Languages Minister Randy Boissonnault has written to MPs emphasizing immigration plays a key role in preserving the French language..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Boissonnault previously suggested the government should consider recruiting immigrants from former French colonies such as Mali and Senegal..“Francophone immigration is a key element of the reform of Canada’s language regime,” Boissonnault wrote the Commons Languages committee. Canada must “adopt a francophone immigration policy to enhance the vitality of Canada’s francophone minority communities.”.“Immigration is one of the factors that contributes to restoring and increasing the demographic weight of Canada’s French-speaking minorities,” wrote Boissonnault. .“(Cabinet) takes into account the fact French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English. It thus commits to the protection and promotion of French.”.Census data show the proportion of francophones outside Québec since 2011 has decreased from 3.8% to 3.5%. Statistics Canada projects a continued decline to 2.7% by 2036..“Initiatives are not sufficient to contribute to some expected long-term outcomes,” the department of Canadian Heritage wrote in a July 31 report Horizontal Evaluation of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023. .“Notably, the contribution of francophone immigration is not sufficient to increase the demographic weight of francophones outside Québec.”.On June 16, Languages Commissioner Raymond Théberge told the Commons Language committee bringing in people from former French colonies of Africa is essential to keep the French language strong in Canada..“Francophone immigration is crucial to development of our official languages communities,” testified Théberge..“We need to ensure we recruit immigrants where there are significant francophone populations. In the past, I think we were focusing in some European regions, but it is clear the future of French is found in Africa and we need to recruit where there are pools of French speakers.”.“I understand the Department of Immigration is focusing on Cameroon, but as a former director of the University of Moncton, we had many students who came from Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal,” said Théberge. .“First of all, we need to seek out people where there are pools of potential candidates.”.The Department of Immigration, in its 2022 Annual Report to Parliament, said of 405,999 immigrants who entered Canada, most were from India (128,000), China (31,000) and the Philippines (18,000). The immigration department has proposed that 4% of foreigners let into Canada speak French..“We will need to aim for a more ambitious target,” said Théberge. .“At the current rate, the demographic weight of French speakers will continue to decline outside of Québec.”
