Back to SearchOn November 5, during National Francophone Immigration Week, the City of Dieppe created the event by partnering with the official launch of "Les Essentiels", a short movie produced by CAFi, and a public dialogue led by Professor Leyla Sall.
National Francophone Immigration Week was marked in Dieppe by the official launch on November 5 of the short movie "Les Essentiels" (Essentials) directed by CAFi (1), in partnership with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Province of New Brunswick (2). Shot in southeastern New Brunswick, this documentary brings together the stories of six immigrant essential workers (3) who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our goal is to change people's views on immigrants and encourage meeting and dialogue," says Stephanie Tardif, CAFi Community Action Team Coordinator. Broadcast live from the Dieppe City Council Hall on the CAFi and City of Dieppe Facebook pages, the film has been followed by a public dialogue (in-person and virtual) led by Leyla Sall, Ph.D. Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Moncton.
"We are very proud of the important contribution of newcomers to our community," said Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre. By adopting its first-ever immigration strategy last June, "the City of Dieppe has set the goal of ensuring linguistic balance in the region (...), by becoming a destination of choice for French-speaking immigration in the Atlantic (...).”
A long-term bet, reinforced by the sharp increase in French-speaking newcomers observed in recent years in Dieppe and neighbouring cities: from 2016 to 2019, the number of permanent residents from Morocco increased by 145%, those from Algeria by 110% and those from France by 30%. "We observe three worlds of well-established French-speaking immigrants in Acadia," notesProfessor Leyla Sall: "International students, the Western European world (mainly Belgians and French people) and refugees; we can add the Maghreb world.”
A two-fold challenge: attracting and retaining French-speaking immigrants
However, for the city of Dieppe, the challenge is not only to attract French-speaking immigrants but also to retain them. Faced with this dual challenge, Professor Leyla Sall recommends an "assimilationist model", in other words a model in which "jobs are proportionally distributed between local residents and immigrants", without them being confined to low-paid and low-value jobs. He explains: "The integration of immigrants necessarily requires their economic integration (...). Immigrants selected to live in N.B. are qualified – and the selection is quite tight! They are transnational - in other words, they are mobile - and pragmatic. If they are confined to a secondary labour market, or to low-quality jobs, it is quite simple, they will leave: they will return to their country of origin or settle in a province that will offer them more attractive prospects in terms of wages and standard of living." Competition is tough, says Leyla Sall, and not just with Quebec and Ontario: "Manitoba and Alberta, for example, have a very aggressive French-speaking immigration policy!"
The "assimilationist" model in support of social cohesion
"Applying an assimilationist model contributes not only to the economic integration of immigrants, but also to social cohesion," adds Professor Leyla Sall. "If French-speaking immigrants don’t do jobs that match their qualifications, they will be frustrated and will not develop a sense of belonging. The risk is to develop a disunited Francophonie."
The mission entrusted to Bénédicte N'Dri, Immigration strategy officer at Expansion Dieppe, is therefore significant. To attract and retain French-speaking immigrants, she works on several levels “with neighbouring cities under the LIP (Local Immigration Partnership) and all stakeholders. We are also trying to be an exemplary employer through an employment equity program. Work is underway and we will soon see the first results. We are also developing targeted projects in the face of the obstacles observed by immigrants." Among them, "the small size of the French-speaking labour market", a problem raised by Professor Leyla Sall during his speech. "To give French-speaking immigrants a better chance of being recruited in positions that are up to their qualifications, we also need to support English learning services", concludes Bénédicte N'Dri.
(1) CAFi welcome Francophone and Francophile immigrants to Southeastern New Brunswick
(2) To watch the entire event and the short film: click here
(3) Christine Kangah, Romain Vindiollet, Dani juha, Oscar Masimengo, Nour Ben Salah, Maryvic Am-is Asombrado.
