Schedule B - Strategic plan

• I. Preamble
• II. Strategic plan - From 2005-06 to 2008-09

CANADA - NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR AGREEMENT ON FRENCH-LANGUAGE SERVICES 2005-06 to 2008-09

STRATEGIC PLAN - 2005-06 to 2008-09

Updated May 2006^[1]

I. Preamble

1. Mission

The Office of French Services' (OFS) mission is to enhance the capacity of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and its public servants to better serve the Francophone community through the development and delivery of programs and services in the French language.

2. Francophone Community of Newfoundland and Labrador

• According to the 2001 census, there are 2,515 Francophones in the province.  This figure reflects a 3% decrease over 1996.
• One third of this population lives on the Port-au-Port peninsula, about a quarter lives in the St. John's CMA, 15% in the Labrador City area and 5% in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
• Generally, Francophones achieve a higher educational level than Anglophones. There is a French first-language K-to-12 education system in the province with two French school-community centres.
• Some demographic challenges for the community are as follows:
  • Nearly 85% of Francophones in Newfoundland and Labrador speak English and 10% of Francophones indicated they possess a knowledge of English only. The language of the majority can influence choice of language used in an increasing number of settings, such as at the workplace, at social gatherings and at home. This translates into a decreasing number of occasions where the minority language is spoken.
  • This is an aging population in which the majority of Francophones (53.7%) are aged 30 to 59 years old, with Francophones under the age of 30 constituting less than half of that percentage (26.8%).
  • Francophones 19 years of age are much more likely to speak English as a mother tongue.
  • There are more exogamous than endogamous marriages.
  • About 65% of the community speak English more often at home.

Priority issues for the community are articulated in its Global Development Plan (GDP). The GDP highlights the importance of education including Early Childhood Development (ECD), social and cultural development, communications, stability for community groups, and youth.

3. Accomplishments

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has committed to improving its capacity to deliver services in French and to contribute to the development of the province's Francophone community through intergovernmental agreements.  In October 1993, the Province and the Government of Canada signed the Promotion of Official Languages Co-operation Agreement to promote access to services for French-speaking persons in their own language. In December 1994, the Province and the Government of Canada signed the Promotion of Official Languages Co-operation Agreement with the Provincial Court of Newfoundland.

Since 1997, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador General Agreement on the Promotion of Official Languages has strengthened the capacity of the Province to communicate and deliver quality services in French, contributed to the development and vitality of the Francophone community and promoted the recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society.

These accomplishments have been largely achieved through the establishment of the OFS and the  co-operation of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The main accomplishments to date can be summarized as follows:

• Increased delivery of front-line and transactional services to the public through: a) the training of over 1,000 provincial public servants who have completed the French Language Training Program (FLTP), and b) the availability of frequently used provincial government forms in both official languages.
• Treasury Board approved a Translation Services Policy in 2005.
• Many departments have increased their annual budgetary commitment for translation.
• A Liaison Officer position was established and maintained to ensure that the Francophone community has a contact point regarding their needs and priorities.
• The OFS has established service and program improvement relationships with the following line departments and agencies:
  • Department of Tourism, Culture & Recreation (TCR)
  • Newfoundland Museum (now The Rooms Corporation)
  • Department of Health & Community Services
  • Health Care Corporation of St. John's
  • Department of Government Services
  • Department of Justice
  • Department of Education (DOE)
  • Communication & Consultations, Executive Council
  • Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council
• An Order-in-Council was passed declaring May 30 La Journée provinciale de la Francophonie.
• The OFS has initiated liaisons between the Francophone community and various provincial departments and pan-provincial policies in response to community needs and priorities as follows:
  • ECD initiatives within the Department of Health & Community Services, Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Canada on ECD Services with particular reference to Francophone community needs.
  • Inclusion of cultural and linguistic diversity within the Department of Tourism's Cultural Policy.
  • OFS support to the Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs within the provincial government.

4. Future Directions

The Strategic Plan of the OFS focuses on four key objectives that will direct their work over the next four years. They are as follows:

Objective A: Strengthen the Administrative Framework within the Public Service

A French Language Training Policy will be developed to ensure support from the public service at the executive level with an emphasis on departmental commitments to provide frontline services in French.

