Developing Immigrants Literacy and Essential Skills Summary of the Background Report on British Columbia Presented by: M. Bassirou Diene, Employment specialist, Fédération des Francophones de la Colombie-Britannique
Topics Immigration in British Columbia Francophone immigrants in British Columbia Education Unemployment Wages Statistics on the training centers identified in the province Portrait of the participants in the action research. 2
The number of immigrants settling in British Columbia has been decreasing in recent years Number of immigrants per year (Index : 1995 =100) Source: Cansim Table 051-0037. 3
Second highest share of immigrants Immigrant share of the total population of the province (2011) 28,5% 27,6% 18,1% 15,7% 12,6% 1,8% 5,2% 5,3% 3,9% 6,8% Source: Cansim Table 051-0037. 4
The proportion of immigrants who can speak French is lower than the proportion of non-immigrants who can Proportion of people in Canada who can express themselves in French Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Census 5
0,0% 1,9% 1,4% 1,2% 1,4% 2,1% 3,5% 4,4% 4,8% 4,9% 6,4% 6,5% 9,5% 9,8% The highest proportion of immigrants unable to speak either French or English Proportion of immigrants who cannot express themselves in French or English Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Census 6
Immigrants in B.C.: Slightly lower unemployment rate and lower income than non-immigrants Unemployment rate (in %) : Nonimmigrants vs Immigrants (2011) Income (In thousands of $) : Nonimmigrants vs Immigrants (2011) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 Non-immigrants Immigrants Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Census 7
Immigrant income according to the language spoken Difference between immigrant and non-immigrant incomes (in %) Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Census Unlike other provinces, but similar to Manitoba, relative to non-immigrants, unilingual Anglophone immigrants have a lower average income. 8
Identified training centers and Partners 43 in literacy and essential skills training centers were identified in British Columbia Three partners participated in the action research: Association des francophones de Nanaimo, Nanaimo Collège Éducacentre, Vancouver Douglas College Surrey Learning Center, New Westminster 9
Employers followed In total, three employers were followed Breakdown of employers followed (British Columbia) Employed- Control 33% Unemployed- Pursued training 34% Employed- Pursued training 0% Total : 3 Unemployed- Control 33% 10
Immigrant participants in the action research Breakdown of immigrants who answered the first questionnaire In total, 40 immigrants answered the first questionnaire Of these, 31 were retained for analysis. The largest proportion of immigrants who answered the first questionnaire and were retained for analysis is the Unemployed-Control group. Employed- Control Employed- 18% Pursued training 2% Unemployed- Control 40% Unemployed- Pursued training 40% Total : 40 Breakdown of immigrants retained for analysis Employed- Control Employed- 13% Pursued training 0% Unemployed- Pursued training 35% Unemployed- Control 52% Total : 31 11
Types of training Breakdown of the types of training in British Columbia Types of Training Unemployed- In training Employed- In training Francization (Beginner) 0 0 Francization (Intermediate) 0 0 Francization (Advanced) 0 0 English as a Second Language (Beginner) 7 0 English as a Second Language (Intermediate) 4 0 English as a Second Language (Advanced) 0 0 Computing (Beginner) 0 0 Total 11 0 All of the training courses pursued in British Columbia (and retained for analysis) were in English as a Second Language. None of the members in the Employed group pursued training. 12
We are at your disposal should you need addition information. Actions interculturelles de développement et d éducation (AIDE) 465, rue Lawford, Sherbrooke (Québec) J1G 2C2 Telephone : 1 819 822-4180 Fax : 1 819 822-4415 Website : www.aide.org E-mail address : aide@aide.org 13