Annual Report on Official Languages 2017–2018

The Official Languages Act requires that the Minister Responsible for Official Languages report to Parliament, after each fiscal year, on the activities and accomplishments of federal institutions subject to Part VII of the Act.

This report presents a sample of the various measures taken by federal institutions between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018, to:

• enhance the development and vitality of official language minority communities across the country
• foster the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society

The information presented in this report was compiled mainly from the reviews provided by federal institutions to the Official Languages Branch of Canadian Heritage to deliver on their responsibilities under Part VII of the Act during fiscal year 2017–2018.

On this page

• Message from the Minister
• 1. Circle of support for community vitality
• 2. Update on the Government of Canada’s official languages mechanisms in 2017–2018
• 3. Community development: Renewal and mobilization
• 4. Community vitality: Achievements and outreach
• 5. Promotion of official languages: Enhancement and rapprochement
• 6. Listening to Canadians: Ongoing dialogue
• 7. Government collaboration and coordination
• Conclusion
• Appendices
  • Appendix 1: Actual annual spending on the initiatives of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018
  • Appendix 2: 2017–2018 expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by component
  • Appendix 3: 2017–2018 expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by province and territory
  • Appendix 4: 2017–2018 education expenditures
  • Appendix 5: School enrolment in 2016–2017

List of figures

• Figure 1: Circle of support for community vitality
• Figure 2: Planned spending and actual spending in 2017–2018 of the Roadmap for Official Languages (in dollars)
• Figure 3: Financial federal support by territory from 2016–2017 to 2019–2020 (in dollars)
• Figure 4: Implementation expenditures for the "minority language education" component (Protocol for Agreements) (in dollars)
• Figure 5: Number of French-speaking unique clients who have received at least one settlement service in Canada
• Figure 6: Number of French-speaking unique clients who have received at least one settlement service in New Brunswick
• Figure 7: Implementation expenditures for the "second language instruction" component (Protocol for Agreements) (in dollars)
• Figure 8: Increase in the number of enrolments in French immersion programs offered outside Quebec since 2003
• Figure 9: Participation rate in Canadian Heritage’s programs for youth

List of tables

• Table 1: Annual spending on all pillars of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018 — Grand total (in dollars)
• Table 2: Annual spending on the initiatives of pillar 1 (Education) (in dollars)
• Table 3: Annual spending on the initiatives of pillar 2 (Immigration) (in dollars)
• Table 4: Annual spending on the initiatives of pillar 3 (Communities) (in dollars)
• Table 5: Expenditures of Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support Programs — Grand total (in dollars)
• Table 6: Expenditures of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by component (in dollars)
• Table 7: Expenditures of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program by component (in dollars)
• Table 8: Expenditures of Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support Programs by their geographic scope — Grand total (in dollars)
• Table 9: Expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by province and territory (in dollars)
• Table 10: Expenditures of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by province and territory (in dollars)
• Table 11: Expenditures of the “Community Life” component of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by province and territory (in dollars)
• Table 12: Expenditures of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program by province and territory (in dollars)
• Table 13: Expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by national program (in dollars)
• Table 14: Breakdown of education expenditures (in dollars)
• Table 15: Breakdown of education expenditures — Intergovernmental cooperation (in dollars)
• Table 16: Breakdown of education expenditures — National programs (in dollars)
• Table 17: Enrolments in second language instruction programs in majority language school systems — All of Canada
• Table 18: Enrolments in second language instruction programs in majority language school systems by province or territory
• Table 19: Enrolments in minority language education programs — All of Canada
• Table 20: Enrolments in minority language education programs by province and territory

List of acronyms and abbreviations

Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023

Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in Our Future

CanNor

Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

CBDC

Community Business Development Corporations

CLIC

Cours de langue pour les immigrants du Canada

CRTC

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

FedDev Ontario

Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

FedNor

Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario

LINC

Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada

Km

Kilometres

M

Millions of dollars

MBA

Master of Business Administration

Protocol for Agreements

Protocol for Agreements on Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction

Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018

Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013–2018: Education, Immigration, Communities

RCM

Regional county municipality

RCMP

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Message from the Minister

In 2017–2018, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Official Languages Act, our Government is reaffirming the importance of our linguistic duality. English and French are integral parts of the Canadian identity. These are the languages of the society in which we live together, and our Government’s commitment to protect and promote them is stronger than ever.

After meeting with thousands of Canadians at cross-Canada consultations, I presented the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in Our Future in March 2018. This plan reflects the realities expressed by Canadians. It represents an unprecedented investment of $2.7 billion over 5 years, in addition to presenting concrete measures and a vision for the future. Its implementation now allows us to work closely with all our partners who, like us, are committed to promoting bilingualism and enhancing the vitality of official language minority communities.

In 2017–2018, I was also pleased to welcome my provincial and territorial counterparts to Gatineau for the 22nd Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie. This gathering allowed us to highlight the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, while also engaging in dialogue on a range of issues affecting Francophone and Acadian communities.

Since then, much progress has been made. In particular, we can think about the reinstatement of the Court Challenges Program, the launch of programs to strengthen the development of official language minority communities, or the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Official Languages Act.

As Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, I invite you to take a look at the Annual Report on Official Languages 2017–2018 to learn more about the measures taken by Canadian Heritage through the Official Languages Support Programs. You will also find out how federal institutions are working together to promote bilingualism and English- and French-speaking minority communities in every region of Canada.

The Honourable Mélanie Joly

1. Circle of support for community vitality

The circle of support for community vitality represents the support provided by federal institutions to official language minority communities at various stages of a community’s life.

In the centre of the circle are the citizens. Around them is “Government collaboration and coordination,” which illustrates the importance for the Government of Canada to put in place mechanisms to work closely with provincial and territorial governments and to properly coordinate efforts among federal institutions to implement initiatives that will support community vitality.

The first section, “Development: Renewal and mobilization,” illustrates some of the elements that contribute to the development of official language minority communities, including:

• education
• services for youth
• immigration

The second section, “Vitality: Achievements and outreach,” illustrates some of the elements that contribute to the vitality of these communities, namely, initiatives that affect:

• social life
• cultural life
• economic life

The third section, “Promotion of official languages: Enhancement and rapprochement,” illustrates the elements that contribute to the full recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society, as well as connections between Anglophones and Francophones.

The fourth section, “Listening to Canadians: Ongoing dialogue,” illustrates the various means federal institutions can use to identify the priorities and needs of communities.

Each of these dimensions is discussed in this report in order to present various initiatives that were carried out by federal institutions in 2017–2018.

Figure 1: Circle of support for community vitality

2. Update on the Government of Canada’s official languages mechanisms in 2017–2018

The following is an update on some of the Government of Canada’s major actions and mechanisms that illustrate its commitment to the development and vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada, and to fostering the full recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society.

In this section

• 2.1 Announcement of the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023
• 2.2 Final year of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018
• 2.3 Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie 2017
• 2.4 Second Joint Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministerial Forum on Francophone Immigration
• 2.5 Update on education agreements
• 2.6 Update on agreements regarding access to services in French
• 2.7 Increased support for French language services in the North
• 2.8 New step toward reinstating the Court Challenges Program
• 2.9 Financial support for Acadians and Francophones in Nova Scotia
• 2.10 Canada 150

2.1 Announcement of the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023

In 2017–2018, the Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) continued development of the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in our Future.

This new horizontal federal official languages strategy is the result of an extensive analysis of the cross-Canada official languages consultations in which 6,500 Canadians and organizations took part between June and December 2016, and on which a report was published in June 2017.

Announced on March 28, 2018, the Action Plan 2018–2023 came into effect on April 1, 2018. Reflecting Canadians’ realities and experiences, it proposes a vision for the future, new financial assistance and specific initiatives to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities and promote English and French from coast to coast. It includes some 30 new initiatives based on the following 3 pillars:

• Strengthening our communities
• Strengthening access to services
• Promoting a bilingual Canada

An investment of $499.2 million was provided in addition to the current investments of $2.2 billion (from the former Roadmap) to bring the Government of Canada’s support to a total of nearly $2.7 billion over 5 years.

In new investments only, the Action Plan 2018–2023 provides for:

• $267 million to strengthen communities, including:
  • $70 million over 5 years (bringing the total funding to more than $320 million), to increase core funding for community organizations including:
    • $57.37 million allocated to Canadian Heritage
    • $4.4 million allocated to Health Canada
    • $4.5 million to Employment and Social Development Canada
    • $3.75 million to Justice Canada
  • $14.5 million to support community media and the next generation of media professionals
  • more than $5 million to create a dedicated fund for English-speaking communities in Quebec
  • $10 million to strengthen strategic investments
  • more than $95 million over 5 years for construction projects related to school, cultural and community infrastructure
  • more than $20 million in child care services
  • more than $11 million for local and regional cultural activities in minority communities and schools
  • more than $40 million for Francophone immigration
• $129 million to strengthen access to services, including:
  • more than $5 million to enrich community schools through cultural and identity-building activities
  • $31.3 million to support recruitment and retention of teachers for minority schools
  • $10 million to improve access to justice
  • more than $22 million to improve access to health care services in minority communities
  • $60 million to improve French-language services in the territories (2018–2023)
• $100 million to promote a bilingual Canada, including:
  • $16.5 million to create a new online tool to learn English and French as second languages
  • $31.3 million for recruitment and retention of immersion and French-as-a-second-language teachers
  • $12.6 million to English-speaking students for French language programs at the post-secondary level
  • $39.7 million to increase opportunities for language and culture exchanges
• $3 million over 5 years to support Statistics Canada’s data gathering and analysis to address the official languages needs of its numerous federal and community partners

The new Action Plan initiatives will be implemented by the following 7 federal institution partners:

• Canadian Heritage
• Employment and Social Development Canada
• Health Canada
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Justice Canada
• Public Health Agency of Canada
• Statistics Canada

More details on the implementation of this new action plan will be provided in future annual reports.

2.2 Final year of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018

The Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013–2018: Education, Immigration, Communities, which presented the Government of Canada’s former strategy to protect and promote Canada’s both official languages, ended on March 31, 2018.

The Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018 contained 28 initiatives to strengthen and promote official languages in Canada. Implemented by 14 federal institutions, these initiatives were grouped under 3 main pillars:

• Education
• Immigration
• Communities

Figure 2: Planned spending and actual spending in 2017–2018 of the Roadmap for Official Languages (in dollars)

2.3 Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie 2017

The 22nd Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie was held in June 2017 in Gatineau. For the first time since its creation in 1994, this annual meeting, co-chaired by the Honourable Mélanie Joly and the Honourable John Streicker, Minister responsible for the French Language Services Directorate for the Government of Yukon, was organized by the Government of Canada as part of Canada 150.

Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Francophone affairs in their respective jurisdictions discussed a wide range of topics affecting Francophone communities, including:

• access to justice services in French
• improvement of government services in French
• the Francophone Heritage, Cultural and Tourism Corridor project (a more detailed description of this initiative is provided later in this report)

The ministers in attendance also agreed to:

• incrementally offer more government services in French to the general public
• review, with the minister responsible for justice in their jurisdiction, measures to be taken to enable and facilitate access to justice in French in family law matters
• continue the dialogue and collaboration with their immigration colleagues from the Forum on Francophone Immigration held in Moncton in March 2017 to ensure that the recommendations made at that forum are implemented, including holding a second intergovernmental forum and a symposium with the community sector.

2.4 Second Joint Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministerial Forum on Francophone Immigration

Building on the momentum of the first Forum on Francophone Immigration held in New Brunswick in 2017, federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for immigration and the Canadian Francophonie participated in the second Forum on Francophone Immigration organized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and its Ontario government counterparts in March 2018 in Toronto.

In particular, they discussed concrete measures to be taken to increase Francophone immigration outside Quebec. They also announced the new Federal/Provincial/Territorial Action Plan for Increasing Francophone Immigration Outside of Quebec.

This action plan sets out concrete measures that governments can take, individually or collectively, to increase Francophone immigration. Concrete measures include:

• promoting immigration opportunities and pathways, as well as settlement services, to prospective French-speaking immigrants
• increasing employer engagement to recruit and hire French-speaking immigrants
• increasing the availability, awareness and accessibility of services in French
• fostering diverse and inclusive Francophone communities

Ministers also committed to developing appropriate indicators and fostering the ongoing sharing of best practices for reporting on progress.

This forum was followed by the Symposium on Francophone Immigration held in Calgary in March 2018. Organized by the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie, this very first symposium laid the foundation for new collaboration between federal, provincial and territorial governments and Francophone minority communities. At the symposium, representatives from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada presented the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Action Plan for Increasing Francophone Immigration Outside of Quebec.

2.5 Update on education agreements

The year 2017–2018 marked the end of the 5-year cycle of agreements on minority language education and second language instruction between the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories represented by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

The Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) continued the negotiations initiated in July 2017 with the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, to establish the next Protocol for Agreements on Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction 2018–2023. Pending the conclusion of the next protocol, interim measures have been negotiated to extend the agreements for an additional 2 years (2018–2019 and 2019–2020).

In reading this report, you will learn of concrete examples of the contributions that federal institutions have made in the field of education.

2.6 Update on agreements regarding access to services in French

The year 2017–2018 also marked the end of the 5-year cycle for agreements regarding French language services, other than education, between the Government of Canada and the provinces. The Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) began negotiations in December 2017 with all provincial governments to renew the agreements for the next 5 years (2018–2019 to 2022–2023).

Once again this year, the federal government’s contribution made it possible to maintain or increase the delivery of French language services and to include French language service delivery in the development of new programs and services, while ensuring that third parties providing services on behalf of the Government also offer them in French.

In reading this report, you will learn of concrete examples of the contributions that federal institutions have made regarding access to services.

2.7 Increased support for French language services in the North

The Government of Canada has supported French language services in the North since 1984 through an agreement with the Northwest Territories, which was used for Yukon in 1988 and Nunavut in 1999.

In May 2017, Canadian Heritage announced the agreements signed with each of the territorial partners (in late 2016–2017) that significantly expand federal financial support for French language services delivered by the territories. These agreements will allow the territories to more fully meet their obligations with respect to French language services in the North.

Figure 3: Financial federal support by territory from 2016–2017 to 2019–2020 (in dollars)

2.8 New step toward reinstating the Court Challenges Program

In late 2016–2017, Canadian Heritage and Justice Canada announced a process to select an independent body that would be mandated to implement and manage the reinstatement and modernization of the Court Challenges Program. The University of Ottawa was then chosen.

In September 2017, the federal government announced the 5 people appointed to form the committee responsible for recommending the selection criteria for candidates to fill the 14 positions on the new program’s 2 independent expert panels. These 2 expert panels, one responsible for official languages rights and the other responsible for human rights, are tasked with assessing funding applications for cases of national importance and allocating resources accordingly. The appointment of members to these expert panels was announced in November 2018.

The objective of the renewed Court Challenges Program is to provide financial support to individuals and groups in Canada to bring before the courts test cases of national significance that aim to clarify and assert certain constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language rights and human rights.

2.9 Financial support for Acadians and Francophones in Nova Scotia

In June 2017, Canadian Heritage announced a contribution of $1.8 million over 5 years (2017–2018 to 2021–2022) to the Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse. This funding will enable the Fédération to enhance the vitality and the global development of the province’s Acadian and Francophone community. Some of the initiatives made possible through this funding include cultural tourism and the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie in Nova Scotia’s Acadian community.

2.10 Canada 150

In 2017, the Government of Canada marked the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Federal institutions organized a variety of activities across the country under 4 themes (diversity and inclusion, engaging and inspiring youth, Indigenous reconciliation and the environment) to give Canadians an opportunity to celebrate throughout the year.

Canada 150 provided Canadians with great opportunities to promote the country’s bilingual character, at home and abroad. Several of the initiatives funded by federal institutions had a positive effect on official language minority communities and the promotion of English and French in Canadian society. In reading this report, you will learn of some of these initiatives.

3. Community development: Renewal and mobilization

Under section 41 of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, federal institutions must take positive measures to support the development of Canada’s English and French linguistic minorities.

The initiatives presented in this section demonstrate how some federal institutions contributed to this obligation in 2017–2018 in the following areas:

• 3.1 Education and youth
• 3.2 Immigration

3.1 Education and youth

In this section

• 3.1.1 Early childhood
• 3.1.2 Investment in education
• 3.1.3 Education programs and youth civic engagement
• 3.1.4 Training for health professionals
• 3.1.5 Training for legal professionals

3.1.1 Early childhood

Improving bilingual access to children’s programs

The Public Health Agency of Canada renewed funding provided to Pluri-Elles in Manitoba until 2020 under the Community Action Program for Children, to improve bilingual access to children’s programs across the province.

Purchase of French resources for early childhood

Also with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Association régionale de la côte Ouest (ARCO) of Newfoundland and Labrador purchased resources (books, audio tools, etc.) on language development and learning French in early childhood. These resources are available to children, educators and families in the 2 Francophone communities in the Port-au-Port Peninsula.

3.1.2 Investment in education

Support for minority language education

As previously stated, the Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) continued to manage 13 bilateral education agreements with provincial and territorial governments to support education in the minority language and second language instruction.

In 2017–2018, these agreements helped close to 244,578 young Canadians living in minority communities study in their language in more than 923 schools across the country. They also supported the work of close to 40 school boards and 39 minority language post-secondary institutions in all regions of Canada.

