A report commissioned by the Quebec government – and then covert – details why many newcomers are likely to need more than six months to learn French, contrary to new rules introduced in the province’s updated language law.
The study was commissioned by the provincial Ministry of Immigration in 2019 and presented in April 2021, a month before the government of the Avenir Québec Coalition presented a bill 96.
It has never been made public and was obtained from CBC News under access law.
As part of the qualitative study, the researchers interviewed 58 adults who had recently arrived in Quebec from around the world. The most common were Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Burundi.
The focus was in particular on what changes could be made to a government-funded French program to improve performance for those without a strong education. Some of the interviewees could not read in their native language.
The challenges documented in the report range from practical aspects of relocating, such as finding a job and a place to live, to dealing with the trauma of newcomers to their home countries.
Garine Papazian-Zohrabian, an associate professor of educational psychology at the Université de Montréal, conducted the study with the help of her students.
Garine Papazyan-Zograbian is an associate professor of educational psychology at the Université de Montréal. She says new immigrants in Quebec often leave behind difficult and dangerous situations and need more than six months to learn basic French. (Submitted by Janet Cleveland)
Papazyan-Zograbyan said she was surprised and disappointed when she first saw what was in bill 96.
“They asked for it, paid for it and ignored the report that came out of it,” Papazyan-Zograbian said in an interview, citing the provincial government.
The study was never published on the website of the Ministry of Immigration, unlike other commissioned studies.
In a statement Monday, spokesman Gabriel Belange said the study was not made public because it was set up for “administrative purposes”.
Asked by CBC whether the study was used to help draft Bill 96, Belange said it was shared with the newly formed French-language ministry in the province, which is responsible for implementing Bill 96, on June 10.
This is the same day that the CBC sent questions to the Ministry of Immigration.
“Inhuman” and “discriminatory”
According to Papazyan-Zohrabyan, “neglecting the needs of the most vulnerable immigrant population” is “inhuman and at the same time discriminatory.”
Initially, Papazyan-Zohrabyan expressed his disappointment interview with La Presse last month. The immigration ministry did not share the report with journalist Rima Elkuri.
A total of 147 pages, the document includes a list of recommendations to help immigrants learn French.
The first recommendation is to give students time to settle in Quebec before starting French language courses.
Others include working more closely with community groups to help newcomers, especially those dealing with past trauma, and reviewing approaches to learning from French language courses as a second.
Despite the fears of Papazyan-Zohrabyan and those raised by other experts and community groups who work with newcomers, the legislation was passed last month without changing the clause for six months.
Dina Suleiman, executive director of Welcome Collective, which helps asylum seekers in their first months – to provide them with furniture and other basic things – said the new rules are “another hurdle we will add to help someone integrate.” “.
“I don’t think you need to be a professional in this field to understand that it doesn’t make any sense,” she said.
Confusion about how the law will be applied
Under the new rules, refugees and immigrants moving to Quebec will be allowed access to services in English or another language for the first six months after their arrival.
Public services will then be provided exclusively in French, with the exception of a few areas such as health services and public safety.
Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrett, recently appointed first French language minister in the province, was the lead figure in Bill 96. (Jacques Boissino / The Canadian Press)
It is it is not yet clear how the rules for new immigrants in the bill will be applied 96.
Elizabeth Gosselin-Bienvenu, spokeswoman for the French minister in charge of the French language, Jean Jolin-Barrett, recently told the CBC that the legislation would not be implemented for another year.
Over the next six months, the province will set up a ministry in French, and this ministry will draw up a language policy for the entire public service and all municipalities and government organizations.
Papazyan-Zograbyan said he hoped anyone who won the next election would be “flexible and understanding” in enforcing the law.
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