Website development provides exciting opportunities for services and information delivery in French. The OFS will be proactive with departments to capitalize on the opportunities that information technology presents to increase access to services in French. A policy proposal for increasing French-language content on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's website will be developed. 

The OFS will work with other departments to encourage an active offer of services to the public in the three regions of the province where Francophone communities are mainly concentrated. 

Objective B: Support Service Department, Planning and Delivery in Key Areas

The OFS will continue to be the central point of delivery for French-language services in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, including French language training, Translation & Linguistic Support Services and Government/Community Liaison.

The OFS will continue to nurture existing partnerships, including those with the Department of Justice and the Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (e.g., Access to Justice in both Official Languages) and TCR (e.g., ArtsSmarts Program, French travel guide).

The establishment of strategic partnerships with departments whose policies are of particular importance to the Francophone community should help to create competition among departments for access to special project funding.

Some new partnership areas have been identified and initial groundwork has begun with the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment on the inclusion of a Francophone component in the province's forthcoming immigration strategy, as well as with the Rural Secretariat on the implementation of the Integrated Hub Model on the Port-au-Port peninsula. 

Partnerships are even more relevant within the scope of this Strategic Plan than in the past as provincial responsibility for intergovernmental activities with respect to Canada's Francophonie was recently transferred from the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs to the OFS.  This requires the OFS to work closely with other provinces and territories and to act as a catalyst for the advancement of Francophone interests in areas under the jurisdiction of other departments.  The OFS will partner with other provinces and territories on projects such as an educational poster and guidebook on Canada's French-speaking communities, a research initiative on the role provinces and territories have played in the development of official-language minority communities, and an electronic tool for sharing best practices in the area of French-language service delivery. 

The OFS will continue to address the needs of the minority-language community in the delivery of federal-provincial agreements. An example of this awareness and inclusion of community needs is the recent Agreement in Principle between the Department of Health and Community Services and the Government of Canada regarding Early Childhood learning and childcare services, which refers directly to the needs of the Francophone minority community.

C. Ensure Formal Communication with the Francophone Community

At present, 21,035 persons in the province claim to be bilingual (i.e., can carry on a conversation in both English and French).  Given this level of bilingualism in the general population, the OFS will identify opportunities and devise strategies to increase capacity to deliver services in French to the Francophone community. The OFS will continue its dialogue with Francophone organizations regarding the establishment of closer ties with the province's Francophile community.

The OFS views the community as its partner in its Strategic Plan and not simply as the beneficiary. Therefore, in 2005, the OFS arranged a series of official consultations with Francophone organizations across the province to better understand and respond to their priorities and needs.

Objectif D : Support to School-Community Centres

The new Francophone school-community centre in St. John's and the existing centre in Mainland represent focal points for the provincial government in terms of support to community activities and the offer of French services. The provincial government will continue its support to the centres through the DOE.

5. Conclusion

The OFS will continue to place emphasis on activities that aim to sensitize government departments to the presence and needs of the Francophone community and to build government's broad capacity to communicate and deliver services in French - the key activities being French-language training, translation and linguistic support services, government-community liaison and intergovernmental co-operation with respect to Canada's Francophonie.  Furthermore, the OFS will focus on key departments or offices to encourage an active offer of service delivery in French, as well as seek and develop strategic partnerships that will lead to government projects and programs that would have a positive impact on the Francophone community.

The Strategic Plan aims to improve the OFS's position within the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador by strengthening its administrative framework.  The plan is also directed at improving French-language service delivery by targeting key areas of the public service and by building on the Francophone community's Global Development Plan (GDP). Finally, the Strategic Plan builds on relationships with the Francophone community of Newfoundland and Labrador by improving communication and support mechanisms.

II. Strategic plan - From 2005-06 to 2008-09

GENERAL OBJECTIVE:  To encourage government services and to support and promote the growth and vitality of the Francophone community in all aspects of society.