Through these agreements, the Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) has contributed to the funding of complementary projects intended to support minority language education. In 2017–2018, it provided:

• a contribution of $825,000 to the Government of Nova Scotia for its community school development and support project, which consisted of reviewing the role of the school and community development officers currently working in each of the 11 high schools in the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, in order to add support for newcomers to their job descriptions
• a contribution of $200,000 to the Government of Quebec for its project to adapt the AlloProf support platform to assist English-speaking minority parents in supporting their children’s success in school
• a contribution of $100,000 to the Government of Alberta for its post-secondary language testing project, which consisted of developing a French language testing tool for Francophone students at the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean
• a contribution of $186,000 to the Government of the Northwest Territories for its plan to expand the Collège nordique francophone, which was intended to help the post-secondary institution coordinate course planning and delivery in order to meet the post-secondary and skills training needs of the Francophone community, as well as build a promotional plan to communicate the new measures developed

Figure 4: Implementation expenditures for the "minority language education" component (Protocol for Agreements) (in dollars)

Support for educational infrastructure

In 2017–2018, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada supported 30 projects to improve or modernize the facilities of 16 of the 28 post-secondary institutions that provide services to official language minority communities, for a total financial contribution of more than $232 million.

3.1.3 Education programs and youth civic engagement

Destination Clic program

The Destination Clic program, an initiative funded by Canadian Heritage, enabled 270 young Francophones from minority communities to improve their first official language, by means of summer language bursaries, while discovering different communities across Canada.

The Leadership Discovery Program offered in French

Funded by Canadian Heritage, Girls Inc. of Halton in Ontario offered a French version of its Leadership Discovery program in 4 French language schools. Typically offered only in English, this program has enabled over 200 Francophone girls in the Halton community to develop leadership skills.

Jeunes leaders d’ICI

Through its initiative Jeunes leaders d’ICI, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Société Radio-Canada enabled listeners to discover the leadership, personality and commitment of 40 young Francophone and Francophile leaders. Following a vote, 8 winners were chosen to attend the Sommet des jeunes leaders d’ICI, a leadership summit held in Winnipeg in June 2017, where they had an opportunity to share their cause and thoughts.

Succession planning

The Association canadienne-française de l’Ontario (ACFO) of the Temiskaming region hired a project authority to provide practical knowledge on community engagement, the operation of a board of directors and the creation of a youth cooperative for young Francophones in the region. Funded by the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor), this measure has enabled some 60 young people from 4 French language elementary schools in Temiskaming to better understand project management, governance, cooperative models, the use of social media and creation of websites to post and promote their activities in French. It also provided the young people with an opportunity to network with young people from other participating schools and community organizations. The leaders who mentored these young people have extensive knowledge of the Franco-Ontarian community, which contributed to the success of the initiative.

3.1.4 Training for health professionals

Health Canada supported the training and retention of health professionals in official language minority communities, which strengthened the capacities of health networks in these communities. The following are examples illustrating this support in 2017–2018:

In Quebec

• McGill University had 830 enrolments in its language training program for health professionals and reception staff of Quebec’s health services network. In total, 569 health professionals and receptionists took language training courses during the year.
• McGill University also coordinated a fellowship program, regional internships and professional courses in French for students to increase the number of health and social services professionals able to meet the needs of English-speaking people in the regions of Quebec. McGill’s internship program helped 70 bilingual students, who benefited from better placement opportunities in English-speaking minority communities.

Outside Quebec

• 787 Francophone students graduated from a health-related program at one of the 11 post-secondary institutions funded by Health Canada. The results of the follow-up survey of graduates revealed an average placement rate of 73% in health facilities in Francophone minority communities, which contributed to increasing the number of health professionals able to meet the needs of Francophones.
• To improve the availability of bilingual health professionals and access to French language health services in minority settings, Health Canada funded the “Consortium national de formation en santé” (CNFS) under the umbrella of the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne. In 2017–2018, the consortium’s 11 member institutions had 1,126 enrolments and 787 additional graduates in 100 health training programs.
• The Consortium national de formation en santé also implemented 22 projects as part of existing continuing education programs for health professionals, as well as programs designed to support and strengthen clinical training and actively offer services in French.
• In 2017–2018, through the Franco Doc project, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada provided more than 100 Francophone and Francophile medical students in English language institutions with tools to better serve Francophone minority communities. In addition to creating internship opportunities in minority communities, this project helped the students network with one another and with French-speaking health professionals working with Francophone communities.
• The Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario worked closely with multiple partners to create, validate and adapt an online training workshop on the active offer of services in both official languages. This training is provided free of charge to health professionals and managers in Ontario.
• RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique produced 6 video clips promoting health care occupations in French, as well as 2 videos with medical information. The organization also collaborated with La Boussole and the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre to develop free training in French on the prevention of opioid overdoses and the use of the naloxone kit.
• Four (4) member colleges of the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne and the Consortium national de formation en santé worked together to produce tools to help people prepare for the admission exams of 3 college programs (licensed practical nursing, pharmaceutical techniques and medical radiation technology). These tools are available on an online platform to provide access to a larger number of students.

3.1.5 Training for legal professionals

As shown by the following 2 examples, Justice Canada provided stakeholders of Canada’s justice system with access to language training in order to facilitate access to justice for Canadians in the official language of their choice in all provinces and territories.

Language training for judges

In 2017–2018, 43 provincially appointed English-speaking judges who wanted to improve their ability to hear cases in French participated in one of 2 week-long language training sessions offered in New Brunswick. Workshops to improve oral expression and various simulations, such as a police officer’s testimony, an appearance and trial, as well as cultural visits promoting communication in French, were included in the program. Participants were able to attend appearances before the New Brunswick Provincial Court in Caraquet. Twelve (12) French-speaking judges of the Court of Quebec also participated in similar English language training sessions in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.

PratiquO and Juriblogue

With support from Justice Canada and the Government of Ontario, the Common Law Section of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa created pratiquO (in French only) in June 2017. This professional development centre offers live conferences and workshops as well as online training to Francophone and Francophile legal professionals in Ontario, with a view to improving access to justice in French. In collaboration with the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario, pratiquO also hosts the blog Juriblogue (in French only), which provides access to the latest news in the legal world and enables users to participate in virtual discussions on current topics in French.

3.2 Immigration

In this section

• 3.2.1 Engagement with partners and stakeholders
• 3.2.2 Promotion and recruitment
• 3.2.3 Settlement and integration

3.2.1 Engagement with partners and stakeholders

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada carried out various initiatives in 2017–2018 that engaged partners and stakeholders on immigration and official languages issues, including:

• the creation of the Francophone Immigration Policy Hub to improve cohesion and harmonization among the department’s various initiatives and contribute to achieving the objectives for Francophone immigration. In particular, this hub developed a Francophone immigration strategy that was announced in 2018–2019
• a research symposium in Montreal with representatives and organizations from English-speaking communities in Quebec
• the second Joint Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministerial Forum on Francophone Immigration in Toronto, and the first Francophone Immigration Symposium in Calgary

3.2.2 Promotion and recruitment

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada also continued to carry out activities to encourage newcomers to settle in Francophone minority communities. The following are examples of initiatives carried out in 2017–2018:

• Increased activities to promote the Francophonie outside Quebec and recruit Francophone immigrants. For example:
  • During the 13th edition of the flagship event Destination Canada (organized in collaboration with the Canadian Embassy in Paris) held in Paris and Brussels in November 2017, there were 410 job offers, representing nearly 2,000 positions to be filled (almost double the previous year).
  • In addition to Destination Canada 2017, the Paris office of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada participated in more than 111 events promoting Francophone immigration. In particular, it:
    • organized 52 information sessions in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain with more than 3,300 participants
    • met with over 12,000 candidates at 19 international mobility fairs and exhibitions
    • organized 36 web conferences in 2018 with over 9,000 participants in 50 countries
  • Several Canadian missions of the department abroad (including those in Rabat, Tunis, Algiers, Dakar, Pretoria, Mexico City, Lima, London, Beijing, Manila, Singapore and Sydney) also organized various promotional and information activities to target Francophone immigration.
• Increasing use of social media: To promote Francophone immigration, the department regularly developed content that was posted on the social media accounts of Canadian missions in several Francophone countries. It also used social media to promote and announce the various events and to webcast many information sessions and workshops. For example, as part of Destination Canada 2017, 1,490 Internet users in 50 countries viewed the workshops available by webcast, representing a 396% increase over the 2016 edition (with approximately 300 Internet users).
• Implementation of changes to the Express Entry criteria (the online system that manages applications for permanent residence for skilled workers) in June and October 2017 to:
  • award additional points to those with strong French skills
  • send an automated message to candidates who can communicate in French

  During the second half of 2017, 3.8% of Express Entry invitations were sent to Francophone candidates, compared with 2.2% from January to June 2017. The points awarded to those with strong French skills encourage more French-speaking foreign nationals to create an Express Entry profile.

• Creation of the “Francophone Immigration in Canada” travelling exhibit: Organized in partnership with the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA), this bilingual exhibit outlined the history of Francophone immigration in Canada and described the experience of newcomers to Canada and their contribution to the vitality of Canada’s Francophone communities. Since the exhibit was launched in April 2017, it has been seen by over 500,000 people across the country.

Third Provincial Forum of Francophone Immigration Support Networks

In addition to the initiatives of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, we also want to mention the support from FedNor, which made it possible for the Northern Network to organize the Third Provincial Forum of Francophone Immigration Support Networks in November 2017 in Timmins, Ontario. Under the theme of “the regionalization of Francophone immigration,” representatives of Francophone organizations across Ontario reflected on and discussed efforts needed to ensure the success of Francophone immigration in rural and remote Francophone communities.

3.2.3 Settlement and integration

Citizenship ceremonies in French

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada also organized citizenship ceremonies in French in predominantly English-speaking regions of the country, including:

• a ceremony in Winnipeg on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
• another in Ontario during National Francophone Immigration Week in November 2017
• one at the Centre francophone de Toronto in February 2018

In addition to celebrating and promoting the bilingual nature of Canadian society, these ceremonies demonstrated that a Francophone minority group can retain its identity, even in a minority setting.

Language training for economic immigrants

The Government of Canada recognizes that the acquisition of skills in either official language is a key driver of economic immigration and social integration. With support from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, economic immigrants across the country (except Quebec) had the opportunity to learn English or French by participating in one of the following language training programs free of charge:

• Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC), in English
• Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada (CLIC), in French

These courses, from beginner to advanced, cover the following 4 competencies: reading, writing, listening and speaking. It should be noted that, in 2017–2018, 21% of economic immigrants enrolled in language training progressed in at least 3 of the 4 competencies.

It should also be noted that, since April 2017, the New Brunswick Community College (NBCC)/Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) has been the only service provider that administers language testing in English and French for the province. It is also responsible for all French language testing for the 4 Atlantic provinces, and LINC/CLIC training for all of New Brunswick. By using a single service provider, the department strives to improve efficiency and facilitate the labour market integration of immigrants more quickly.

The department has also explored new ways to promote language training. In particular, it broadcast the promotional video “Language Training for Canada” on its YouTube channel. Initially offered in English and French, then dubbed in Arabic, this video was dubbed in Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi and Farsi in 2017–2018.

Supporting the integration of Francophone immigrants

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada continued to invest in 2017–2018 to support the integration of Francophone immigrants, including $1 million in New Brunswick alone.

Figure 5: Number of French-speaking unique clients who have received at least one settlement service in Canada

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, February 28, 2019

Figure 6: Number of French-speaking unique clients who have received at least one settlement service in New Brunswick

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, February 28, 2019

Employability programs for French-speaking newcomers

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada also promoted the expansion of employability programs for French-speaking newcomers. The following are some initiatives that were launched in 2017–2018:

• Through the SK Connector Program, the Conseil économique et coopératif de la Saskatchewan (CÉCS) enabled entrepreneurs and community leaders to connect with immigrants, international and local graduates, and professionals who were prepared to work in their industry. This program, which is offered through various formats (job shadowing, conversation, mentoring, etc.) in English or French, has enabled newcomers to break their isolation and continue to practise English or French.
• In September 2017, the Société économique de l’Ontario (SÉO) created an immigration and employability advisor position in Sudbury to identify employers in northern Ontario wanting to hire Francophone newcomers. At least 20 Francophone newcomers were therefore able to find employment in one year. In light of this success, the organization obtained funding from FedNor to serve all Francophones in the region, not just newcomers. Since April 2018, there have been 2 advisors in Northern Ontario, one in Sudbury and one in Thunder Bay.
• In October 2017, the Coopérative d’intégration francophone de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard (CIFÎPÉ) and the Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité (RDÉE) de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard launched the Centre d’aide aux nouveaux arrivants. This new one-stop shop offers a wide range of reception, settlement, integration and employability services to Francophone immigrants to Prince Edward Island.
• In January 2018, the Fédération francophone de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador (FFTNL) created Compas, a community-based service that focuses on assisting Francophone newcomers in their efforts to settle in the province.

Employment and Social Development Canada also supported the employability of immigrants by funding the Société économique de l’Ontario (SÉO) to test the impact of a mentoring program on the labour market integration of highly skilled newcomers, particularly in Ontario’s Francophone communities. Thanks to this new employment assistance measure, 20 highly skilled Francophone newcomers gained their first Canadian work experience in their field of study in a Francophone minority community.

Reducing barriers

In 2017–2018, the University of Alberta received funding from Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism Funding Program) to develop the project “Contrer l'homo/transphobie parmi les immigrants francophones des minorités visibles” at Campus Saint-Jean in Edmonton. The project was designed to help immigrants to Alberta better understand the reality of sexual minorities and provide young people with a safe place to learn about the realities of sexual minorities who have experienced discrimination and exclusion in their cultural community.

4. Community vitality: Achievements and outreach

According to section 41 of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, in addition to taking positive measures to support the development of Canada’s English and French linguistic minority communities, federal institutions must also take positive measures to enhance their vitality.

The initiatives presented in this section demonstrate how some federal institutions contributed to this obligation in 2017–2018 in the following areas of activity:

• 4.1 Social life
• 4.2 Cultural life
• 4.3 Economic life

Highlights

Intergovernmental cooperation on minority language services

In 2017–2018, the Government of Canada had 13 bilateral agreements with provincial and territorial governments to provide direct services to the population in sectors other than minority language education, including justice, health, culture, economic development and municipal services.

Canadian Heritage continued to support the delivery of services provided by provincial and territorial governments in 2017–2018, including measures taken to implement acts, regulations or policies on French language services outside Quebec and English language services in Quebec.

Support for minority communities

Canadian Heritage also provided financial support to nearly 400 local, provincial and national community organizations that worked directly to ensure the vitality of official language minority communities in 2017–2018. This support made it possible to:

• provide cultural or educational services to specific groups, such as parents or youth
• support more than 30 school community centres, which are often the main or the only gathering place for over 172,000 Francophones living in areas where access to services or activities in French would otherwise be very limited
• create activities in dozens of other cultural or community centres
• organize large cultural gatherings and activities at the regional or local level
• help organizations that support the work of more than 100 community media (radio stations and newspapers), such as the Association de la presse francophone and the Alliance des radios communautaires

4.1 Social life

In this section

• 4.1.1 Health services
• 4.1.2 Justice services
• 4.1.3 Social development and community partnership
• 4.1.4 Innovation and technology
• 4.1.5 Support for recreational and community infrastructure

4.1.1 Health services

Strengthening the capacity of health networks

Health Canada continued to make significant efforts across the country in 2017–2018 to strengthen the capacity of the 36 community health networks that work closely with various health stakeholders to improve access to health services for English- and French-speaking minorities.

Community Health Social Services Network

• The Community Health Social Services Network (CHSSN) and its 20 networks collaborated with staff from 19 of Quebec’s 22 integrated health and social services centres (CISSS) and integrated university health and social services centres (CIUSSS) to improve access to health and social services for the province’s English-speaking community.
• It also actively represented the needs of the English-speaking community on several local and regional tables that have a role in influencing access to health services, such as tables for seniors, youth and early childhood.

Société Santé en français networks

• On Prince Edward Island, the Deputy Minister of the Department of Health and Wellness agreed to sit on the Board of Directors of the Prince Edward Island French Language Health Services Network (PEIFLHSN). This network also received an invitation to sit on the advisory committee for Nova Scotia’s Minister of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie.
• The Société Santé et Mieux-être en français du Nouveau-Brunswick (SSMEFNB) continued its efforts to influence and raise awareness among key stakeholders in the province in order to encourage the province to adopt the health card that indicates the patient’s language of preference, as Prince Edward Island has done. One of the outcomes was the commitment made by the Associate Deputy Minister, Health Services and Francophone Affairs, Department of Health, to explore the possibility of including a language field on the health insurance form. This type of project is also being explored in Ontario as a pilot project and is being considered in other provinces.
• In Ontario, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, local health integration networks and health service providers worked closely together to develop an accountability framework for French language services. This initiative defined the roles and responsibilities of each level.
• The French Language Health Services Network of Eastern Ontario completed version 2.0 of a web portal called OZI to better compile information on the capacity of human resources to provide health services in French and thus support decision-making, planning and accountability. This new portal was deployed in winter 2018 in 1,500 health organizations in Ontario.

