2020–2021 Achievements for the implementation of section 41

Part VII of the Official Languages Act

Part VII of the Act

Enhancing the vitality and development of official language minority communities and the advancement of English and French in Canadian society

Ongoing Dialogue

1. How does your institution ensure that it is aware of the priorities and needs of French-speaking communities outside Quebec and English-speaking communities within Quebec?

   Please specify the methods used, list the organizations/communities with whom you were in contact, as well as how you took the priorities and needs of these communities into account when planning your activities.

   To ensure the Agency was aware of the current priorities and needs of OLMCs in southern Ontario, FedDev Ontario organized two stakeholder engagement sessions with about 40 Francophone organizations and SMEs in southern Ontario. Both engagements were organized in collaboration with key stakeholders and leaders among the OLMCs in southern Ontario: the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO) and the Prescott-Russell Community Development Corporation (PRCFDC). In 2020-21, these two organizations partnered to launch a 3 million dollar fund to provide non-repayable contributions of up to $20,000 to directly support the one-time costs associated with reopening Francophone businesses and organizations during the pandemic. The results of the consultations identified the appreciation for the non-repayable contribution, which helped SMEs/organizations acclimatize to the digital shifts and also maintain their services by adapting their work environments. A continued need to maintain the services was identified as well as the limited capacity to receive similar services in French.

   In addition, AFO and PRCFDC completed studies to better understand the specific needs of OLMCs. Those studies were submitted and considered by FedDev Ontario in the needs analysis.

Tangible Results

2. Please highlight the positive measures taken by your institution that enhanced the vitality and development of official language minority communities. Please ensure to include activities taking place in the regions, where applicable.

   To include in your response: a description of the initiatives, the impacts, the results and the success factors.

   FedDev Ontario has enhanced the vitality and development of OLMCs by ensuring that all programs delivered are accessible to Francophone organizations and businesses. Examples include:

   During this fiscal year, FedDev Ontario continued to deliver the Economic Development Initiative by supporting five multi-year projects valued at $800,000. Specifically a Unité entrepreneuriale project with the Cité collégiale offers 4i services: Initiation, Inspiration, Innovation and Implementation. The results for 2020-21 included: 168 entrepreneurs receiving business support during the pandemic and 111 entrepreneurs participating in workshops and training. Also, in partnership with Invest Ottawa as part of the Scale-up project, the Unité entrepreneuriale of the Cité supported seven companies in seizing e-commerce opportunities and developed an online presence in order to establish new markets and generate new sources of revenue for future growth.

   In light of the pandemic, FedDev Ontario also delivered three Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) projects targeting support to Francophone organizations and businesses located in southern Ontario. Projects include:

   • An initiative with the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO) and the Prescott-Russell Community Development Corporation (PRCDC) to collaborate on a $3 million project to support 86 not-for-profit organizations, 86 private companies and maintain 670 jobs. The end-recipients had access to non-repayable contributions of up to $20,000. The projects supported women, young people, newcomers and racialized people. The digital shift has been the key cog in this project, which has helped SMEs access global markets, and ensure not-for-profit organizations maintain services.
   • A $956,898-project with the Société économique de l'Ontario, in collaboration with the Cooperation Council of Ontario to support and assist private businesses, social enterprises as well as Francophone cooperatives that have been affected by the pandemic. This project supported 14 cohorts offering individualized support to 10 project officers to 125 participants/entrepreneurs (including 21 social enterprises and seven cooperatives), for which 78% of the participants were from urban areas. The eight modules offered included resilience, networking, financial management, circular economy, innovation, communication, health, operational kit and GrowthWheel. In addition, ongoing entrepreneurship support was offered through a virtual incubation program in which 37 participants participated over a two-week period.
   • Digital Main Street (DMS) has been instrumental in helping more than 21 retail-oriented main street businesses in Francophone communities pivot their operations from brick and mortar locations to the digital marketplace, thereby strengthening their resilience for future growth. With dedicated tailored support teams, DMS has helped local business owners from bringing their stores online to serve customers in both official languages, or expand a bilingual online marketplace, thus promoting locally owned and operated independent businesses.

   In addition, through the RRRF, FedDev Ontario provided relief support directly to SMEs, such as $298,286 to support Global Vehicle Systems Ltd., a business that employs 45 people in a southern Ontario official language minority community (Tilbury). The company is a rural manufacturer of custom, automated equipment and focuses on production cells for Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive parts manufacturers. Funding is supporting the company with fixed, non-deferrable operating costs during the pandemic.

   Through the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, FedDev Ontario has invested a total of $1,390,692 through five projects supporting Francophone entrepreneurs. For example, the Prescott-Russell Community Development Corporation has partnered and collaborated with the Cité collégiale in Ottawa to develop a diagnostic test to assess the essential skills (defined by ESDC) of women entrepreneurs. In this project, the results were exceeded with more than 80 participants.

   The Canadian Experiences Fund continued to support several Francophone projects during the 2020-21 fiscal year. For example the Popsilos organization received a contribution of $100,000. Popsilos offers a tourist experience that is unique to Canada including a circuit where visitors discover five giant works of urban art on farm silos in the rural area of Prescott-Russell. Visitors on the circuit are invited to make stops at local producers and artisans.

   The six bilingual Community Futures Development Corporations serving OLMCs through the Community Futures Program (CFP) continued to offer loans with flexible repayment terms and interest rates. In 2020-21, $1 million was provided to 24 Francophone businesses.

3. Please highlight the positive measures taken by your institution that contributed to fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society. Please include activities taking place in the regions, if applicable.