Objective A:   Strengthen the Administrative Framework Within the Public Service

Planned Actions/Measures 2005-06 to 2008-09	Expected Results	Performance Indicators (Evaluation Method)
Maintain a government-wide Translation Services Policy Develop and maintain a policy on French language training and on line information & service delivery in both official languages Partner with departments to implement the structures needed for service delivery in French and advise on best practices and cost-saving measures Encourage an active offer of services in French throughout public sector (i.e. in view of creating an "official languages reflex") Sensitize departments to programs and services available at the OFS Sensitize government departments to the needs and priorities of the Francophone community	Improvement of amount and quality of government services in French Increased awareness of need to offer services in French	Amount of bilingual government info (internal archive) Level of cooperation between OFS and other departments and agencies to carry out objectives of the Strategic Plan (internal archive) Number of public servants visiting OFS kiosk during Public Service Week expo and resulting feedback from on-site survey (surveys completed and responses compiled) Number of departments who avail of services at OFS and resulting feedback (services database & results of Client Survey)

Objective B: Support Service Development, Planning and Delivery in a Key Areas

	Planned Actions/Measures 2005-06 to 2008-09	Expected Results	Performance Indicators (Evaluation Method)
1. Human Resource Development	Deliver a French Language Training Program (FLTP) Offer a workshop & other developmental opportunities to training instructors Offer opportunities of accreditation to selected participants training at higher training levels Offer two one-day specialized training sessions focused on direct service delivery in French Develop & distribute a communication tool enabling public servants to offer basic frontline services to the public, in French.	Public servants able to offer services in French More efficient access to training data (i.e. levels, numbers, grades, etc.) Greater access to government services in French in key areas (e.g. justice, primary health care)	Number of public servants able to offer services in French (evaluation results) Number of public servants in intermediate and advanced levels (registration database) Public servants' results on written and oral evaluations (registration database) Results from standardized proficiency testing (registration database) Number of public servants accessing Federal proficiency testing (registration database) Number of departments offering services in French in key areas (FLTP participant survey)
2. Translation & Linguistic Support Services	Provide translation services to departments and improve translation support services Provide linguistic support to departments, as needed, to ensure efficient service delivery in French	Increase in departments' ability to respond to Francophone requests and to deliver government services in French	Turn-around times and quality of translated materials (services database) Results of client satisfaction surveys (internal archive) Year-end reporting on types of information and services requested (services database) Number of departments paying for translations (services database)
3. Economic Development	Work closely with internal/external stakeholders to promote economic development of the Francophone community	Increased opportunities for growth and development for the Francophone community	Number of partnerships between provincial government, agencies, external clients and Francophone organisations (internal archive) Number & variety of projects (internal archive) Level of satisfaction of targeted clientele (reporting by stakeholder)
4. Health	Partner with the Health Care Corporation of St. John's to increase the bilingual capacity of health care workers Work closely with key stakeholders to increase access to quality, primary health care services Work closely with key stakeholders to increase access to quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs Continue to sit on the Advisory Committee of the "Réseau de santé en français"	Increased access to quality, primary health care services in French, at certain institutions Increased enrolment in quality Francophone, ECD programs	Number of partnerships between provincial government, agencies, external clients and Francophone organisations (internal archive) Number & variety of projects (internal archive) Level of satisfaction of targeted clientele (reporting by stakeholder) Development and implementation of new ECD programs (reporting by stakeholder)
5. Justice	Work closely with Dept. of Justice, Provincial Courts and Public Legal Information Association of NL to increase access to justice in both official languages	Increased access to justice services in French Increased awareness of legal rights and entitlements by Francophone community	Number of partnerships between provincial government, agencies, external clients and Francophone organisations (internal archive) Number & variety of projects (internal archive & reporting by stakeholder) Demand for provincial court proceedings and services in French (reporting by stakeholder) Demand for and use of law-related reference materials in French (reporting by stakeholder) Level of satisfaction of targeted clientele (reporting by stakeholder)
6. Arts et Culture	Partner with Department of Tourism, Culture & Recreation, and other provincial bodies to promote and support Francophone culture and heritage in the arts (e.g., Francophone artists)	Increased Francophone cultural presentations and outreach to communities	Number of partnerships between provincial government, agencies, external clients and Francophone organisations (internal archive) Number & variety of projects with Arts & Culture Centres (reporting by stakeholder) Level of satisfaction of targeted clientele (reporting by stakeholder)
7. Intergovernmental Cooperation	Provide support to the Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs and engage in dialogue with other departments and jurisdictions, as required Continue to sit on a national committee to discuss priorities of the Canadian Francophone community and to foster intergovernmental cooperation in support of growth & vitality of the Francophone community	Increased cooperation and sharing of information and resources with other jurisdictions in the area of promotion of official languages Increased visibility/priority in government regarding Francophone issues	Degree to which the Minister is able to act as a catalyst for the advancement of French-language issues across government departments (internal archive) Implementation or adaptation of best practices from other jurisdictions (reporting by Canadian Francophonie)
8. Visibility of the Francophone community within NL society	Create and foster positive working relationships between the provincial public service and the Francophone community regarding service delivery in French Work with the Department of Finance to develop and maintain a detailed demographic profile of the provincial Francophone community	Increased visibility of Francophone community within government and the province	Number of public servants that attend the annual Francophone organizations awareness event during Public Service Expo (on-site survey) Demographic profiles of Francophone community are published by Department of Finance (government publications)
9. New Initiatives	Contribute to strengthening Francophone community development by: providing more French-language resources at public libraries offering more municipal services in French developing immigration strategies to welcome and retain new Francophones entering the province strengthening the French language and culture among Francophone youth	Increased access to French language resources in public libraries in key areas Increased access to municipal services in French, where appropriate Increased Francophone population Increased ability to identify & integrate French-speaking immigrants	Number of French-language resources (internal archive & services database) Number and variety of municipal services, where appropriate (reporting by stakeholder) Number of Francophones entering the province and remaining (reporting by stakeholder) Number of new Francophones becoming part of French-NL society (reporting by stakeholder and Francophone community)