Increased access to health services and retention of professionals

• In November 2017, the Société Santé en français and the Réseau Franco-Santé du Sud de l’Ontario announced the launch of Health Human Resources Strategy, a new online resource. This platform supports health organizations in their recruitment and retention of bilingual staff.
• In terms of tools and practices, the Société Santé en français and the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres (CACHC) contributed to the development and dissemination of the Guide pour la planification d’un centre de santé communautaire francophone. This guide proposes a locally tailored model for developing health services in French through the creation of a community health centre adapted to the needs of the Francophone minority community.

Strategy to address gender-based violence

In June 2017, the Government of Canada launched It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence to be implemented by Status of Women Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Safety Canada, the Department of National Defence, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

As part of this strategy, Status of Women Canada is responsible for the Gender-Based Violence Program. The purpose of this program is to assist organizations working in the gender-based violence sector in designing and implementing promising practices to address gaps in support for Indigenous people and underserved populations across the country. During the call for project concepts in winter 2018, Status of Women Canada targeted women in official language minority communities. About a quarter of the proposals received targeted this particular group.

4.1.2 Justice services

Access to legal information in the official language of choice

Justice Canada supported or promoted various initiatives in 2017–2018 that provided Canadians with access to legal information about their rights and responsibilities in the official language of their choice.

• Thanks to a range of personalized services offered in legal information centres that have been in operation since 2013, Francophones in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba were able to continue to obtain assistance in their language in 2017–2018 in order to better prepare to deal with legal issues.
• Justice Canada renewed funding for the Éducaloi and Cliquezjustice.ca (in French only) legal information portals, which are designed to compile and disseminate legal information for use by the general public.
• The Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador visited Francophone community organizations and elementary schools in the province, as well as schools offering French immersion programs to raise awareness among youth of their rights and responsibilities regarding cyberbullying, privacy and the distribution of intimate photos or videos during their online activities.
• The Alberta Rural Development Network developed the “Justice Bus,” a project designed to provide free legal workshops in rural Alberta. Under the supervision of a volunteer lawyer, law students travelled to 9 remote rural Francophone communities to offer private and confidential consultations on a variety of issues and questions. This project made law and justice in French more accessible to members of these communities.

Information for justice system stakeholders

Justice Canada also continued to support various resources for justice system stakeholders in 2017–2018, including:

• Jurisource.ca (in French only), a virtual library and collaboration and exchange platform for distance education for legal professionals practising in official language minority communities across Canada.
• the 4 jurilinguist centres of the University of Ottawa, the Université de Moncton, McGill University and the Université de Saint-Boniface. These centres produce linguistic reference works and standardize common law terminology in French, as well as specialized civil law vocabulary in English. These works—which are intended primarily for law professors, lawyers and jurists working in the legislative departments of the federal, provincial and territorial governments—contribute to the vitality of Canada’s 2 legal traditions in both official languages.

Videos to help victims in Whitehorse

As part of the “Together for Safety” protocol, which aims to increase the safety of women in Yukon, the RCMP and 6 women’s groups in Whitehorse produced a series of 3 videos in both official languages in 2017–2018. The videos provide information about the reporting process and the criminal justice system to women who are victims of sexual assault or domestic violence, as well as information about the health and social services that are available to them. These videos were posted on the social media accounts of the organization Les Essentielles, one of the signatories to the protocol which represents the interests of Francophone women in Yukon, as well as on the website of Yukon RCMP.

4.1.3 Social development and community partnership

Social partnership

Employment and Social Development Canada supported the following 2 intermediary organizations:

• the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), for Anglophone minority communities
• the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada (FAAFC), for Francophone minority communities

In 2017–2018, the Quebec Community Groups Network:

• created a Community Innovation Fund that funded 10 social initiative projects designed to improve the employability of vulnerable youth, seniors and their caregivers, and newcomers to Quebec’s English-speaking communities, or to secure their basic socio-economic needs
• partnered with Thinkr, a group of students in McGill University’s MBA program, to provide free management consulting services to recipient organizations of the Fund

In 2017–2018, the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada continued to coordinate and evaluate the 29 projects of the national initiative “Ensemble pour le développement social des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada”. This initiative involves 4 organizations that work together to help minority communities develop and strengthen their capacities in the following areas:

• Francophone youth, through the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française (FJCF)
• Francophone seniors and retirees, through the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada
• Francophone women and caregivers, through the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne (AFFC)
• Francophone parents, through the Commission nationale des parents francophones (CNPF)

To receive funding, projects must promote approaches that focus on social innovation, partnership creation and citizen service. To date, these 29 projects have reached over 113,915 Francophones and Francophiles across the country by providing direct service to over 11,359 citizens in more than 80 Francophone minority communities.

Combatting the rape culture on campuses

With support from Status of Women Canada, the Atwater Library and Computer Centre is conducting a major 36-month (2017–2020) project on rape culture on English college and university campuses in the Montreal area. Since the project started, various community groups, public agencies and educational institutions have been working together to:

• examine the correlation between online and offline violence
• assist stakeholders in developing best practices, protocols and policies to address this issue

Before the funding ends in 2020, best practices will be tested in 3 English colleges in the Montreal area. Recommendations will then be developed and shared with the English and French academic communities, as well as with stakeholders in the media, technology and video game industry, to support similar systemic changes in their own networks.

Preferred hotel rates

Public Services and Procurement Canada’s Hotel Card Program allows official language minority community organizations to benefit from the Government of Canada’s preferred rates for accommodations in participating hotels in Canada. In 2017–2018, participating organizations were able to benefit from preferred rates for a total of 987 nights of accommodation during business travel. The program was renewed in January 2018 for a period of 2 years. In total, 155 organizations joined the program, representing 56 new memberships and 99 renewals.

Maintaining forest health

In order to help New Brunswick’s official language minority communities maintain the health of their forests, researchers and representatives of Natural Resources Canada’s Atlantic Forestry Centre carried out various outreach activities with these communities.

• At various fairs and workshops, they provided updates on the current status of the spruce budworm and updated on their research activities.
• In May 2017, they participated in the Salon de la forêt in Edmundston, a key event in French forestry that brings in 4,000 to 5,000 participants annually.
• They also conducted interviews with various French language media (Acadie Nouvelle, Radio-Canada and La Semaine verte).

4.1.4 Innovation and technology

Hackathon

In March 2018, the Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) organized, with various partners, the very first official languages programming marathon (Hackathon Accès Franco 2018) in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Using open data provided by the Government of Canada, the Government of New Brunswick, the City of Moncton and the private sector, 35 students or recent graduates of computer science programs or other fields of interest were engaged to collaboratively develop mobile or web application prototypes to address various local issues in official language minority communities. After 35 hours, the participants presented their prototypes (16 in all) to a jury.

Following the success of this innovative formula, other hackathons are planned in 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 in official language minority communities elsewhere in Canada.

Online or distance courses

Support from Canada’s regional economic development agencies has made it possible to develop various online or distance courses that have benefited Francophones in minority communities. For example:

• FedDev Ontario provided support to La Cité so it could continue to develop and improve its online training platform (coffres.ca) in order to increase access to management training for Francophone entrepreneurs in the Ottawa region. In 2017–2018, the college:
  • added 5 new training modules (for a total of 77)
  • incorporated an online discussion feature
  • set up 7 additional collaborative projects with the business community (for a total of 46)
• With support from Western Economic Diversification Canada, the Université de Saint-Boniface in Manitoba launched the post-baccalaureate diploma in education with inclusive education specialization, a new distance education program (via the Internet) offered in French. Developed in collaboration with Simon Fraser University, the University of Alberta and the University of Regina, this program is designed for special education teachers, teachers and other education workers. A total of 23 students enrolled in the first course, offered in September 2017. In January 2018, the university sent a mail-out to promote this program in 600 French and French immersion schools in Western Canada.

Strengthening the language industry and technologies

In 2017–2018, the National Research Council of Canada continued its work to strengthen the country’s language industry and technologies, including the following:

• Portage II: The Council released several versions of its machine translation software (Portage II 3.x) and continued to update it for the Courts Administration Service. This software was also used to populate Environment Canada’s METEO system, which translates weather reports from English to French and from French to English.
• Global Public Health Intelligence Network: The Council also continued to develop and improve the multilingual system of the Global Public Health Intelligence Network. Managed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, this media monitoring system analyzes more than 20,000 online news stories from around the world in 9 languages and identifies potential public health threats. It is used by more than 700 users worldwide, including the World Health Organization.

Efficiency and accuracy of machine translation

In addition to the work on language technologies being done by the National Research Council of Canada, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency provided support to the Université de Moncton (Shippagan campus) to develop technologies that increase the efficiency and accuracy of machine translation. In particular, the university established a partnership with Campbellton-based company Centre Transmed, which works in the field of translation, to establish a series of innovative translation systems integrating new vocal and statistical techniques. Using these techniques, users will, for example, be able to dictate their translation orally and the translation software will accommodate for background noise and user accent.

4.1.5 Support for recreational and community infrastructure

Highlights

As part of the Investing in Canada Plan announced in the 2017 Federal Budget, the Government of Canada committed to invest $80 million over 10 years to support the construction of educational infrastructure in official language minority communities. In collaboration with the provinces and territories, the federal government will be able to support the construction of daycare centres, community centres and cultural centres. This commitment will contribute to enhancing the vitality of these communities by making them stronger while protecting their language and culture.

In April 2017, the Government of Canada announced that it was joining forces with the Government of Nova Scotia, through Canadian Heritage, to fund the modernization of the Louis R. Comeau Library at Université Sainte-Anne. The refurbishment of the library’s existing spaces to add a digitization laboratory, a study support centre and a video-conference room will enable the institution to offer cutting-edge technology services to the French-speaking university community it serves.

In November 2017, the Government of Canada also announced that Canadian Heritage would contribute to the construction of community spaces in Yukon’s first French language high school (funded by the provincial government). The community spaces will include a performance space. The combined efforts of the 2 governments will contribute to the development of the French-speaking community in Yukon.

Canadian Heritage supported Dawson College in Montreal in the purchase, installation and development of a new virtual data storage network to meet the growing needs of the community, and to provide users with greater flexibility and mobility. The migration to this new network has increased the stability of the existing computer system and has allowed the College to accommodate its growing student population. The increased capacity of the system has allowed access to a greater number of users among the students, faculty and College staff.

Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program

As part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, the Government of Canada launched the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program to provide financial support for rehabilitation and improvement projects and for the expansion of community and recreational infrastructure, including in official language minority communities.

Canada’s regional economic development agencies have been tasked with implementing this program:

• With financial support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Société Saint-Thomas d’Aquin has created school community gardens at each of Prince Edward Island’s 6 French language school community centres. The Indigenous community contributed to the project by sharing the importance and usefulness of medicinal plants and by helping design a “healing” garden in each community.
• The Centre communautaire Sainte-Anne in Fredericton, New Brunswick, received support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to renovate and modernize its facilities. This funding made it possible to renovate the Bernard Poirier theatre and modernize the Bâtisseurs gallery and the heritage room. The Centre communautaire Sainte-Anne is a New Brunswick Crown corporation whose mission is to contribute to the promotion and outreach of the Francophonie in the provincial capital region.
• In Quebec, of the 41 projects approved in 2017–2018, 27 were located in English-speaking minority communities. These 27 projects represented 66% of the total assistance provided by the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
• FedNor funded 167 projects, including those that enabled Francophone communities in the Northern Ontario region to:
  • modernize the building of the Club de l’âge d’or de Mattice
  • rehabilitate the Saint-Charles community arena
  • renovate the community hall of the Francophone centre in Thunder Bay
• Western Economic Diversification Canada funded 59 projects, including those that enabled Francophone communities in Western Canada to:
  • build change rooms and upgrade the heating and cooling system at the Shamrock Curling Society’s curling rink, located in the French Quarter of Edmonton, Alberta, which houses Western Canada’s only Francophone curling league
  • replace the asphalt surface of the outdoor ice rink at Calgary’s Westgate Community Association, located near Westgate School, a French immersion elementary school
  • modernize Carillon Park and build a new splash park in the bilingual municipality of Saint-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba
  • renovate the Coop Vélo-Cité’s community bicycle repair shop, the only one of its kind that offers services in French in Winnipeg and Western Canada

4.2 Cultural life

Highlights

Canadian Heritage’s Community Cultural Action Fund has been used to support and enhance cultural, artistic and heritage actions of official language minority communities, and ensure outreach of the wealth and the diverse cultural, artistic and heritage expressions of these communities.

In 2017–2018, more than $1.7 million enabled Canadian non-profit organizations and provincial and territorial governments to implement various initiatives to support the development of English and French linguistic minority communities in all regions of the country.

In this section

• 4.2.1 Support for cultural infrastructure
• 4.2.2 Support to artists and creators
• 4.2.3 Promotion of artists
• 4.2.4 Showcasing heritage

4.2.1 Support for cultural infrastructure

Autonomy of local English language stations in Quebec

In 2017–2018, CBC/Radio-Canada announced the creation of a new department called “Local Services” to give local stations more autonomy and independence over local operations and programming. The purpose of this new department is to build stronger communities by helping Canadians connect with one another and be more informed and more curious about their country and the world.

CBC Quebec allocated additional resources to the production of its daily news and current affairs programming, including:

• Indigenous intern and Indigenous journalist positions to better tell stories from Quebec’s Indigenous communities
• 2 new multiplatform assignment editors based in the CBC Montreal newsroom

It also broadcast Absolutely Quebec, a summer series of 6 documentaries featuring unique perspectives on English language culture in Quebec, and launched 3 new podcasts and a digital series with local flair.

Construction of La Place des Arts du Grand Sudbury

In October 2017, the Government of Canada announced a historic investment to help build La Place des Arts du Grand Sudbury, through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund (Canadian Heritage), in collaboration with the Government of Ontario, the City of Greater Sudbury and other arts stakeholders. Construction of this first-ever multidisciplinary arts centre in northeastern Ontario began in October 2018.

This new innovative gathering place for the Franco-Ontarian community will bring together 7 major Francophone cultural organizations and will house:

• several performance halls
• a contemporary art gallery
• 3 artist workshops
• a space for rehearsal and training
• 2 community meeting rooms
• administrative offices

“Quartier culturel” in the Acadian community of Chéticamp

In April and November 2017, the Government of Canada announced funding for the Conseil des arts de Chéticamp, through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund (Canadian Heritage), to create a new “quartier culturel” in the Acadian community of Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. The funding will be used to create a new art gallery, an exterior theatre and a water puppet theatre, which will be incorporated into a new multifunctional cultural space in partnership with the adjacent NDA School in Chéticamp. The “quartier culturel” is expected to open before summer 2019.

Creation of additional spaces for exhibits

Artist Jean-Denis Boudreau received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to carry out a project involving the use of modular structures (prefabricated containers) as additional spaces for exhibits, artist residencies and live arts. In summer 2018, these containers were placed throughout the cities of Moncton, Shediac and Dieppe to serve artists, special events and festivals. This innovative project is a collaboration with multiple partners and is expected to be repeated in summer 2019.

Partnerships that go a long way

Through partnerships, VIA Rail has contributed to the success of multiple activities and events for official language minority communities across the country, by offering transportation services and travel certificates. In 2017–2018, as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, VIA Rail renewed its partnerships with the Cercle Molière theatre, the Festival du voyageur and Francofonds. Its contribution therefore facilitated the travel of artists from across the country who travelled to Manitoba to participate in the activities of these organizations, and attracted visitors by offering them discounts.

4.2.2 Support to artists and creators

Music showcases

Through the Canada Music Fund, Canadian Heritage contributed to the organization of music showcases for artists from official language minority communities. In 2017–2018, more than 425 artists performed in over 910 music showcases presented at regional, national and international events, in addition to taking part in several touring opportunities. Many music showcases had a digital promotion component as well.

Market Access Strategy

Between April 2017 and June 2018, the Canada Council for the Arts funded 36 distinct projects by 32 artists and arts organizations from official language minority communities, with a view to increasing their access to national and international markets.

Commercialization of Francophone projects in Canada and abroad

On Screen Manitoba Inc. received support from Western Economic Diversification Canada over a 3-year period to support Francophone small and medium-sized cultural businesses to help them commercialize their projects in Canada and abroad. On Screen Manitoba implemented various measures such as:

• promotional activities
• training workshops
• strategic partnerships formed to accelerate project development
• development of a professional directory of Francophone media production experts

These measures are expected to generate $4 million in economic benefits on the international market and benefit 6 Francophone small and medium-sized businesses in the West.

Artistic development

Through the Official Languages Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts also provided financial support to 35 artists and organizations in official language minority communities in 2017–2018 to help them foster individual artistic development or organizational development.

Tremplin competition: emerging filmmakers

In collaboration with CBC/Radio-Canada, the National Film Board of Canada launched the 10th edition of the Tremplin competition in November 2017. This competition is open to emerging Francophone filmmakers outside Quebec who wish to produce a first or second short documentary. In March 2018, the finalists were able to participate in various development workshops. The winners were announced in May 2018 and their films were broadcast on ICI Radio-Canada Télé in 2018–2019.

Payments to authors of works borrowed from public libraries

In 2017–2018, the Canada Council for the Arts made a significant change to the sampling methodology of the Public Lending Right Program, which makes annual payments to authors whose works are in public libraries across the country.

Previously, sampling was based on language. For example, titles of French language works were held only in Quebec, New Brunswick and the Ottawa Public Library system, while English language titles were held across the country, with the exception of Quebec.

