OTTAWA — Liberal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly pointed to changing demographics following her party’s performance in the Terrebonne byelection, as new figures show Ottawa has spent millions promoting immigration from French-speaking countries abroad.“Very important community from Haiti, also from northern Africa… things are changing across the country,” Joly said when asked about the result.This comes as the Bloc Québécois says it will file a complaint with Elections Canada regarding Joly, who does not live in the riding but was seen allegedly loitering near the entrance of a polling station during the vote and was asked to leave by polling station staff.Joly has not addressed the allegation publicly. New federal figures tabled in Parliament suggest those changes have been actively encouraged through immigration policy.According to data released by the Department of Immigration, the federal government has spent more than $9.5 million over the past four years advertising in French-speaking countries, including Haiti, Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco, urging workers to move to Canada.“French is an asset to work in Canada,” the department wrote in materials tied to the campaign, which directed prospective applicants to resources advertising employment opportunities.The spending, disclosed in response to a parliamentary inquiry from Conservative MP Andrew Lawton, significantly exceeds other international advertising efforts. By comparison, Ottawa spent roughly $207,000 warning Mexican and South American applicants about immigration fraud and about $372,000 on similar messaging targeting India.Federal officials have framed francophone immigration as central to maintaining the French language in Canada, particularly outside Quebec.“Immigration is one of the factors that contribute to restoring and increasing the demographic weight of Canada’s French-speaking minorities,” then-official languages minister Randy Boissonnault wrote in a 2023 letter to a Commons committee.Former languages commissioner Raymond Théberge told MPs the same year that recruitment from Africa was “crucial” to preserving French.“It is clear the future of French is found in Africa and we need to recruit where there are pools of French speakers,” Théberge said in committee testimony.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet had urged voters during the campaign to resist giving the Liberals additional support, arguing the party already held a majority in the House of Commons.
