On October 24, 2024, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages released their report on the Economic Development of Official Language Minority Communities in Canada. This report has been in development since the fall of 2023, and PERT previously provided testimony and a brief as part of the consultation process. We were pleased to see the inclusion of several of our recommendations in this report. 

Inclusion of two key recommendations

Employment Strategy

The inclusion of PERT’s recommendation that the Government of Canada adopt an employment strategy for English-speaking Quebeckers is a significant step forward in addressing the long-standing challenges English speakers encounter in accessing employment opportunities across the province. 

More specifically, the recommendation emphasized that the employment strategy should: 

• prioritize access to free and accessible French-language training programs;
• work toward forging a partnership between the participating federal institutions and Quebec’s English-speaking communities
• work toward improving Canada–Quebec intergovernmental and interdepartmental coordination on the employability and economic development of Quebec’s English-speaking communities; and
• fund research into the employability and economic development of Quebec’s English-speaking communities.

Most importantly, the recommendation recognizes that this is an area of shared jurisdiction and that there is a need to coordinate with the province. We are encouraged by the potential positive impact that the implementation of this recommendation will have on the employability of Quebec’s English speakers and look forward to seeing the province and federal government collaborate in this crucial area. 

Improved data collection

We are also reassured by the inclusion of our recommendation regarding the improvement of the data environment for our community: 

• That the Government of Canada request that Statistics Canada collect language data in its monthly Labour Force Survey in order to provide socioeconomic development to stakeholders with an up-to-date picture of the national, provincial, territorial and regional employment and unemployment rates for official language minority communities.

As our brief states: “more resources must be dedicated to […] increasing the available data on official language minority communities. Data is particularly needed for English-speaking communities outside of the Montréal region whose specific reality has been historically overlooked in economic portraits of Québec’s English speakers.”

We are hopeful this new data collection will be implemented as soon as possible, and that we will be able to access more timely and regular information about our community. 

Concerns

Despite the inclusion of these two recommendations, we are concerned by the presence of two problematic assertions in the report.  

Definition of our community

First, the report recycles different definitions of the English-speaking community of Quebec imposed on us by those external to our community. This contravenes the clear consensus in Quebec’s English-speaking community that First Official Language Spoken (FOLS) is the best statistical method available. This method of data collection not only aligns with self-identification, but also gives us the most practical information to understand needs, including access to English services and French language training resources. 

It should also be noted that while other Official Linguistic Minority Communities (OLMCs) don’t always indicate how they define their community, their numbers tend to be much higher than those derived through the FOLS method. This indicates that Quebec’s English speakers may have one of the more conservative definitions as compared to other OLMCs. 

Use of averages to distort the economic picture of our community

Second, we are also concerned about the attempt to use average income to demonstrate that Quebec’s English speakers are not facing challenging socio-economic conditions as compared to the Francophone majority. 

Starting with 2016 census data, and now updated with 2021 census data, PERT has produced comprehensive socio-economic profiles of our community. These have been methodologically validated by third-party and governmental economists, and are widely accepted as the leading source of labour market information on Quebec’s English speakers by stakeholders across Quebec’s employability landscape. 

It’s well established why we use median income to compare populations instead of average income. The reason is that averages can be greatly distorted by outliers on the low or high end of the scale. Given the level of income inequality in Quebec’s English-speaking community, using the median minimizes the impact of outliers and provides a more accurate representation of reality.

Moreover, the aim of our socioeconomic profiles is to bring together multiple economic, labour force and demographic variables to understand the diverse areas where our community needs support. While there are some wealthier English speakers who, it would be correct to point out, aren’t in need of employment support, there are many English speakers across Québec, in Montréal and in the regions, who are unemployed or underemployed. These individuals often have low incomes and live in poverty. This is particularly true among women, youth, and visible minorities. Using average income as a comparative measure erases the realities and nuances of the socio-economic situations faced by these groups. 

Next steps

We look forward to seeing the impact of this report on future objectives and federal government programs. In the meantime, solving the employment challenges and maximizing the opportunities for Quebec’s many English-speaking communities requires diverse and community-led interventions that respond to the unique contexts of these communities. They also need to be well-coordinated to ensure collaboration and efficient use of resources. 

It’s for that reason that we have been working to build and engage our four sectoral tables  — employment services, employers, regional organizations, & educational institutions  — and over one hundred members to identify solutions to our community’s employability challenges. 

It’s also for that reason that we have brought together a coalition of regional partners and employment service providers with the Regional Development Network and YES Employment + Entrepreneurship. This coalition is standing ready to identify and deploy targeted and adapted employment services and workforce development strategies that meet the needs of their local communities.