In order to provide better regional coverage and better representation of official languages in all provinces and territories, the Council decided in June 2017 that library catalogue searches would be conducted in all locations across the country. This means that, for example, a Franco-Ontarian writer or an Anglo-Quebec writer whose works are not in libraries outside their province will now be taken into account and paid through the program.

4.2.3 Promotion of artists

Zones Théâtrales

In September 2017, nearly 200 artists and performers from Francophone communities across Canada and the regions of Quebec participated in Zones Théâtrales in the nation’s capital. In total, there were:

• 7 productions from the Canadian Francophonie
• 6 public readings of unpublished texts
• 2 laboratories showcasing works in progress

The Fondation pour l’avancement du théâtre francophone au Canada also handed out 9 awards of excellence with scholarships.

This flagship initiative, the result of a partnership between Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre, contributes greatly to the vitality of the Francophone theatre community across Canada and gives national, and even international, visibility to the artists taking part in the initiative.

Chœurs d’ici, chansons d’ici

Ici Musique (Radio-Canada) launched a major competition for the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, which enabled 20 choirs from all regions of the country to sing on the album “Chœurs d’ici, chansons d’ici”. This unique album includes traditional songs, but most of all popular French Canadian classics from the past 50 years, in very beautiful choral arrangements.

Cinema

In 2017–2018, various federal institutions supported organizations and initiatives that promoted the discovery of Canadian cinema across the country and internationally, including productions by artists from official language minority communities.

• With support from the Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage), the Association des producteurs francophones du Canada and the Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada attempted to address issues of labour retention, and outreach and visibility of the works of French Canadian producers and creators working in minority communities. The project made it possible to:
  • create a directory listing workers in the film industry
  • develop and implement a plan and a national strategy to disseminate the works
  • organize Connexion francophone, a conference bringing together more than 100 producers, directors, distributors, broadcasters and actors from the cultural sector
• As part of the “Talent to Watch” program, which aims to discover new emerging Canadian talent and ensure the next generation of filmmakers, Telefilm Canada funded 73 feature films and fiction web series, some of which came from official language minority communities:
  • Pour mieux t’aimer by Denise Bouchard and Gilles Doiron from Moncton
  • Abigaëlle et le date coaching by Corey Loranger, Alberta’s first ever French language web series
• Telefilm Canada also continued to support Tournée Québec Cinéma, which provides an exceptional showcase for Quebec artists and filmmakers to introduce their films across the country, as well as several festivals dedicated mainly to minority language films in their region. For example, for French outside Quebec, the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie, the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois et francophone de Vancouver, Cinémental in Winnipeg and CinéFranco in Toronto, and for English in Quebec, the Montreal International Black Film Festival and the Hudson Festival of Canadian Film.
• As part of Canada 150, Telefilm also made it possible to subtitle, encode and dub a number of the 150 Canadian films specially selected for inclusion on its Rendez-vous Canada page in iTunes in order to make them available to all Canadians in both official languages and to promote this content internationally.
• Also as part of Canada 150, VIA Rail established a new partnership with Les films Séville, which offered free viewing of more than 200 hours of English and French Canadian content to VIA Rail passengers travelling on the Quebec–Windsor corridor, generating 150,000 views. An expansion of this initiative is being discussed, as well as a potential new partnership with Air Canada.

4.2.4 Showcasing heritage

The Canadian History Hall

As part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, on July 1, 2017, the Canadian History Museum opened the Canadian History Hall, which showcases Canadian history from the time of the earliest settlements to the present day. The hall features:

• a section on official bilingualism, which describes how the Canadian government has implemented a national bilingualism policy to ensure the equitable treatment of French speakers across the country
• a section on official language minority communities, which provides a demographic and cultural overview of these communities by means of a map, photographs, cartoons, and objects such as flags and banners

Acadian tourism heritage

• Learn more about Acadians before deportation: With support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Société Promotion Grand-Pré has developed new tourism experiences to increase the number of visitors to Grand-Pré National Historic Site in Nova Scotia. In 2017–2018, visitors had the opportunity to learn more about the life and challenges of the Acadian people in the 18th century before the deportation of the Acadians through:
  • storytelling with historical characters embodied by actors dressed in period costumes
  • puppet shows
  • special activities including musical performances
• Preservation of Acadian culture on Cape Breton Island: Similarly, Parks Canada and the Société Saint-Pierre signed a 3-year memorandum of understanding in 2017 to promote Acadian culture and language and increase the number of visitors to Cape Breton Island and the Chéticamp region. The projects under way include:
  • the fourth edition of the Roots to Boots Festival
  • telling the Acadian story at Cape Breton Highlands National Park’s Trout Brook campground (Ruisseau des Maurice)
  • the Festival de l'Escaouette
  • the Marche du facteur, a postal run commemorating the road the local postmaster once travelled between Chéticamp and Pleasant Bay

Tourism heritage of Quebec’s English-speaking communities

Funding provided by Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions helped 21 English-speaking communities in Quebec showcase their tourism heritage in 2017–2018.

The following are examples:

• development and implementation of an economic development strategy for the English-speaking community of Île-d’Entrée, in the Magdalen Islands, to acquire the former school building on the island and transform it into multipurpose community and tourism infrastructure
• expansion of the Fairbairn House Heritage Centre in Outaouais to promote the history of economic and social development in the Gatineau Valley and the contribution of Anglophones to this development
• renewal of the permanent exhibit of the Banc-de-pêche-de-Paspebiac National Historic Site, an industrial cod fishing complex developed from the 18th to the 20th centuries in the Gaspé Peninsula, to highlight the contribution of the English- and French-speaking communities over the centuries to the social and industrial development of Paspébiac

Historic sites in the Prairies

In May 2017, Western Economic Diversification Canada announced its support for the Trails of 1885 Association Inc. to launch a new website to raise awareness of Francophone and Indigenous cultural centres and historic sites in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. The Trails of 1885 Association was created to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Northwest Rebellion and has over 60 member organizations.

4.3 Economic life

In this section

• 4.3.1 Entrepreneurship, job creation and economic development
• 4.3.2 Services to business people
• 4.3.3 Internships and vocational training
• 4.3.4 Tourism

4.3.1 Entrepreneurship, job creation and economic development

Highlights

Through the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities, Employment and Social Development Canada strives to enhance the development and vitality of these communities by strengthening their capacities in human resources and community economic development and by fostering partnerships. In 2017–2018, the Enabling Fund made it possible to:

• create 728 jobs
• maintain 1,505 jobs
• assist more than 44,929 clients (young people, women, recent immigrants, job seekers and workers seeking to upgrade their skills) in 31 communities and over 545 organizations
• carry out more than 102 initiatives (in project, research or skills development, and support for job seekers or small and medium-sized businesses) in official language minority communities across Canada
• establish more than 2,002 partnership projects with the community or private sector, including federal, provincial, territorial or municipal governments

The electronic newsletter Express

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada continued to publish Express, an electronic newsletter for economic development stakeholders in official language minority communities, 3 times a year. Express has more than 200 subscribers and 23 content contributors from federal institutions, such as the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and Statistics Canada, and community organizations, such as the Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité (RDÉE) Canada, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) and the Quebec Community Groups Network.

Economic development initiatives in the Atlantic region

In 2017–2018, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency approved 15 new projects. The following are examples:

• The Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick (CÉNB) organized the fourth edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Forum in Moncton in November 2017 during Global Entrepreneurship Week. This forum offered lectures by entrepreneurs, workshops, and information kiosks on how to start a business to more than 200 Francophone youth in the Atlantic provinces, including 100 students. In addition to federal financial support, this project also received support from local businesses.
• Place aux compétences Inc. collaborates to implement innovative projects focused on entrepreneurial culture, training and work in New Brunswick’s Francophone schools. With federal financial support, the organization has been able to assist school stakeholders in innovating and in motivating Francophone students to get more involved in their own learning in order to develop entrepreneurial, technological and multimedia projects.
• The Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard launched a competition targeting young people and new entrepreneurs from the Francophone and Acadian community who wanted to launch or develop their business ideas. After participating in workshops on entrepreneurial skills, participants were asked to “pitch” their business project to a panel of judges in a format similar to that of CBC’s Dragons Den program. The goal of the project was to support the establishment of 4 businesses in Prince Edward Island’s Francophone and Acadian community.

Economic development initiatives in Quebec

In 2017–2018, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions continued to support the regional development project of the Youth Employment Strategy (YES), which aims to maintain and increase the offering of entrepreneurship services to English-speaking communities in the region. The target clients are future entrepreneurs of all ages whose projects may be at different stages of development. The online service offering includes business coaching, workshops, webinars and networking services, as well as specialized interactive workshops and access to experts. In-person services are currently offered in 6 regions (Gaspésie/Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Estrie, Côte-Nord, Outaouais and Montérégie) and will be deployed in 2 additional regions (Laval and Abitibi-Témiscamingue), for a total of 8 regions.

Economic development initiatives in Ontario

FedDev Ontario supported projects that contributed to enhancing the vitality of Francophone communities in southern Ontario:

• The Société d’aide au développement des collectivités de Prescott-Russell offered mentoring and coaching, as well as tools and services to help Francophone businesses and young entrepreneurs get started in business.
• The organization of the Journée de l’entrepreneuriat francophone in collaboration with several partners, including Connecture Canada, during which 24 entrepreneurs were able to interact with their peers and exhibitors from federal, provincial and community organizations on access to funding and the support, programs and services available to them.

In 2017–2018, FedNor also supported 15 projects aimed at strengthening or developing the capacity of the Francophone community or businesses in the Northern Ontario region. The projects enabled the:

• expansion or modernization of 23 companies
• creation and upkeep of more than 30 strategic partnerships in the Francophone community
• realization of 23 events in the region
• creation of 27 full-time equivalents jobs

The federal institution supported the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA) to help agriculture and agri-food producers in the region increase their sales and access new bilingual markets. This investment made it possible, among other things, to:

• facilitate the establishment of a network of producers and chefs in the region
• encourage the creation of recipes featuring local and regional products
• develop bilingual promotional materials (such as recipes and maps showing where to find products)
• help producers organize tasting activities using mobile tents at regional festivals

Economic development initiatives in western Canada

Western Economic Diversification Canada contributed to strengthening innovation, entrepreneurship and diversification in Francophone communities in western Canada by making it possible to:

• create, maintain or expand 92 businesses
• provide 592 business advisory services
• assist 166 communities
• establish 76 partnerships

Economic development initiatives in northern Canada

In 2017–2018, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) continued to support the 3-year pan-territorial project of the Association franco-yukonnaise designed to define intervention strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of a bilingual workforce in the North, thereby filling gaps in sectors facing labour shortages. The project included the development of recruitment tools that were used to promote employment in the North at job fairs in Canada and abroad. It also helped recruit 5 bilingual employees in the tourism, construction and services sectors.

The Agency also contributed for the second year to the project of the Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CDÉTNO) to promote business development opportunities in key sectors of the economy (resource development, tourism, renewable energy and technology) in the Northwest Territories. In 2017–2018, this support made it possible to create training materials and programs in French on entrepreneurship.

4.3.2 Services to business people

AgriDiversity Program

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada created the AgriDiversity Program to help under-represented groups in agriculture (such as youth, women, Indigenous people, people with disabilities and members of official language minority communities) fully participate in the sector by helping them:

• develop their skills to take on greater leadership roles
• develop their entrepreneurial and business skills
• facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practices in the industry so they can adapt to changes in business operations
• strengthen the sector by incorporating the views of a greater diversity of industry players

Financial access for Atlantic entrepreneurs

The Business Development Bank of Canada developed strategies and established new partnerships with organizations such as UNI Coopération financière, a Francophone Acadian financial institution present in the regional communities of New Brunswick, to provide better support to entrepreneurs in the French and Acadian communities of Atlantic Canada in terms of advisory services and access to financing.

Translation and printing of the book A Practical Guide to Angel Investing

The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) received support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency for the French translation and printing of A Practical Guide to Angel Investing in order to increase the organization’s engagement and its reach among Francophone communities in Atlantic Canada. A total of 1,000 copies of A Practical Guide to Angel Investing were distributed to partners and stakeholders in the Atlantic region.

Support for Francophone entrepreneurs in northern Ontario

FedNor supported the North Claybelt Community Futures Development Corporation to help Francophone entrepreneurs in northern Ontario develop new markets, products and services. Through the “Vision +” component of the Entrepreneurs Francophones PLUS program, entrepreneurs could apply for a contribution of 75% of their costs in marketing consultation, web visibility, translation or advertising, up to a maximum of $5,000. This program therefore enabled them to enhance their business opportunities.

“Fosse aux lions” contest for Francophone entrepreneurs in Manitoba

With support from Western Economic Diversification Canada, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (CDEM) and its partners organized the sixth edition of the “Fosse aux lions” contest, based on the Dragons Den program.

The 4 young entrepreneurs took turns pitching their company, their business plan, as well as the projects they could accomplish with the $15,000 prize to a panel of judges. In addition to receiving that amount, the overall winner had the opportunity to receive mentoring and join the Chambre de commerce francophone de Saint-Boniface for one year.

Femmes d’affaires en mouvement network

The Femmes d’affaires en mouvement network of the Société de développement économique (SDE) de la Colombie-Britannique received support from Western Economic Diversification Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada. With more than 280 members, this network builds connections between women entrepreneurs while contributing to British Columbia’s economic development. Each month, under the guidance of experts, the women participate in learning workshops and mentoring sessions in an environment conducive to dialogue, which not only encourages the sharing of personal experiences and development of skills, but also promotes business connections, networking and new business opportunities.

4.3.3 Internships and vocational training

Literacy and essential skills development

Employment and Social Development Canada helps adults improve their literacy and essential skills to better prepare for, find or keep a job. In particular, the department supported the following initiatives in 2017–2018:

• The organization Actions interculturelles de développement et d’éducation (AIDE) carried out the action-research project “Développer l’alphabétisme et les compétences essentielles des personnes immigrantes”. The goal of this action research was to demonstrate the effects of increased literacy and essential skills on the socio-economic integration of Francophone immigrants in Canada. The project was conducted in 6 provinces with 550 Francophone immigrants. The data collected were used to develop a cost-benefit analysis model measuring the effects of literacy and essential skills training, taking into account the needs of and benefits for the immigrant participants, businesses and society. The results were presented in November 2017 at the 2017 Pathways to Prosperity National Conference.
• The Tourism and Francophone Human Resources in Official Language Minority Communities project of the Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA) was designed to create and offer specialized training in French to develop the skills and ensure the employability of Francophones with low literacy skills and Francophone newcomers who wish to enter the labour market in Ontario’s tourism and hospitality sector. The duration of the training program was 16 weeks and included 3 weeks of on-the-job training. The project began in June 2017 and the first cohort, with 22 participants, started in February 2018. Three (3) employers committed to providing internships and employment opportunities for participants who successfully complete their training. Two (2) other cohorts are planned between June 2018 and June 2020.
• Since September 2017, the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) has been working with the Kebaowek First Nation, a small community of 800 Algonquin people located in Kipawa, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, and several other partners to create the Co-op Vocational Training Program. This training program was designed to promote the employability of Kebaowek’s youth in order to prepare them for future tourism job opportunities before the opening of the Opémican National Park. With the need for training in French identified as the first hurdle to full employment, a cohort of students was therefore able to complete a 2-month francisation course, followed by a work placement at Opémican Park. Following the success of this project, the organization replicated the experience in September 2018 with a second English-speaking Indigenous community in Gaspésie, the Micmacs of Gesgapegiag.

Programs for Francophone businesses in northern Ontario

FedNor supported various initiatives including:

• the implementation of a training and mentoring program for Francophone businesses in Hearst that aimed to improve their customer service skills. In total, about 40 local companies participated in this program offered by the Corporation de développement économique de Hearst, including 20 that also received mentoring.
• The “youth internship” component of the Entrepreneurs Francophones PLUS Program of the North Claybelt Community Futures Development Corporation enabled small and medium-sized businesses in the region to hire newly graduated young Francophone interns. Contributions could be up to 50% of salaries and benefits, to a maximum of $33,500, for a 52-week period.

Young Canada Works program

Canadian Heritage’s Young Canada Works (YCW) program provides young Canadians with an opportunity to gain skills and work experience through summer jobs (for students) and internships (for recent graduates) in the heritage, arts, culture and official languages sectors. In 2017–2018, the program provided an opportunity to:

• 728 students to obtain a summer job for 6 to 16 weeks in organizations that operate in both official languages, thus enabling them to gain practical work experience while also improving their second language skills
  • 122 of those students were able to obtain green jobs (thanks to additional funding announced in the 2017 Federal Budget for green job creation)
• 16 young recent college or university graduates to complete a domestic internship in official language minority community media or an international internship in the language industry, for a period of 4 to 12 months

4.3.4 Tourism

Destination Canada

Formerly known as the Canadian Tourism Commission, Destination Canada promotes Canada internationally. In 2017–2018, Destination Canada supported various tourism initiatives that contributed to the vitality of official language minority communities, including the following 4 initiatives:

• Rendez-vous Canada is a major event that is held each year in Canada for the tourism industry and brings together nearly 2,000 buyers and sellers of tourism products from around the world. During the May 2017 event, Rendez-vous Canada promoted the country’s linguistic duality to the international community by having Francophone spokespersons, making bilingual posters and offering interpretation services during presentations.
• Generation Y Travel was a program designed in partnership with Bell Media to encourage young Canadians to travel to Canada as part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, to make these young people ambassadors for Canada and boost demand for the visitor economy. The program was built on a pan-Canadian campaign that included a digital platform on which social influencers presented their most impactful Canadian experiences. The program also included promotions and exclusive offers from various partners, in addition to inviting young people to tell their own travel stories, in the official language of their choice, on digital platforms, television, radio and social media. By the time the program ended in July 2017, it had reached 6.7 million young Canadians.
• The Canadian Signature Experiences collection, which groups once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences under a single banner, helps eligible tourism businesses promote their products abroad. The collection currently has more than 200 representative experiences from every province and territory, including in official language minority communities. Because of their inclusion in this collection, the tourism businesses in these communities have access to marketing tools and resources and gain broad international visibility.
• The new Francophone Heritage, Culture and Tourism Corridor, launched in February 2018, is an online tool that showcases tourist attractions related to Canada’s Francophone heritage and culture. The corridor is intended for both English- and French-speaking Canadian and international tourists. Funded by Canadian Heritage as part of Canada’s 150th anniversary, the corridor was developed by the Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité Canada and its partners.

