conducted by Metropolis.
In this regard, I congratulate Metropolis for opening an Atlantic Centre focusing in particular on immigration to areas outside major urban centres. This is an important step for research and for the development of minority communities.
This research is fundamentally important because it will help us develop appropriate public policy and attain our social objectives. Moreover, Canada's linguistic framework is in fact the result of a tremendous research effort. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, on which the Official Languages Act is based, drew on the largest research program in the social sciences that Canada had seen at the time.
III. Fundamental role of research
So, we must capitalize on the current support for linguistic equality in Canada to expand the research done thus far: we have gained ground but there are now new issues on the horizon. We must establish a point of convergence between our country's needs and values and our immigrants' expectations.
I think research should focus both on the host communities and on the immigrants themselves. I would also like to draw your attention to three key areas of study: the communities' ability to integrate newcomers; the link between immigrants' skills and the needs of the host communities; and the factors motivating newcomers.
Communities' ability to integrate newcomers
First of all, the research must focus on the minority communities themselves to do the following:
- First, identify the factors influencing the integration of newcomers, especially the positive ones; and
- Second, explore attitudes in these communities to identify their concerns and ability to integrate newcomers.
We need to know exactly which factors allow these communities to integrate newcomers effectively.
In this regard, we must adopt an action research approach to involve the minority communities themselves, in order to transform their reality while producing knowledge on how such transformation happens. It is a matter of doing research that can sensitize the communities, lead to concrete interventions on the ground and allow the community to participate in the various steps involved in integrating new immigrants.
A success story: Ottawa's Vietnamese "Boat People"
I would like to recall a success story to illustrate this point. In the 1980s, 4,000 "Boat People" landed in Ottawa. During Mayor Marion Dewar's term of office, the capital volunteered to welcome them. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the newcomers were quickly looked after and gradually integrated into their new environment. Ms. Dewar's determination and willingness to involve the public in this project made it a success.
It would be helpful to study the factors contributing to this success and to ask these questions.
- What factors enable a city to absorb such a large group so quickly?
- Were efforts made to integrate the Vietnamese immigrants into the Francophone community since some Vietnamese are known to be fluent in French?
- Does our knowledge of current migration patterns allow us to take a proactive approach in anticipation of the arrival of immigrants and to prepare official language minority host communities to successfully integrate a given group?
Linking immigrant skills with community needs
In addition to identifying a receptive host community, immigrants' skills must also be linked with community needs.
At this time, Canada has a great need for qualified professionals, especially in health care. This need is especially great in minority communities, whose vitality depends in part on the growth of their population.
Can these three topics be linked? Can a recruitment process be undertaken that meets labour needs while also enhancing community vitality and access to quality services?
We also need research to identify communities whose needs provide openings for specific skills and, based on this data, we must develop a list of skills of potential immigrants from various countries. France, for example, trains a great many professionals in the pharmaceutical, engineering and aeronautics fields. Romania has made a name for itself in information technology. The potential contribution of immigrants and the needs of host communities must be considered together.
Understanding immigrants' aspirations in order to better entice them to Canada
Finally, to recruit immigrants, the community must be attractive and must be able to sell itself. It must also respond to immigrants' ambitions and concerns.
Research could help us better understand their motivations and in turn develop more suitable promotion strategies.
I have often met Europeans interested in living in Canada. Each time I was very surprised to learn that what attracts them is our "wide open spaces." Yet they usually settle in urban centres, primarily for economic reasons, but also because the benefits of other regions may not have been presented to them. It may also be that their ability to integrate more easily in urban centres is due to the fact that particular support mechanisms are available there that may not yet exist in other regions of the country.
In Manitoba, the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine and the Société franco-manitobaine understood that a key factor whichthat determines where a new immigrant family chooses to settle is the availability of schools. These organizations joined forces to produce a map to assist francophone immigrants looking for housing. The map shows the areas where school buses serve Francophone schools. It is a simple idea: before signing a lease, French-speaking families or families with an interest in French can find out if their children will be able to attend a francophone school in their neighbourhood.
We need more studies to learn how to market settlement locations among immigrants. We should be able to explain to immigrants what makes smaller communities rich and attractive, and we should be able to tell them what types of services they can expect to find there.
A better understanding of immigrants' motivations would also allow us to attract to Canada some Francophone migrants who are currently choosing other countries. A study conducted by the Office of the Commissioner shows that, over a five-year period, the United States attracted five times more Francophone immigrants than Canada did.3
Admittedly, the economic reasons are an important factor in explaining the attraction of the United States for Francophones, but is this the only factor?
Of course, the United States has a population ve a ten times greater than Canada's, so the numbers cannot be compared properly. and those numbers cannot serve a proper comparison. However, it would be useful to find out why the United States is attractive to Francophones. We want to know where these Francophones settle and what factors influenced their choice, so that we can in order to use this information to better highlight what Canada has to offer.
Finally, and interestingly, many Francophone immigrants head to British Columbia. When they arrive, they do not necessarily seek to integrate into a Francophone community. This suggests that other factors outweigh language as a settlement criterion. There are for example employment prospects, but are there others? How can we make the most of this attraction to the Pacific coast? How do we encourage newcomers to participate in and embrace both linguistic communities?
Conclusion
The effectiveness and scope of our immigration policy and ultimately the fate of our social model depend in part on the research and specific measures we undertake to help official language minority communities integrate diversity. Linguistic duality has led to the development of a tolerant and open society in Canada and it will continue to provide the tools to allow us to welcome and integrate newcomers from the world over, and to build strong and dynamic communities together.
Thank you.
Notes
1 CRIC, “Bilingualism: Part of Our Past or Part of Our Future?”, The CRIC Papers, No. 13, March 2004.
2 Jack Jedwab, Immigration and the Vitality of Canada's Official Language Communities: Policy, Demography and Identity, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, 2002, http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/stu_etu_imm_022002_e.php
3 Jack Jedwab, ibid.
