Official Languages

Opening remarks

Thank you for that question, Mr. Godin. I think the time has come to—

Opening remarks

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Honourable members, good afternoon. Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie Britannique, the CSF. I am the president of the CSF and I’m here with the CSF superintendent, Ms. Pascale Bernier. The French version of the brief prepared by the CSF was emailed to the committee, which will make arrangements for translation. The CSF is the only francophone school board in the province. It manages 47 French-language schools and serves nearly 6,000 students. The French-language education continuum, from early childhood to the post-secondary level, is central to the mission of the CSF. As you will see in our brief, two parliamentary committees on official languages have studied issues around the education continuum many times. What is new, however, is that the legal framework in which the questions now arise has changed because of the following three factors: first, the modernization of the Official Languages Act in 2023; second, the enactment of the Canada Early Childhood Learning and Child Care Act in 2024; and third, recent case law developments on the statutory obligations of…

Opening remarks

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll begin by saying that it’s important for us to remember that based on the most recent Canadian population survey, just 27.7% of New Brunswick residents spoke French at home in 2024, a decline from 31.5% in 1991. Other figures are equally alarming: 62% of francophone adults in New Brunswick have difficulty understanding and using written texts and 69% have challenges with basic math. When it comes to training, like other francophone universities and colleges outside Quebec, the University of Moncton was established to increase access for francophones to post-secondary education in French outside Quebec, particularly to address human resources needs in urban areas and in the regions in critical sectors like health and education. We project that New Brunswick will need nearly 700 new teachers in francophone schools across the province by 2028. The University of Moncton currently provides less than 50% of these resources, even though 79% of our graduates stay within the province after their studies and work in the New Brunswick school system, compared to 40% of anglophone graduates. The University of Moncton has three campuses in Edmundston, Shippagan…

Opening remarks

I don’t have it either, Ms. Lavoie. However, I can indicate that the proportion has really increased. We have designed various tools and systems to support immigrant families. In addition, as Ms. Lavoie said, we must continue our efforts to ensure that these people feel good and feel at home within the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie‑Britannique.

Opening remarks

In short, the best way to make things easier over the short term would be to increase our capacity to award degrees. Most students come to Moncton when it’s time to do placements, for example. So we’re short on placement spots. Being closer to the District scolaire francophone du Nord‑Ouest and the District scolaire francophone Nord‑Est would increase the number of placement opportunities. The rector spoke of a retention rate of 90% in nursing. I don’t have the statistics, but I’m almost certain that everyone who starts a teaching program in Edmundston or Shippagan works in the province after graduating, and that almost all work in the region where they were trained. The campuses participated in a strategic planning exercise and it became clear that, obviously, if the campuses in the north of the province did not exist, they would need to be built.