The 150 travel card

As part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, VIA Rail also made available for sale a 150 travel card for young Canadians aged 12 to 25. Sold for a symbolic price of $150, it provided unlimited train travel from coast to coast during the month of July 2017. More than 4,000 young Canadians travelled by train to discover the country, meet other travellers and connect with communities across Canada, including official language minority communities.

Increasing tourism in Atlantic Canada

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency supported the following initiatives:

• The Yarmouth and Acadian Shores Tourism Association hired a tourism professional in 2017–2018 to develop a 5-year strategic plan (2018–2023) to increase tourism in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia’s second largest Acadian region. This plan will focus on the development of new tourism products and new marketing opportunities that will showcase the region’s Acadian culture and history.
• The Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador produced the 2018 edition of the province’s Francophone tourism guide and restructured its tourism website.

Forum on tourism in the municipalities of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence RCM

The Coasters Association of the Lower North Shore Inc. organized the Tourism Forum in the municipalities of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence RCM in fall 2017, with support from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. This RCM has 14 isolated communities and 2 Indigenous communities, with a population that is 80% English-speaking.

During the forum, more than 45 participants working in the tourism industry identified the following regional priorities:

• increase human resources and training for tourism businesses
• develop a fast maritime link
• organize charter flights to the Lower North Shore

These priorities were then presented and discussed in a teleconference with various government authorities and a tourism organization. Participants also suggested creating a “Lower North Shore tourism network”. This initiative created significant networking opportunities and increased efforts to attract tourists to the region’s English-speaking communities.

Promotion of Francophone and Métis tourism in Manitoba

With support from Western Economic Diversification Canada, economic development and tourism marketing agency Entreprises Riel developed a promotional film on Francophone and Métis tourism in Manitoba. The unique history of the Red River Métis, Louis Riel and the Francophone community will be the basis for this promotional tool and the other complementary products that will be produced.

5. Promotion of official languages: Enhancement and rapprochement

According to section 41 of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, in addition to taking positive measures to support the development and enhance the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada, federal institutions must also take positive measures to foster the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.

The initiatives presented in this section demonstrate how some federal institutions contributed to this obligation in 2017–2018 in the following areas of activity:

• 5.1 Enhancement of official languages
• 5.2 Rapprochement between Anglophones and Francophones

5.1 Enhancement of official languages

In this section

• 5.1.1 Addition of language clauses
• 5.1.2 Major events and celebrations
• 5.1.3 New media and traditional media
• 5.1.4 Promotion of linguistic duality abroad

5.1.1 Addition of language clauses

Several federal institutions put in place various mechanisms to maximize best practices in official languages when funding projects. The following are examples:

• As part of Canada 150, Canadian Heritage’s Canada 150 Fund Program added official languages clauses to all contribution agreements. Program officers were also required to identify projects that could have an impact on official languages and follow up as necessary to ensure compliance with them. They also provided recipient organizations with an information kit on how to include official languages in their activities.
• The National Capital Commission included language clauses in all its leases signed by a company that provides a service to the public, as well as in its activity permits for organizers of public events. It also performed spot inspections to identify delinquent tenants and worked with them to improve the level of service to the public in both official languages.
• At various stages of the funding application process, the Public Health Agency of Canada adopted a variety of methods to remind applicants of the importance of official languages requirements and engagement with official language minority communities.
• The Canada Council for the Arts changed the composition of its peer assessment committees to reflect the diversity of the Canadian population, including official language minority communities. It also established new assessment criteria for core funding so that applicants can demonstrate the extent to which they include and engage official language minority communities.
• Western Economic Diversification Canada required its economic development officers to adopt an “official languages lens” when analyzing funding applications in order to determine whether projects were considered likely to promote linguistic duality or enhance the vitality of official language minority communities.

5.1.2 Major events and celebrations

Constellation francophone: Ouvrons les portes

With financial support from Canadian Heritage as part of Canada 150, the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques organized “Constellation francophone: Ouvrons les portes” to celebrate the vitality of the Canadian Francophonie in all its uniqueness and diversity.

On June 24, 2017, more than 400 artists from Canada’s Francophone music scene participated in a major show from 6 different concert stages in 6 different cities (Dieppe, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Whitehorse) to mark Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, a national holiday for Quebec and the Canadian Francophonie. A total of 200,000 Francophones and Francophiles participated in the celebrations across the country. Canadians also had an opportunity to view the celebrations live on several online platforms, thanks to a partnership with Télévision francophone de l’Ontario (TFO) and Unis TV.

Also as part of this event, 12 interactive doors were installed in Victoria, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Whitehorse, Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City (2), Montreal, Dieppe and Dartmouth on June 23 and 24 to give festival goers the opportunity to chat virtually with people across the country.

Jeux de la Francophonie canadienne 2017

With support from Canadian Heritage, the Fédération de la Jeunesse canadienne-française organized the Jeux de la Francophonie canadienne 2017. This national event was held in July 2017 in Moncton-Dieppe, New Brunswick. The games brought together more than 1,000 young people aged 13 to 18 from Francophone communities across the country to enjoy an enriching experience in French and showcase their sports, artistic and leadership talents.

Rendez-vous de la Francophonie 2018

For several years, Canadian Heritage, the National Film Board, the Language Portal of Canada (Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada), Parks Canada, Canada Post and VIA Rail have been proud partners of the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie.

The following are examples of the contributions made by some federal institutions to the 20th Rendez-vous de la Francophonie in March 2018:

• The Language Portal of Canada team wrote the dictations for the “Write it right!” contest for elementary schools and for Canadians, and prepared the content for the “On the Tip of My Tongue!” contest, which consisted of video clips on language issues.
• The National Film Board organized a tour of theme-based films on the Francophonie across the country. In total, close to 251 screenings were held in 64 cities across Canada, representing a 34% increase in registrations over the previous year. Canadians were also able to view these films online.

5.1.3 New media and traditional media

New media (social media, blogs, mobile applications and websites) and traditional media (television, radio, print newspapers) are excellent vehicles for promoting Canada’s official languages. Some federal institutions have used them. The following are some noteworthy initiatives:

Language Portal of Canada

The Language Portal of Canada is an initiative of the Translation Bureau (Public Services and Procurement Canada). In 2017–2018, the Portal team developed 3,466 new linguistic content items to help Canadians communicate better in both official languages. It is estimated that 4.3 million pages were viewed on the Portal and its writing tools this year.

In September 2017, the Portal team launched the Our Languages blog, which contains content from external contributors, including official language minority communities. By late March 2018, 31 posts had been published. The Portal team also increased its social media presence by creating a Twitter account and a Facebook page, and continued to recruit ambassadors who play an important role in promoting the Portal in their respective communities. In late March 2018, the Portal had 413 ambassadors (representing a 60% increase over 2016–2017).

GeoSearch: Interactive mapping application

In 2017–2018, Statistics Canada launched GeoSearch, an interactive mapping application that highlights data from the 2016 Census, including data on official languages. The application allows users to select geographic areas and language indicators (such as French-English bilingualism, knowledge of official languages, official languages spoken at home and at work, etc.) in order to obtain relevant data in the form of charts and maps. Users can also compare various geographic areas.

“À fond de train” series

VIA Rail trains became the stage for “À fond de train,” a huge rally on the rails featuring pairs of Francophone parents and children tackling challenges in 10 Canadian cities served by VIA Rail, from the Maritimes to the Rockies. The first 2 seasons of the show, which is produced by Blimp Télé, have been broadcast on TV5/Unis TV since December 2017. This initiative is an excellent way to promote French across the country and showcase Canada’s youth and smaller communities.

Renewal of licences for French language stations

In 2017–2018, the CRTC reviewed the applications from TV5/Unis TV, AMI-télé and Canal M (Vues et Voix) to renew their licences in order to be included on a mandatory basis in the basic digital package available to all Canadians. By renewing their licences until 2023, the Commission ensures that Francophones in minority communities have access to quality programming that reflects their reality, in their own language.

5.1.4 Promotion of linguistic duality abroad

Global Affairs Canada is committed to promoting Canada’s linguistic duality abroad. Various Canadian missions have carried out initiatives abroad that have made it possible to present the bilingual face of Canada, showcase official language minority communities and promote linguistic duality. Among these activities, it is worth mentioning those that helped promote the Francophonie:

• For the third consecutive year, the Consulate General of Canada in Rio de Janeiro organized a program for Canadian French language universities and colleges to meet with Brazilian partners who teach French and to promote Canadian French language education to their clients.
• In collaboration with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in Paris, the Canadian Embassy in France organized information sessions in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain, intended for candidates wanting to immigrate to Canada. The flagship Francophone promotion event was the Destination Canada mobility forum, the 13th edition of which was held in Paris and Brussels in November 2017.
• The Embassy of Canada in Morocco supported the missions of the provincial governments of New Brunswick and Ontario in Morocco with a view to promoting these destinations among Francophones in Morocco in a variety of areas, including immigration, cultural exchanges, tourism, French language higher education and trade with Francophone businesses in these 2 provinces.
• The High Commission of Canada in New Zealand’s Public Affairs Program collaborated with the organizers of the “Quebec Focus for Show ME Shorts Film Festival” to educate New Zealanders on the realities of Francophones in Canada.
• The Embassy of Canada in Jordan organized several activities as part of the Semaine de la Francophonie. Canadian artist Marie-Thérèse Landry worked with the students at the Lycée français to create giant animated heads. She also gave a lecture on Canadian author Antonine Maillet at the Institut français in Amman and explained the role of the French language in Canadian culture.
• During the Fête de la Francophonie in Berlin, organized by the members of the International Organization of la Francophonie, Canada’s bilingualism and the language issue were featured at a public conference on the theme of “The status, rights and privileges of French and Indigenous languages in Canada: current situation and future prospects”.

5.2 Rapprochement between Anglophones and Francophones

Various factors may contribute to the rapprochement between the linguistic majority and minority cultures in Canada.

In this section

• 5.2.1 Second language instruction at school
• 5.2.2 Language exchange programs
• 5.2.3 Celebratory and unifying events
• 5.2.4 Linguistic duality: Reaching out to others

5.2.1 Second language instruction at school

Investments made by Canadian Heritage to support second language instruction programs offered by provincial and territorial governments have contributed to 2.4 million young Canadians learning English or French as a second official language in majority schools, including 449,769 young Anglophones who learned French in immersion programs.

Figure 7: Implementation expenditures for the "second language instruction" component (Protocol for Agreements) (in dollars)

Figure 8: Increase in the number of enrolments in French immersion programs offered outside Quebec since 2003

There has been a 59% increase in enrolments since 2003–2004.

Through intergovernmental cooperation agreements on education, the Government of Canada contributed to the funding of complementary projects supporting second language instruction. In 2017–2018, it provided:

• a contribution of $732,099 to the Government of New Brunswick for the second phase of its project to restore the entry point for French immersion in the first grade of elementary school, which consisted of developing new curricula and translating other curricula for the second grade, as well as continuing to develop hybrid learning modules for rural schools.
• a contribution of $403,120 to the Government of Ontario to expand the second official language learning program entitled Français sans frontières, which involved creating multimedia resources and tools on the ldéllo web platform, through a partnership with the Groupe Média TFO, to help students use digital media to create and share stories about culture and the Francophonie that are meaningful and relevant to them.
• a contribution of $115,000 to the Government of Manitoba for its Collabaunord project, which aimed to upgrade existing video conferencing equipment to enable students in small communities to better interact with one another and strengthen their French-as-a-second-language skills through online discussions.
• a contribution of $112,910 to the Government of Yukon for its project to improve access to French-as-a-second-language learning opportunities in rural Yukon schools, which included the development of curricula for students from grades 7 to 9.

Also with financial support from Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers produced and distributed a new educational resource for immersion teachers to promote inclusion in the classroom. This resource provides them with tools and strategies to aid in the integration of newcomers who need to learn English or French as second languages. It also brings attention to the needs of Indigenous youth, and youth who have special educational needs, such as those who have cognitive delays or learning disabilities and those living with an autism spectrum disorder.

5.2.2 Language exchange programs

School programs

Vive les voyageurs school program: In the boots of the voyageurs

Through this school program, Parks Canada provided multiple students in the Vancouver area with a French Canadian immersion cultural experience (Métis dance, French lessons and traditional music) at Fort Langley National Historic Site in British Columbia, a former 19th century Hudson’s Bay Company trading post.

Project “Sécure dans ma langue : un dialogue entre les jeunes francophones et anglophones du Nouveau-Brunswick”

The Fédération des jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick received financial support from Canadian Heritage to carry out this project—a provincial tour of immersion and high schools bringing attention to the issue of linguistic security and linguistic duality. The tour was delivered in both official language communities, representing approximately 3,000 high school students. A 3-day gathering was also held during which young Francophones and young Anglophones in French immersion were able to get to know and interact with one another, as well as take part in interactive thematic workshops.

Youth programs

Canadian Heritage supported several language exchange initiatives for young people, including the following 3 programs:

• In 2017–2018, the Explore – Second Language Bursary Program offered 6,071 5-week intensive immersion bursaries to young Canadians to provide them with an opportunity to learn or develop their second official language.
• Also in 2017–2018, the Odyssey – Language Assistant Program provided 301 post-secondary students with a paid work opportunity as a second language monitor in another province, meaning English-speaking students could work in Quebec or New Brunswick, and French-speaking students could work in a province other than their own.
• In 2017–2018, the Exchanges Canada program provided more than 13,900 young people with an opportunity to participate in youth exchanges and youth forums to learn more about Canada. Many of these activities enabled young Canadians to practise and improve their second language while building relationships with young people from other parts of the country. For example, Experiences Canada’s Youth Exchanges offered:
  • more than 2,230 bilingual exchanges to young Canadians aged 12 to 17 to learn the other official language, learn about a new culture, eliminate social barriers and develop leadership skills
  • 243 exchanges in official language minority communities during which one or both groups of young people from these communities were matched based on their primary official language (for example, pairing of Francophone youth groups from Manitoba and Quebec)

Figure 9: Participation rate in Canadian Heritage’s programs for youth

Language retention programs for workers

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Central and Arctic Regional Office developed the “Cartier francophone” pilot project, which consisted of creating a space with 6 workstations reserved for employees wanting to spend several months working to maintain or improve their French-as-a-second-language skills, in a friendly environment where no one was judged for their language errors. Employees were also invited to participate in cultural or social activities taking place in the local Francophone community. In addition to enabling employees to improve their language skills, this pilot project helped raise awareness of the reality of Francophones in minority situations while promoting the department’s programs and services to members of this community. “Cartier francophone” was such a success that it now has a waiting list.
• More than 10 federal institutions (including the Public Health Agency of Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, and Public Services and Procurement Canada) signed loan of services agreements with non-profit organizations in Francophone minority communities in the Atlantic region to enable their employees to improve their French-as-a-second-language skills and increase their awareness of the priorities and issues of the Francophone minority, while strengthening the capacity of these organizations.

5.2.3 Celebratory and unifying events

The following are examples of celebratory and unifying events that contributed to building bridges and fostering connections between Canada’s linguistic majority and minority cultures throughout 2017–2018.

Canada Day across Canada

With financial support from Canadian Heritage, 19 cities across Canada celebrated Canada Day as part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, such as St. John’s, Charlottetown, Halifax, Fredericton, Moncton, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit.

CBC/Radio-Canada also offered multi-platform programming on July 1. The airing of special segment “Canada Day 150! From Coast to Coast to Coast” was a huge success, with 10.9 million viewers (31% of the population), not to mention all those who listened on the Crown Corporation’s radio station or digital platforms.