   To include in your response: a description of the initiatives, the impacts, the success factors and the results.

   During the pandemic, the Agency's Small Business Services (SBS) team conducted outreach activities to Francophone communities in Ontario. These included:

   • On October 14–15, 2020, FedDev Ontario delivered a presentation on government programs supporting small businesses to members of the Association française des municipalités de l'Ontario (AFMO), along with their parent organization, Fondation franco-ontarienne. AFMO is an organization that provides French-speaking elected municipal officers and directors a public forum and relevant services in French, and acts as representative and advisor to ministries and organizations related to municipal affairs in Ontario. FedDev Ontario spoke to participants about federal programming supports to businesses, including specialized supports for Francophone businesses, in addition to the services available through the Small Business Services contact centre.
   • On December 1, 2020, FedDev Ontario exhibited virtually at the Connecture Canada Entrepreneurial Virtual Forum. This event was the fourth edition in a series of online information forums for businesses, with topics including e-commerce, drop shipping, government financing, marketing and networking. Connecture Canada is a longstanding partner of FedDev Ontario's SBS team and is an organization that provides professional development and business start-up advisory services to Francophones with an immigrant background.

   The SBS team's outreach highlights a broad range of federal government supports for business, including the information services available to help establish and grow small businesses. These activities help ensure that Francophone entrepreneurs in Ontario are aware of the programs and services offered, with the expected outcome that many of these entrepreneurs will open and maintain small businesses in their communities.

   Following the consultations with Francophone businesses and organizations, at the request of OLMCs, a lunch-and-learn session was organized with more than 35 SMEs in order to share the services and programs offered by FedDev in the Prescott-Russell region.

   In addition, FedDev Ontario participated in a virtual conference organized by Connecture Canada to present the Agency's services and programs to more than 45 people in the Greater Toronto Area.

   In addition to the direct outreach activities undertaken by the Agency, in order to support an effective economic recovery in the tourism sector from negative impacts caused by the pandemic, all contribution agreements under the Community Economic Development and Diversification stream included a requirement to provide a percentage of funding to Francophones in OLMCs. This ensured that organizations administering the contributions with the end-recipients considered Francophone businesses that depend on tourism. This requirement ensured that close to $2 million was reserved for OLMCs.

Key Collaborations contributing to result

4. Did your institution collaborate with other federal institutions or partners (sectoral working groups, municipalities, provinces/territories, post-secondary institutions, the private sector) on a program, project or other initiative to enhance the vitality and development of official language minority communities and/or the advancement of English and French in Canadian society?

   To include in your response: a description of these collaborations and partnerships, the results achieved as well as the success factors.

   FedDev Ontario maintains regular consultation with the Ontario Ministry of Francophone Affairs, the five other regional development agencies, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the National Research Council Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. These regular meetings enable closer collaboration between development officers and management, facilitating the identification of the specific needs of businesses and organizations in OLMCs.

   FedDev Ontario's OL coordinator was an active participant in the Network 41 meetings held throughout the year. As well, the OL Champion participated in various network meetings.

   In addition, in 2020–21, FedDev Ontario nurtured several new partnerships which were leveraged in developing contribution agreements with key collaborators able to assist in the delivery of initiatives and demonstrate regional collaboration in service delivery. An example of a key partnership was with Tourism Ottawa, which was awarded an amount of $1.6 million, $900,000 of which was earmarked for helping Francophone businesses that depend on tourism and located in the region of Ottawa as well as the Prescott-Russell and Renfrew areas. For the delivery of services, Ottawa Tourism works directly with several organizations in both regions, which include their involvement in assessing requests and delivering services. This collaboration is expected to be beneficial to Francophone companies in these regions.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is a situation resulting in extensive government measures implemented to support Canadians, including Official language minority communities (OLMC).

5. Did your institution take part in COVID-19 response measures?  If so, how did you consider the needs of OLMC and the advancement of English and French in the application of these measures?

   Please describe your activities as well as the results.

   Yes, as part of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, FedDev Ontario delivered and continues to deliver the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) which is assisting businesses and organizations across Canada to mitigate financial pressures caused by the pandemic.

   FedDev Ontario is delivering the RRRF in southern Ontario and the program has seen significant demand from small- and medium-sized businesses across all sectors including many from official language minority communities. FedDev Ontario supported 940 direct businesses located in official language minority communities with funding of $265.8 million. Of these businesses, 89 self identified as supporting members of official language minority communities.

   FedDev Ontario has developed numerous partnerships to ensure that the services and programs offered are complementary with the aim of helping OLMCs address the difficulties resulting from the restrictions caused by the pandemic. They include the Ministry of Francophone Affairs in the delivery of economic development programs; the Ministry of Tourism for the needs of tourism businesses and organizations; ISED, AFO, designated bilingual CFDCs and other key partners such as AFO, SÉO, CCO, Cité collégiale, etc.

   The engagements informed the launch of targeted initiatives during the pandemic to support businesses and organizations in OLMCs, such as the projects supported under the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund with the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO) and the Prescott-Russell Community Development Corporation (PRCDC), as well as with the Société économique de l'Ontario in collaboration with the Cooperation Council of Ontario.

   They also informed the development of targeted support to tourism-dependent communities for tourism adaptation and recovery projects.  In excess of $2 million has been allocated to support Francophone tourism businesses/organizations with 10 tourism organizations. All contribution agreements have a percentage of their allocation reserved for Francophone businesses, which is proportional to the population of the OLMCs in the project region. These agreements were developed through collaboration with about 80 organizations in these regions, whose objectives are to support 860 businesses and 16,500 jobs.