2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg

Over 4,000 athletes from across Canada participated in the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg in summer 2017. Sport Canada (Canadian Heritage) made multiple contributions to this edition of the Games. Manitoba’s Francophone community was also involved in all the steps leading to the largest national multi-sport event for athletes. Various measures were taken to engage Francophones and promote official languages, including:

• appointing a co-chair involved in the Francophone community, and a French language coordinator
• applying an “official languages” lens to recruitment, logistics and marketing
• offering training in both official languages to over 6,000 volunteers
• establishing a partnership with La Liberté, the Francophone community newspaper, and Envol 91, the local community radio station
• implementing a bilingual telephone information service in partnership with 233-ALLÔ

Games of La Francophonie — Abidjan 2017

With support from Sport Canada (Canadian Heritage) and the Canada Council for the Arts, 116 young Canadian athletes and artists participated in the VIII Games of la Francophonie in July 2017, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Every 4 years, the Games of La Francophonie, a major gathering of young people, bring together close to 3,000 athletes and artists between ages 18 and 35 from the member countries and governments of the International Organization of La Francophonie. These games are the only international games to offer both sport competitions and cultural events, with a view to celebrating both the French language and excellence in sport and the arts. The Canadian athletes and artists who participated in the games were selected based on their performance excellence, not their linguistic affiliation. Team Canada therefore had athletes and artists whose first language is other than French who were able to celebrate cultural diversity and discover the many facets of the international Francophonie.

National Acadian Day

As part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, 59 projects to celebrate Acadian culture and National Acadian Day were implemented in 56 official language minority communities in the Atlantic provinces. These include the following 2 major projects:

• The “Viens voir le pays” project, which took place in August 2017 as part of the Festival acadien de Caraquet in New Brunswick, included:
  • a residence in Caraquet for Canadian visual artists during which they created “Les grands escogriffes,” 10 giant puppets, each one representing a Canadian province, which were unveiled during the official ceremony for National Acadian Day
  • a mega outdoor show following the Grand Tintamarre on August 15, bringing together 30 artists and musicians from Acadia and Canada, which was broadcast live
• Grand-Pré, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Nova Scotia, is the place where the first French colonists settled in 1604. It is the place where the Mi’kmaq People welcomed the newcomers and formed an alliance with the Acadians, thus creating one of the first peace treaties in history. The “Grand-Pré 2017” project revived this more than 400-year-old historic relationship between 2 of Atlantic Canada’s founding cultures. As part of the reconciliation process between Canada and its First Nations, the celebration included a series of cultural and educational activities that took place in August 2017. This project was made possible in part through financial support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Canadian Heritage, Parks Canada, and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

Foire gourmande de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue et du Nord-Est ontarien

By funding the Foire gourmande de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue et du Nord-Est de l’Ontario, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions supported the agriculture and tourism sectors in these regions and fostered collaboration between Ontario’s and Quebec’s official language minority communities. This fair encouraged volunteerism, partnerships and networking between Anglophones and Francophones. The federal agency’s support also made it possible to deploy a marketing strategy outside Quebec in new markets and to develop new products.

Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show

As part of Canada 150, the National Arts Centre partnered with 3 French Canadian theatre companies to create Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show. A co-production between the National Arts Centre’s French Theatre, the Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental (Montreal), Théâtre Cercle Molière (Winnipeg) and La Troupe du jour (Saskatoon), the show was put on 32 times in these cities in 2017–2018, and twice more in Quebec City at the Carrefour international de théâtre. An epic tale of the struggle of the Métis People of Western Canada, this co-creation is the work of 10 authors led by Jean Marc Dalpé, Alexis Martin and Yvette Nolan, performers and designers from across the country representing diverse Anglophone, Francophone, Indigenous and Métis communities.

“Grosses têtes”

The Centre d’arts visuels de l’Alberta received support from the Canada 150 Fund (administered by Canadian Heritage) to make large carnival heads that were worn at various Canada 150 celebratory events, including Canada Day in Edmonton. The large heads are playful works of art made of paper maché illustrating Alberta’s Francophone multiculturalism. Designed by artists and members of the Francophone community with various backgrounds (African, Arabic, Métis, European, Franco-Albertan), the heads were a fun way for people to rediscover the contribution of various cultures to the construction of Alberta’s Francophonie. Building on its success, the workshop project to produce more “Grosses têtes” was then offered in the region’s elementary and high schools, which were able to use them during community or school celebrations and contribute to visually represent Alberta’s Francophonie in all its diversity.

Canada 150: Cap sur le Pacifique

With financial support from the Canada 150 Fund (administered by Canadian Heritage), the Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver offered 3 days of celebrations in French under the theme “Canada 150: Cap sur le Pacifique” in July 2017 on Granville Island. The program included concerts, theatre, dance, performances and multidisciplinary workshops. About 40 artists from several disciplines offered some 30 shows highlighting the importance of French and Francophone heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.

5.2.4 Linguistic duality: Reaching out to others

National Translation Program for Book Publishing

Canadian Heritage’s National Translation Program for Book Publishing provided funding for 68 translations of Canadian-authored books from one official language to the other.

This program also funds an annual translation rights fair organized by the Canada Council for the Arts, which provides Canadian publishers with a unique opportunity to sell and acquire official language translation rights. In 2017–2018, 76 representatives of publishing houses (35 Anglophones and 41 Francophones) participated in the fair.

Canada 2017 memory book: What’s Your Story

As part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, CBC/Radio-Canada created a digital memory book representing our country in 2017 by appealing to Canadians from diverse backgrounds to tell their stories.

Roots of Montreal and Montreapolis

Also as part of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, CBC Quebec produced Roots of Montreal, a digital series that studies the cultural communities that have contributed to transforming Montreal’s urban landscape up to the present day, and CBC Montreal produced Montreapolis, a podcast that profiles 8 innovative people who give Montreal its aura of modernity.

Lastly, CBC Quebec journalist Julia Page travelled throughout the province of Quebec to gather input from English-speaking communities across the province. Presented on CBC Montreal’s website and on the Facebook pages of CBC Quebec and CBC Montreal, this portrait captured the vitality of English-speaking communities and their members’ vision for the future.

Surtitle service at the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury

FedNor supported the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury to enable it to provide a surtitle service.

This new service enables the theatre, the only French language theatre in the region, to reach and attract a brand new audience (English-speaking, Francophile and exogamous families). This support also enabled the theatre to modernize its ticketing system (in particular by creating a mobile application) and improve its website, making it possible for the theatre to promote its shows over a larger geographic area, in both official languages.

6. Listening to Canadians: Ongoing dialogue

Under section 43(2) of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, the Government of Canada must take measures to ensure public consultation on the development of policies and review of programs that promote progress toward the equal status and use of English and French in Canadian society.

To identify the priorities and needs of official language minority communities, federal institutions use a variety of means, including:

• formal consultations
• working groups and advisory committees
• networking
• participation in events organized by and for the community
• dialogue targeted by area of activity
• research and evaluation

The measures presented in this section demonstrate how some federal institutions contributed to listening to and interacting with Canadians in 2017–2018 in order to better understand their official languages needs in the following areas of activity:

• 6.1 Profile of the reality of communities
• 6.2 Improvement of internal mechanisms
• 6.3 Education and youth
• 6.4 Immigration
• 6.5 Health
• 6.6 Justice, democracy and equality
• 6.7 Arts, culture and media
• 6.8 Economic and social development

6.1 Profile of the reality of communities

Release of the final report on the consultations that led to the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023

As part of the development of the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023, Canadian Heritage held cross-Canada consultations from June to December 2016. These consultations made it possible to obtain an overall view of the official languages priorities and needs in our country that laid the groundwork for the new Action Plan.

The final report entitled 2016 Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations was published in June 2017. It presents the main findings from the round tables and answers to the online questionnaire on:

• bilingualism, rapprochement and the Canadian Francophonie
• common issues facing English-speaking and French-speaking minority communities
• key issues raised by representatives of French-speaking communities outside Quebec
• key issues raised by representatives of English-speaking communities in Quebec
• other themes and issues such as:
  • the recognition of Ottawa’s status as an officially bilingual city
  • access to justice in both official languages
  • the status and revitalization of Indigenous languages
  • reinvestment in CBC/Radio-Canada

It also presents a summary of the recommendations made in the many briefs and written submissions on:

• access to services
• justice
• health care
• bilingualism and rapprochement
• Francophonie
• early childhood and youth
• minority language education and second language instruction
• community media
• arts and culture
• Francophone immigration
• economic development
• digital and technology
• federal/provincial/territorial agreements

Dissemination of linguistic data

In 2017–2018, Statistics Canada released:

• 2016 Census of Population data tables on:
  • linguistic data (knowledge of languages, mother tongues, first official language spoken) from the short questionnaire (August 2017)
  • language and ethnocultural statistics (October 2017)
  • languages used in the workplace (November 2017)
• analytical documents on official languages from the 2016 Census of Population, including:
  • An increasingly diverse linguistic landscape: Corrected data from the 2016 Census (August 2017)
  • English–French bilingualism reaches new heights (August 2017)
  • Linguistic diversity and multilingualism in Canadian homes (August 2017)
  • English, French and official language minorities in Canada (August 2017)
  • Languages used in the workplace in Canada (November 2017)
  • Canadian Megatrends “The evolution of language populations in Canada, by mother tongue, from 1901 to 2016” (February 2018)

Statistics Canada also presented research pertaining to the concerns of official language minority communities, including:

• “The evolution of Quebec’s English-mother-tongue population, 1951–2036,” at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (Montreal, Quebec)
• “The literacy skills of New Brunswick Francophones,” on the 51st International Literacy Day (Bouctouche, New Brunswick)
• “Portrait of French language workers in Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food industries,” to the Board of Directors of the Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens (Clarence Creek, Ontario) and at the General Assembly of the Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens (Alfred and Plantagenet, Ontario)
• “25 ans d’immigration francophone au Canada hors Québec : le cas de l’Afrique subsaharienne,” during a workshop day organized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)
• “Minority Francophones in Canada: A Portrait of Children of Immigrant Origin,” during the 12th Journée de réflexion sur l’immigration francophone organized by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (Calgary, Alberta)
• “Salaire et situation de faible revenu chez les francophones en situation minoritaire issus de l’immigration,” at the 20th National Metropolis Conference (Calgary, Alberta)

These data enable a better understanding of official languages issues in Canadian society and inform decision-making and the development of programs that better meet the needs of official language minority communities.

6.2 Improvement of internal mechanisms

In 2017–2018, Parks Canada improved its consultation mechanism by incorporating official language minority communities into its consultation framework and amending its consultation guidelines.

The CRTC added an option to its online forms that allows people who are members of an official language minority community to self-identify as such if they wish. In 2017–2018, more than 200 people self-reported being from an official language minority community.

6.3 Education and youth

Canadian Heritage continued to closely monitor concerns, trends and needs regarding minority language education and second language instruction, particularly by participating in annual meetings of the:

• tripartite committee, tasked with guiding the implementation of the “Strategic Plan for French Language Education” in a minority context in Canada
• French as a second language network

Meeting with youth workers

In October 2017, the resource persons responsible for the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act in federal institutions met with various representatives of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française, the Quebec Community Groups Network, the Townshippers’ Association and Canadian Parents for French to:

• better understand their priorities for youth
• explore new avenues of collaboration for the benefit of youth
• share information about federal government programs for youth

A representative from the Privy Council Office presented:

• the Government of Canada’s approach to youth
• the role of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council
• the Privy Council Office’s Youth Secretariat strategy to engage youth

6.4 Immigration

In 2017–2018, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada took various measures to better understand and respond to the immigration needs of official language minority communities. In particular, the department:

• consulted 150 community representatives through the new Francophone immigration policy hub on:
  • the development of a departmental strategy on Francophone immigration (2018)
  • the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Action Plan for Increasing Francophone Immigration Outside of Quebec (March 2018)
• put in place additional mechanisms (including a review of official languages requirements in Refugee Assistance Program service provider organization contribution agreements and the sharing of best practices) to take into account the needs of Francophone minority communities with respect to resettlement and refugee integration
• put in place mechanisms to facilitate internal collaboration within the department with all stakeholders involved in Francophone immigration by forming cross-regional working groups

6.5 Health

Consultations for the renewal of a contribution program

Health Canada conducted extensive consultations with the public, official language minority communities and targeted recipients to guide the renewal of the Official Languages Health Contribution Program for 2018–2023, in accordance with the new federal Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023. The Action Plan provides for an additional investment for Health Canada of $16.9 million over the next 5 years and $3.6 million each year thereafter, in the form of contributions to strengthen activities designed to improve access to health services in official language minority communities.

Creation of a federal advisory committee

In November 2017, Health Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Public Health Agency of Canada created the Federal Health Portfolio Consultative Committee for Official Language Minority Communities in Canada to facilitate the inclusion of these communities’ health needs in the portfolio’s various programs and policies.

This committee includes representatives from these 3 institutions as well as the Société Santé en français, the Consortium national de formation en santé, the Community Health and Social Services Network and McGill University. The first meeting was held in November 2017 and the second in March 2018. A joint work plan will be developed in 2018–2019.

Research and knowledge sharing

Consortium national de formation en santé

Five (5) university members of the Consortium national de formation en santé received support from Health Canada in 2017–2018 to conduct 8 research projects on the following themes:

• the provision of home care services
• minority inmates
• capacity building to improve the quality of life of Francophone seniors in minority communities
• the involvement of Francophone health professionals in training the next generation

Since March 2018, the consortium team has been involved in 2 new research projects, in partnership with the University of Ottawa, on the active offer of services in both official languages and on the offer of mental health services in French in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Ontario.

McGill University and the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal conducted research entitled “Mental Healthcare and Allied Service Access by Anglophone Homeless Youth”. The purpose of this research was to explore where and how Anglophone homeless youth access mental health care and what hinders or facilitates their access to care.

McGill University and the Royal Victoria Hospital are also conducting a mental health research project that will assess the differences between Anglophones and Francophones in terms of the prevalence of the most common chronic diseases by language group and their use of primary health services, emergency rooms and hospital services.

RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique

RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique received support from the Public Health Agency of Canada to collect the data necessary to create a health profile of the health promotion and disease prevention needs of British Columbia’s Francophone community. The organization produced 2 reports with the data collected.

6.6 Justice, democracy and equality

Advisory committee on access to justice

The Advisory Committee on Access to Justice in both Official Languages held its annual meeting in May 2017 in Ottawa. Approximately 40 community organizations participated in this meeting, during which participants discussed issues related to access to justice for:

• newcomers
• Quebec’s English-speaking community
• communities that are located remotely from centres, or those that are less accessible

This committee was created to liaise between representatives of the legal community in official language minority communities, the organizations that represent these communities, and Justice Canada.

Federal-provincial-territorial working group on access to justice

The Federal-Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Access to Justice in both Official Languages held its annual meeting in Halifax in November 2017. In particular, it dealt with:

• challenges and best practices in family justice in French
• training for people who work in family law
• the creation of bilingual juries
• sectoral consultations on access to justice in both official languages

This working group comprises representatives from each of the justice departments, attorneys general and Francophone affairs officials from the 14 jurisdictions. Its mandate focuses on the implementation of the language provisions of the Criminal Code, but it also covers other issues of shared jurisdiction and allows for the sharing of best practices.

Studies on access to justice

With support from Justice Canada, the Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador (FFTNL) issued a call for tenders in winter 2018 to conduct a study on available resources and tools that enable members of the Francophone community to access legal services in French in the province. The Federation also wanted to educate Francophone and Francophile legal professionals on the importance of offering their services in French.

The Quebec Community Groups Network managed and implemented the People-First Approach to Improving Access to Justice in English in Three Specific Areas project, which aimed to examine the problems involving access to justice experienced by Quebec’s English-speaking community and make recommendations to mitigate or overcome the problems and challenges of access to justice for this community. To achieve this, the network established a goal of developing strategic analyses for 3 specific groups:

• seniors
• youth in need of protection or involved with the justice system
• people dealing with labour relations issues

In April 2018, the network organized a forum to present and complete its analyses, as well as develop a citizen-centred action plan to improve access to justice in English in Quebec.

Liaison with communities

In advance of the 2019 election, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada conducted a demographic analysis to identify ridings with official language minority communities, and created community relations officer positions to liaise with these communities and facilitate the exercise of their right to vote.

Creation of a pan-Canadian women’s network

Status of Women Canada created a pan-Canadian network of 150 women leaders to identify and prioritize systemic issues that impede women’s equality in Canada with the goal of creating a strategic, action-oriented plan. The network comprises representatives of official language minority communities, including:

• 2 Francophone women from the Atlantic region
• 6 women from English-speaking communities in Quebec
• 2 Francophone women from Western Canada

6.7 Arts, culture and media

Evaluation of a collaboration agreement

In 2017–2018, Canadian Heritage coordinated the evaluation of the Collaboration Agreement for the Development of Arts and Culture in the Francophone Minority Communities of Canada 2013–2018, which expired at the end of March 2018.

This agreement between Francophone minority communities (represented by the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)) and 6 federal institutions representing the arts and culture sector (Canadian Heritage, National Arts Centre, Canada Council for the Arts, CBC/Radio-Canada, National Film Board and Telefilm Canada) includes several mechanisms to ensure that the priorities and needs of these communities are known and taken into account.

The findings of this evaluation were positive and were used to guide the renewal of the agreement for the 2018–2023 period (which was announced in December 2018).

Working group with the English-speaking communities of Quebec

In February 2018, Canadian Heritage, Quebec Region, organized the annual meeting of the Working Group on Arts, Culture and Heritage with the English-speaking communities of Quebec to understand their needs and discuss collaboration with federal institutions.

About 10 federal institutions participated in this meeting, including:

• Canada Council for the Arts
• Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
• CBC/Radio-Canada
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
• Library and Archives Canada
• National Arts Centre
• National Film Board of Canada
• Parks Canada
• Telefilm Canada

This meeting identified several possible solutions to the issues of visibility of artists from English-speaking communities in Quebec and the promotion of historic Anglophone heritage sites. Co-leaders were also appointed to follow up on the issues raised.

Spotlight on youth

In June 2017, as part of an annual reflection on its French program, the National Film Board of Canada invited 4 young Francophones from different regions of Canada (Montreal, Moncton, Ottawa and Saskatoon) to provide their comments, thoughts and views on a varied sample of its recent works. As the institution undergoes a shift to attract more young people, this exercise enabled it to learn more about the concerns, perceptions and tastes of young Francophones.

Research for the creation of a vitality indicator

Telefilm Canada established an advisory committee with Quebec’s English-speaking community to develop a vitality indicator that will make it possible, among other things, to measure the growth and decline of the vitality of this community and better target its interests, needs and issues.

Government of Canada advertising

To address the concerns of official language minority media that the redirection of Government of Canada advertising to digital sources would be to their detriment, Public Services and Procurement Canada took various measures in 2017–2018 to establish a dialogue between representatives of these media and members of the Government of Canada’s advertising community:

• The department organized a meeting to advise representatives of official language minority media on how to create a digital portal that would help federal institutions purchase advertising in these media.
• It also researched the media consumption habits of minority language Canadians and presented the results to representatives of these media.
• Lastly, it invited representatives of these media to participate in and set up information kiosks at the annual event of the Government of Canada advertising community, which was attended by approximately 200 employees from various federal institutions.

6.8 Economic and social development

In 2017–2018, Public Services and Procurement Canada’s Office of Small and Medium Enterprises established an open dialogue with various official language minority organizations across the country to ensure that businesses in these communities know how to do business with the Government of Canada and can raise issues regarding systemic barriers. It offered seminars and webinars on various topics such as selling to the government, finding business opportunities, the Build in Canada Innovation Program, defence procurement, and so on.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada used a variety of consultation methods to gain a better understanding of the economic issues facing official language minority communities:

• In June 2017, more than 70 community leaders and some 20 representatives of 14 federal institutions participated in the first-ever “speed dating” event with Quebec’s English-speaking community. The purpose of this matchmaking event, organized by the Quebec Community Groups Network, was to strengthen existing relationships and build new partnerships between community leaders and federal institutions focused on the economy, employment, innovation and research. The federal institutions and agencies that took part in this first-ever event include:
  • Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
  • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
  • Canadian Heritage
  • Canadian Space Agency
  • CBC/Radio-Canada
  • Employment and Social Development Canada
  • Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
  • Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
  • Language Portal of Canada (Translation Bureau)
  • National Research Council of Canada
  • Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (Public Services and Procurement Canada)
  • Status of Women Canada
  • Statistics Canada
• In September 2017, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada also conducted a consultation as part of the forum La Francophonie économique en 3D: Diversité, Dualité, Dynamisme, organized by the Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité Canada. The activity provided over 140 participants with an opportunity to discuss the themes of immigration, tourism and economic youth, and make practical recommendations on the strategic issues raised in the white paper entitled The Economic Prosperity of Francophones and Acadians.
• The department also carried out 8 research projects, 5 of which covered topics pertaining to the feasibility of setting up digital work platforms or specialized tools to improve the economic positioning of companies and specialized agencies. This research helped better understand the immediate needs of official language minority communities in the digital field.
• With financial support from the department, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO) and the Conference Board of Canada conducted the study “Ontario, Trade and the Advantages of English-French Bilingualism” to examine the connection between bilingualism and the province’s international trade in goods. One of the study’s findings was that Ontario trades more with Anglophone and Francophone countries than one might expect. It also established that the Francophonie in Ontario encourages trade with Francophone countries. The results of the study were released in May 2018.

In fall 2017, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) coordinated 7 consultations in the form of engagement sessions with more than 50 stakeholders and entrepreneurs from Francophone communities in this region. These consultations provided insight into their priorities and challenges in advance of the review of the Economic Development Initiative program guidelines for the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023. The participants also had an opportunity to comment on the priorities of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan.

In February 2018, Western Economic Diversification Canada met with representatives of Francophone economic development organizations to learn more about their successes and best practices in tailoring the priorities of the federal institution to their needs.

In 2017–2018, Status of Women Canada increased its efforts with official language minority community organizations to promote its Women’s Program and discuss the organizations’ needs and challenges, projects in development or underway, as well as opportunities for collaboration. For example, during the year, departmental representatives visited 56 Francophone organizations in the Atlantic region. In addition, as a result of efforts deployed across the country, 3 organizations received funding for 36 months (2018–2021) after the call for proposals in fall 2017:

• The Fédération provinciale des Fransaskoises will be able to offer a respite service to improve the working conditions of Francophone caregivers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta
• Solidarité des femmes et familles immigrantes francophones du Niagara will be able to launch the “Sécuriser les femmes du Niagara” project, which aims to reduce barriers to employment and economic security for Francophone immigrant women with young children
• The Restigouche Community Business Development Corporation (CBDC) will be able to work to improve the economic security of female victims of domestic violence in New Brunswick

7. Government collaboration and coordination

7.1 Official Languages Branch

Pursuant to section 42 of the Official Languages Act, the Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) should encourage and promote a coordinated approach to the implementation by federal institutions of the commitments set out in section 41.

Acting as a centre of expertise for some 200 federal institutions subject to this Act, the Official Languages Branch manages and facilitates a network of coordinators and employees responsible for the implementation of section 41 of the Act (Network 41). These people are an important point of contact for members of minority communities within federal institutions.

A network of officers responsible for official languages in the regional offices of Canadian Heritage (Network 42) also supports the work of federal institutions in all provinces and territories. Through these networks, the Official Languages Branch is able to fully deliver on the coordination mandate, both nationally and regionally.

Furthermore, the Official Languages Branch collaborates on a continual basis with the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Council of the Network of Official Languages Champions to increase official languages leadership and facilitate the sharing of best practices.

7.2 Other federal institutions

Other federal institutions have also exercised a leadership role among federal institutions. This is the case for the following institutions:

• the Treasury Board Secretariat organizes and participates in the following:
  • Conference of Official Languages Champions
  • Council of the Network of Official Languages Champions
  • Departmental Advisory Committee on Official Languages
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is responsible for the national coordination of the implementation of the Economic Development Initiative with Canada’s regional economic development agencies:
  • Northern Economic Development Agency
  • Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
  • Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
  • Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
  • Western Economic Diversification Canada
  • Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
• Justice Canada coordinates the activities of the Justice and Security Network, which brings together all federal justice and security stakeholders to discuss issues related to security, justice and official languages:
  • Canada Border Services Agency
  • Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
  • National Defence
  • Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • Canadian Heritage
  • Health Canada
  • Public Safety Canada
  • Correctional Service of Canada
  • Public Prosecution Service of Canada
• Health Canada has established the Federal Health Portfolio Committee with other federal institutions:
  • Canadian Food Inspection Agency
  • Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada has demonstrated a high degree of interdepartmental and sectoral collaboration by providing information sessions on Part VII of the Act to employees in regional offices within its own department and the Coast Guard
• Statistics Canada has collaborated and developed partnerships with other federal institutions, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

7.3 Collaboration with the provinces and territories

The Government of Canada remains convinced of the importance of working closely with its provincial and territorial partners to ensure the vitality of official language minority communities across Canada.

Several examples of collaboration between the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments, particularly in the areas of justice, immigration and education, are mentioned in Section 2: Update on the Government of Canada’s official languages mechanisms in 2017–2018 of this report.

Conclusion

As you read in this report, fiscal year 2017–2018 was a year rich in initiatives and positive measures taken by federal institutions in several areas of activity (education, immigration, health, justice, social development, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, vocational training) to foster the development and growth of young people, newcomers, women and entrepreneurs in official language minority communities in Canada, and to promote the full recognition and use of both official languages in Canadian society.

The year 2017–2018 was marked by the announcement of the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in Our Future, which brings the Government of Canada’s support to nearly $2.7 billion over 5 years. This historic investment, which responds to community needs identified by organizations during the consultation process described earlier, aims to support these communities and help official languages to prosper in the coming years.

The year 2017–2018 also marked the end of activities celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, which provided excellent opportunities to promote Canada’s bilingual character, here and abroad.

The year 2018–2019 will be just as busy, notably with:

• the implementation of the new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023
• preparations for the review of the Official Languages Act with a view to its modernization, including the organization of forums with Minister Joly and round tables that will be held across the country, so that this legislation can continue to serve Canadians well, or better, in a changing environment
• preparations for the 50th anniversary of the Official Languages Act in 2019, including the organization of a major symposium on official languages in Ottawa on May 27 and 28, 2019, where experts from various backgrounds will discuss the major issues raised during the forums and round tables on the modernization of the Act
• ongoing negotiations for the renewal of the Protocol for Agreements on Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction and the negotiation and implementation of bilateral agreements on the subject with the 13 provinces and territories
• the renewal of agreements pertaining to access to French language services, other than education, with each province

The Official Languages Branch (Canadian Heritage) will also continue to work closely with federal institutions to encourage them to continue their work with official language minority communities across Canada.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Actual annual spending on the initiatives of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018

Table 1: Annual spending on all pillars of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018 — Grand total (in dollars)

Pillars	2013–2014		2014–2015		2015–2016		2016–2017		2017–2018		Total from 2013–2014 to 2017–2018
	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending
Pillar 1 subtotal: Education[1]	131,501,550	128,176,009	131,601,550	131,326,829	132,017,483	131,727,646	132,067,580	131,942,830	131,634,247	131,569,257	658,822,410	654,742,571
Pillar 2 subtotal: Immigration[2]	29,668,098	29,670,000	29,719,370	29,720,000	30,000,000	30,037,726	30,100,000	30,061,138	29,911,638	29,911,638	149,399,106	149,400,502
Pillar 3 subtotal: Communities[3]	55,748,736	43,229,797	67,535,286	56,824,675	66,088,532	58,314,372	67,134,093	61,028,939	64,699,374	57,625,133	321,206,021	277,022,916
Grand total	216,918,384	201,075,806	228,856,206	217,871,504	228,106,015	220,079,744	229,301,673	223,032,907	226,245,259	219,106,028	1,129,427,537	1,081,165,989
[1] Refer to table 2 for a detailed breakdown of spending on the initiatives of pillar 1 (Education). [2] Refer to table 3 for a detailed breakdown of spending on the initiatives of pillar 2 (Immigration). [3] Refer to table 4 for a detailed breakdown of spending on the initiatives of pillar 3 (Communities).

Table 2: Annual spending on the initiatives of pillar 1 (Education) (in dollars)

Federal partners	Initiatives	2013–2014		2014–2015		2015–2016		2016–2017		2017–2018		Total from 2013–2014 to 2017–2018
		Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending
Canadian Heritage	Support for minority language education	53,004,809	53,004,809	53,004,809	53,004,808	53,004,809	53,004,808	53,004,808	53,004,808	53,004,808	53,004,808	265,024,043	265,024,041
	Support for second language learning	35,004,809	35,004,809	35,004,809	35,004,808	35,004,809	35,004,808	35,004,808	35,004,808	35,004,808	35,004,808	175,024,043	175,024,041
	Summer language bursaries	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	7,320,966	36,604,830	36,604,830
	Official language monitors	3,720,966	3,720,966	3,720,966	3,720,965	3,720,966	3,720,965	3,720,965	3,720,965	3,720,965	3,720,965	18,604,828	18,604,826
	Exchanges Canada	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	2,250,000	11,250,000	11,250,000
Health Canada	Training, networks and access to health services (education component)	21,300,000	18,929,302	21,300,000	21,256,122	21,733,333	21,733,333	21,733,333	21,733,333	21,300,000	21,300,000	107,366,666	104,952,090
Justice Canada	Training, networks and access to justice services (education component, including internal services)	3,800,000	2,883,092	3,800,000	3,674,789	3,782,600	3,777,093	3,782,700	3,677,986	3,782,700	3,673,227	18,948,000	17,686,187
Public Services and Procurement Canada	Language Portal of Canada	3,100,000	3,062,065	3,200,000	3,094,371	3,200,000	2,915,673	3,250,000	3,229,964	3,250,000	3,250,000	16,000,000	15,552,073
National Research Council of Canada	Strengthening the language industry and technologies	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000	2,044,483	10,000,000	10,044,483
All federal partners	Pillar 1 subtotal: Education	131,501,550	128,176,009	131,601,550	131,326,829	132,017,483	131,727,646	132,067,580	131,942,830	131,634,247	131,569,257	658,822,410	654,742,571

Table 3: Annual spending on the initiatives of pillar 2 (Immigration) (in dollars)

Federal partners	Initiatives	2013–2014		2014–2015		2015–2016		2016–2017		2017–2018		Total from 2013–2014 to 2017–2018
		Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada	Language training for economic immigrants	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	24,000,000	120,000,000	120,000,000
	Immigration to official language minority communities (including support to Francophone immigration in New Brunswick) [1]	5,668,098	5,670,000	5,719,370	5,720,000	6,000,000	6,037,726	6,100,000	6,061,138	5,911,638	5,911,638	29,399,106	29,400,502
All federal partners	Pillar 2 subtotal: Immigration	29,668,098	29,670,000	29,719,370	29,720,000	30,000,000	30,037,726	30,100,000	30,061,138	29,911,638	29,911,638	149,399,106	149,400,502
[1] As part of the Roadmap for Official Languages 2013–2018, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has invested $29.4 million for the Immigration to Official Language Minority Communities initiative. There is a small $100,000 discrepancy between this amount and the IRCC funding publicly announced in March 2013. This change was made pursuant to a budget review and it has not had an impact on IRCC’s ability to deliver services to official language minority communities. The same support has been provided and results achieved.

Table 4: Annual spending on the initiatives of pillar 3 (Communities) (in dollars)

Federal partners	Initiatives	2013–2014		2014–2015		2015–2016		2016–2017		2017–2018		Total from 2013–2014 to 2017–2018
		Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending	Planned spending	Actual spending
Canadian Heritage	Support for official language minority communities	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	22,262,275	22,262,275
	Intergovernmental cooperation	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	4,452,455	22,262,275	22,262,275
	Community Cultural Action Fund	0	0	2,750,000	1,923,726	2,750,000	2,750,000	2,500,000	2,462,593	2,000,000	1,705,200	10,000,000	8,841,519
	Music Showcase Program for Artists from official language minority communities	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	1,150,000	5,750,000	5,750,000
	National Translation Program for Book Publishing	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	800,000	4,000,000	4,000,000
Canada Council for the Arts	Market Access Strategy for Artists from official language minority communities	250,000	248,820	500,000	501,060	500,000	498,745	750,000	750,000	750,000	693,517	2,750,000	2,692,142
Employment and Social Development Canada	Enabling Fund for official language minority communities	13,730,000	13,730,000	13,670,000	13,670,000	13,800,000	13,203,946	14,060,000	13,356,209	13,740,000	13,185,590	69,000,000	67,145,745
	Official language minority communities Literacy and Essential Skills Initiative	1,500,000	1,500,000	1,500,000	1,277,166	1,500,000	1,052,434	1,500,000	606,697	604,654	728,647	6,604,654	5,164,944
	Social Partnership Initiative in official language minority communities	800,000	0	800,000	0	260,000	0	600,000	1,212,316	2,077,856	2,087,595	4,537,856	3,299,911
Justice Canada	Contraventions Act Fund (including internal services)	9,922,326	5,969,676	9,922,326	4,341,386	9,875,960	4,016,284	9,875,960	4,689,624	9,875,960	4,085,605	49,472,532	23,102,575
	Training, networks and access to justice services (community component, including internal services)	4,239,000	2,589,362	4,239,000	3,924,728	4,171,945	3,770,680	4,171,944	4,178,350	4,171,944	3,802,454	20,993,833	18,265,574
Health Canada	Training, networks and access to health services (community component)	13,007,500	6,582,250	15,770,000	15,248,952	15,336,667	15,336,667	15,916,667	15,796,262	13,560,000	13,136,737	73,590,834	66,100,868
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada	Economic Development Initiative for regional operations	70,000	62,534	390,000	364,062	380,000	375,833	380,000	366,927	380,000	355,971	1,600,000	1,525,327
Federal Economic Development Initiatives for Northern Ontario (FedNor)	Economic Development Initiative	165,000	90,000	1,115,000	432,269	1,065,000	1,403,069	1,015,000	1,238,943	1,090,000	876,338	4,450,000	4,040,619
Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec (CED)	Economic Development Initiative	440,000	1,409,282	2,660,000	1,720,489	2,360,000	1,942,788	2,370,000	2,186,476	2,370,000	2,058,445	10,200,000	9,317,480
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)	Economic Development Initiative	330,000	37,903	1,470,000	853,337	1,340,000	1,227,733	1,340,000	1,513,925	1,330,000	2,258,049	5,810,000	5,890,947
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario)	Economic Development Initiative	120,000	45,060	1,074,050	1,114,865	1,074,050	1,090,818	979,612	1,101,249	1,074,050	979,612	4,321,762	4,331,604
Western Economic Diversification Canada (WED)	Economic Development Initiative	240,000	110,000	740,000	523,590	740,000	710,465	740,000	634,458	740,000	736,463	3,200,000	2,714,976
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor)	Economic Development Initiative	80,000	0	80,000	74,135	80,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	400,000	314,135
All federal partners	Pillar 3 subtotal: Communities	55,748,736	43,229,797	67,535,286	56,824,675	66,088,532	58,314,372	67,134,093	61,028,939	64,699,374	57,625,133	321,206,021	277,022,916

Appendix 2: 2017–2018 expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by component

Table 5: Expenditures of Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support Programs — Grand total (in dollars)

Program	Expenditures
Development of Official Language Communities Program [1]	230,448,656
Enhancement of Official Languages Program [2]	117,749,141
Grand total	348,197,797
[1] Refer to table 6 for a detailed breakdown of the 2017–2018 expenditures of the Development of Official Language Communities Program. [2] Refer to table 7 for a detailed breakdown of the 2017–2018 expenditures of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program.

Table 6: Expenditures of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by component (in dollars)

Component	Sub-component	Expenditures
Community Life	Cooperation with the Community Sector	32,857,036
	Intergovernmental Cooperation on Minority Language Services	23,394,310
	Strategic Fund	3,880,187
	Community Cultural Action Fund	1,705,200
	Young Canada Works (official languages)	2,386,750
	Subtotal: "Community Life" component	64,223,483
Minority Language Education	Intergovernmental Cooperation on Minority Language Education	161,868,975
	Complementary Support for Language Learning	2,622,198
	Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Sector	1,734,000
	Subtotal "Minority Language Education" component	166,225,173
All components	Total	230,448,656

Table 7: Expenditures of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program by component (in dollars)

Component	Sub-component	Expenditures
Promotion of Linguistic Duality	Appreciation and Reconciliation	3,644,431
	Promotion of Bilingual Services	335,745
	Bilingual Advantage	34,247
	Language Rights Support	109,373
	Support for Interpretation and Translation	491,896
	Subtotal: "Promotion of Linguistic Duality"	4,615,692
Second Language Learning	Intergovernmental Cooperation on Second Language Learning	89,108,682
	Complementary Support for Language Learning	20,631,315
	Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Sector	1,006,703
	Young Canada Works (official languages)	2,386,749
	Subtotal: "Second Language Learning" component	113,133,449
All components	Total	117,749,141

Appendix 3: 2017–2018 expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by province and territory

Table 8: Expenditures of Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support Programs by their geographic scope — Grand total (in dollars)

Scope	Development of Official Language Communities Program	Enhancement of Official Languages Program	Total
Provinces and territories	223,705,708	93,724,374	317,430,082 [1]
National programs	6,742,948	24,024,767	30,767,715 [2]
Grand total	230,448,656	117,749,141	348,197,797
[1] Refer to table 9 for a detailed breakdown by province and territory. [2] Refer to table 13 for a detailed breakdown by national program.

Table 9: Expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by province and territory (in dollars)

Province or territory	Development of Official Language Communities Program	Enhancement of Official Languages Program	Subtotal by province or territory
Newfoundland and Labrador	2,878,081	2,776,005	5,654,086
Prince Edward Island	4,318,832	1,800,302	6,119,134
Nova Scotia	9,254,878	3,990,385	13,245,263
New Brunswick	24,918,968	5,190,399	30,109,367
Quebec	52,961,673	18,497,499	71,459,172
Ontario	63,452,638	24,788,254	88,240,892
Manitoba	11,064,769	5,804,781	16,869,550
Saskatchewan	6,370,481	4,688,856	11,059,337
Alberta	9,644,941	9,457,149	19,102,090
British Columbia	11,555,048	10,761,606	22,316,654
Northwest Territories	7,854,104	1,346,545	9,200,649
Yukon Territory	6,270,648	1,090,010	7,360,658
Nunavut	5,017,173	599,746	5,616,919
National (including pan-Canadian and inter-regional projects)	8,143,474	2,932,837	11,076,311
Subtotal for all provinces and territories	223,705,708 [1]	93,724,374 [2]	317,430,082
[1] Refer to tables 10 and 11 for a detailed breakdown of expenditures of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by province and territory. [2] Refer to table 12 for a detailed breakdown of expenditures of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program by province or territory.

Table 10: Expenditures of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by province and territory (in dollars)

Province or territory	"Community Life" component	"Minority Language Education" component	Subtotal by province or territory
Newfoundland and Labrador	1,576,530	1,301,551	2,878,081
Prince Edward Island	2,459,750	1,859,082	4,318,832
Nova Scotia	3,258,153	5,996,725	9,254,878
New Brunswick	5,564,023	19,354,945	24,918,968
Quebec	4,538,060	48,423,613	52,961,673
Ontario	6,560,206	56,892,432	63,452,638
Manitoba	4,190,020	6,874,749	11,064,769
Saskatchewan	3,177,463	3,193,018	6,370,481
Alberta	3,958,975	5,685,966	9,644,941
British Columbia	3,395,689	8,159,359	11,555,048
Northwest Territories	6,285,254	1,568,850	7,854,104
Yukon Territory	4,534,848	1,735,800	6,270,648
Nunavut	4,194,288	822,885	5,017,173
National (including pan-Canadian and inter-regional projects)	8,143,474	0	8,143,474
Subtotal for all provinces and territories	61,836,733 [1]	161,868,975	223,705,708
[1] Refer to table 11 for a detailed breakdown of expenditures of the “Community Life” component of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by province and territory.

Table 11: Expenditures of the “Community Life” component of the Development of Official Language Communities Program by province and territory (in dollars)

Province or territory	“Cooperation with the Community Sector” sub-component	“Intergovernmental Cooperation on Services” sub-component	Subtotal by province or territory
Newfoundland and Labrador	1,226,530	350,000	1,576,530
Prince Edward Island	1,222,250	1,237,500	2,459,750
Nova Scotia	1,957,153	1,301,000	3,258,153
New Brunswick	3,967,023	1,597,000	5,564,023
Quebec	4,138,060	400,000	4,538,060
Ontario	5,160,206	1,400,000	6,560,206
Manitoba	2,790,020	1,400,000	4,190,020
Saskatchewan	2,417,463	760,000	3,177,463
Alberta	3,030,475	928,500	3,958,975
British Columbia	2,695,689	700,000	3,395,689
Northwest Territories	633,990	5,651,264	6,285,254
Yukon Territory	538,560	3,996,288	4,534,848
Nunavut	521,530	3,672,758	4,194,288
National (including pan-Canadian and inter-regional projects)	8,143,474	0	8,143,474
Subtotal for all provinces and territories	38,442,423	23,394,310	61,836,733

Table 12: Expenditures of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program by province and territory (in dollars)

Province or territory	“Promotion of Linguistic Duality” component	“Second Language Learning” component	Subtotal by province or territory
Newfoundland and Labrador	136,710	2,639,295	2,776,005
Prince Edward Island	112,200	1,688,102	1,800,302
Nova Scotia	147,630	3,842,755	3,990,385
New Brunswick	147,065	5,043,334	5,190,399
Quebec	0	18,497,499	18,497,499
Ontario	294,500	24,493,754	24,788,254
Manitoba	149,330	5,655,451	5,804,781
Saskatchewan	149,330	4,539,526	4,688,856
Alberta	189,290	9,267,859	9,457,149
British Columbia	303,760	10,457,846	10,761,606
Northwest Territories	53,040	1,293,505	1,346,545
Yukon Territory	0	1,090,010	1,090,010
Nunavut	0	599,746	599,746
National (including pan-Canadian and inter-regional projects)	2,932,837	0	2,932,837
Subtotal for all provinces and territories	4,615,692	89,108,682	93,724,374

Table 13: Expenditures of the Official Languages Support Programs by national program (in dollars)

National programs	Development of Official Language Communities Program ("Minority Education" component, with one exception) [1]	Enhancement of Official Languages Program ("Second Language Learning" component only)	Subtotal by national program
Complementary Support for Language Learning: Explore and Destination Clic	815,171	15,488,236	16,303,407
Complementary Support for Language Learning: Odyssey	1,807,027	5,143,079	6,950,106
Cooperation with Non-Governmental Sector/Education	1,734,000	1,006,703	2,740,703
Young Canada Works	2,386,750 [1]	2,386,749	4,773,499
Subtotal for all national programs	6,742,948	24,024,767	30,767,715
[1] Unlike other national initiatives of the Development of Official Language Communities Program that are funded by the "Education" component, Young Canada Works is funded by the "Community Life" component.

Appendix 4: 2017–2018 education expenditures

Table 14: Breakdown of education expenditures (in dollars)

	Minority language education			Second language learning			Total
	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds
Intergovernmental cooperation [1]	161,868,975	97.4%	212,130,508	89,108,682	78.8%	155,357,631	250,977,657	89.8%	367,488,139
National programs [2]	4,356,198	2.6%	0	24,024,767	21.2%	0	28,380,965	10.2%	0
Grand total	166,225,173	100%	212,130,508	113,133,449	100%	155,357,631	279,358,622	100%	367,488,139
[1] Refer to table 15 for a detailed breakdown of intergovernmental cooperation initiatives expenditures in education. [2] Refer to table 16 for a detailed breakdown of national programs expenditures in education.

Table 15: Breakdown of education expenditures — Intergovernmental cooperation (in dollars)

	Minority language education			Second language learning			Total
	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds
Student participation	28,599,105	17.2%	36,032,839	9,548,495	8.4%	9,779,180	38,147,600	13.7%	45,812,019
Program availability	60,130,958	36.2%	75,813,601	45,769,601	40.5%	103,616,416	105,900,559	37.9%	179,430,017
Student performance	7,271,575	4.4%	12,758,250	5,556,973	4.9%	6,326,969	12,828,548	4.6%	19,085,219
Enriched school environment	13,279,917	8%	13,126,097	8,875,136	7.8%	9,072,816	22,155,053	7.9%	22,198,913
Access to post-secondary education	28,869,200	17.4%	28,053,489	7,173,347	6.3%	7,868,724	36,042,547	12.9%	35,922,213
Support for educational staff and research	11,027,602	6.6%	11,117,368	9,418,563	8.3%	12,319,687	20,446,165	7.3%	23,437,055
Complementary funds – Projects	12,690,618	7.6%	35,228,864	2,766,567	2.4%	6,373,839	15,457,185	5.5%	41,602,703
Subtotal	161,868,975	97.4%	212,130,508	89,108,682	78.8%	155,357,631	250,977,657	89.8%	367,488,139

Table 16: Breakdown of education expenditures — National programs (in dollars)

	Minority language education			Second language learning			Total
	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds	Federal funds	Share of total federal funds	Provincial funds
Complementary Support for Language Learning: Explore and Destination Clic (Bursaries)	815,171	0.5%	0	15,488,236	13.7%	0	16,303,407	5.8%	0
Complementary Support for Language Learning: Odyssey (Monitors)	1,807,027	1.1%	0	5,143,079	4.5%	0	6,950,106	2.5%	0
Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Sector: Support for education	1,734,000	1%	0	1,006,703	0.9%	0	2,740,703	1%	0
Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Sector: Young Canada Works	0	0	0	2,386,749	2.1%	0	2,386,749	0.9%	0
Subtotal	4,356,198	2.6%	0	24,024,767	21.2%	0	28,380,965	10.2%	0

Appendix 5: School enrolment in 2016–2017

Source: Centre for Education Statistics, Statistics Canada

Enrolments in second language instruction programs in majority language school systems

Table 17: Enrolments in second language instruction programs in majority language school systems — All of Canada

Type of second language instruction program	Year	Total enrolment in majority schools	Second language (including immersion)		French immersion
			Coating	Percentage of Percentage (of total population)	Coating	Percentage of Percentage (of total population)
Total – Students in majority language school systems taking French as a second language combined with students taking English as a second language	1983–1984 [1]	4,401,997	2,199,253	50%	117,454	2.7%
	2016–2017	4,557,813	2,409,714	52.9%	449,769	9.9%
Total – English language students in majority systems learning French as a second language (Canada minus Quebec)	1983–1984 [1]	3,464,272	1,607,335	46.4%	117,454	3.4%
	2016–2017	3,733,902	1,686,570	45.2%	449,769	12%
Total – Students in the French language education system learning English as a second language in Quebec	1983–1984 [1]	937,725	591,918	63.1%	-	-
	2016–2017	823,911	723,144	87.8%	-	-
[1] Second language totals for 1983–1984 do not include Yukon, Northwest Territories or Nunavut, for which no data were available. For each of these jurisdictions, the earliest year for which data are available is provided in the table 8, to establish a base year.

Table 18: Enrolments in second language instruction programs in majority language school systems by province or territory

Province or territory	Year	Total enrolment in majority schools	Second language (including immersion)		French immersion
			Coating	Percentage of Percentage (of total population)	Coating	Percentage of Percentage (of total population)
Newfoundland and Labrador	1983–1984	147,500	75,056	50.9%	970	0.7%
	2016–2017	65,823	38,910	59.1%	10,545	16%
Prince Edward Island	1983–1984	24,964	15,911	63.7%	1,833	7.3%
	2016–2017	19,143	11,577	60.5%	5,094	26.6%
Nova Scotia	1983–1984	172,770	95,201	55.1%	894	0.5%
	2016–2017	112,872	59,613	52.8%	15,171	13.4%
New Brunswick	1983–1984	98,284	70,289	71.5%	11,009	11.2%
	2016–2017	68,922	42,552	61.7%	20,016	29%
Quebec	1983–1984	937,725	591,918	63.1%	-	-
	2016–2017	823,911	723,144	87.8%	-	-
Ontario	1983–1984	1,682,302	909,290	54.1%	65,310	3.9%
	2016–2017	1,900,995	985,974	51.9%	262,626	13.8%
Manitoba	1983–1984	194,182	91,058	46.9%	9,090	4.7%
	2016–2017	177,288	82,149	46.3%	24,384	13.8%
Saskatchewan	1983–1984	200,362	52,324	26.1%	4,018	2%
	2016–2017	177,345	48,687	27.5%	14,556	8.2%
Alberta	1983–1984	447,759	120,868	27%	14,523	3.2%
	2016–2017	644,127	185,706	28.8%	42,567	6.6%
British Columbia	1983–1984	496,149	177,338	35.7%	9,807	2%
	2016–2017	544,230	226,296	41.6%	53,208	9.8%
Yukon Territory	1984–1985	4,667	2,221	47.6%	186	4%
	2016–2017	5,067	2,529	49.9%	717	14.2%
Northwest Territories	1990–1991	14,016	4,360	31.1%	404	2.9%
	2016–2017	8,136	2,577	31.7%	885	10.9%
Nunavut	2002–2003	8,861	0	Not available	0	Not available
	2016–2017	9,954	0	Not available	0	Not available

Enrolments in minority language education programs

Table 19: Enrolments in minority language education programs — All of Canada

Scope	Year	Total of school enrolment	Enrolment in minority language schools	Classes	Minority language share of total school enrolment
Total – Canada	1983–1984 [1]	4,682,999	281,002	-	6%
	2016–2017	4,805,025	247,212	-	5.1%
Total – French minority language schools	1983–1984 [1]	3,634,315	152,594	-	4.2%
	2016–2017	3,897,417	163,515	-	4.2%
[1] Minority language figures for 1983–1984 exclude Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, where there were no minority language schools in 1983–1984. For each of these jurisdictions, the earliest year for which data is available is provided in the table 20 to establish a base year.

Table 20: Enrolments in minority language education programs by province and territory

Province or territory	Year	Total of school enrolment	Enrolment in minority language schools	Classes	Minority language share of total school enrolment
Newfoundland and Labrador	1983–1984	147,603	103	Kindergarten to 12	0.1%
	2016–2017	66,183	360	Kindergarten to 12	0.5%
Prince Edward Island	1983–1984	25,480	516	1 to 12	2%
	2016–2017	20,007	864	Kindergarten to 12	4.3%
Nova Scotia	1983–1984	177,240	4,470	Kindergarten to 12	2.5%
	2016–2017	118,566	5,694	Kindergarten to 12	4.8%
New Brunswick	1983–1984	146,045	47,761	Kindergarten to 12	32.7%
	2016–2017	97,842	28,920	Kindergarten to 12	29.6%
Quebec	1983–1984	1,066,133	128,408	Kindergarten to 11	12%
	2016–2017	907,608	83,697	Kindergarten to 11	9.2%
Ontario	1983–1984	1,773,478	91,176	Kindergarten to 12	5.1%
	2016–2017	2,006,700	105,705	Kindergarten to 12	5.3%
Manitoba	1983–1984	199,743	5,561	Kindergarten to 12	2.8%
	2016–2017	183,018	5,730	Kindergarten to 12	3.1%
Saskatchewan	1983–1984	201,130	768	Kindergarten to 12	0.4%
	2016–2017	179,190	1,845	Kindergarten to 12	1%
Alberta	1983–1984	448,835	1,076	Kindergarten to 12	0.2%
	2016–2017	652,272	8,145	Kindergarten to 12	1.2%
British Colombia	1983–1984	497,312	1,163	Kindergarten to 12	0.1%
	2016–2017	549,921	5,691	Kindergarten to 12	1%
Yukon Territory	1984–1985	4,697	30	Kindergarten to 8	0.6%
	2016–2017	5,343	276	Kindergarten to 12	4.6%
Northwest Territories	1990–1991	14,079	63	Kindergarten to 11	0.4%
	2016–2017	8,337	201	Kindergarten to 12	2.4%
Nunavut	2002–2003	8,901	40	Kindergarten to 12	0.4%
	2016–2017	10,038	84	Kindergarten to 12	0.8%

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2019
Catalogue number: CH10-2E-PDF, ISSN: 2562-704X