Objective C:   Ensure Formal Communication with the Francophone Community

Planned Actions/Measures 2005-06 to 2008-09	Expected Results	Performance Indicators (Evaluation Method)
Analyze community objectives and priorities and consult Francophone organizations to determine where there is a need for service delivery in French Monitor government services and programs of potential interest to the community and ensure appropriate links are established Promote government programs and services available in French (i.e. Newsletter directly to the community) Participate on a local committee with representatives of provincial & federal governments and the Francophone organizations to discuss priorities & concerns (FASC - Francophone Affairs Steering Committee)	Increased participation of Francophones in government consultation and decision-making process Increased cooperation & understanding between government & community Increased distribution and access to information regarding the Francophone community	Satisfaction of Francophone organisations with degree of inclusion in Office of French Services' (OFS') Strategic Plan (survey) Satisfaction of Francophone organisations with availability of government services & info in French (survey) Number of Francophones who avail of services of OFS through e-mail, toll free number and other means, and resulting feedback (internal archive & services database) Awareness of OFS services (survey & Trait d'Union newsletter to community)

Objective D: Support to School Community Centres

Planned Actions/Measures 2005-06 to 2008-09	Expected Results	Performance Indicators (Evaluation Method)
Ensure the CSC Ste-Anne has a stable source of funding Ensure the CSC des Grands-Vents has a stable source of funding	Support the development of Francophone communities served by school-community centres in order to facilitate participation, in French, in various aspects of society	Use of installations by the community Range of activities in a variety of fields (reporting by community groups: Association régionale de la côte-ouest and Association communautaire francophone de Saint-Jean)

Summary of Annual Contributions

		Federal	Provincial
2005-2006	Objective A	18,772 $ (50)	18,772 $ (50)
	Objective B	317,118 $ (66)	163,272 $ (34)
	Objective C	14,110 $ (50)	14,110 $ (50)
	Objective D	175,000 $ (75)	56,833 $ (25)
	Total	525,000 $ (67)	252,987 $ (33)
	Grand Total	777,987 $
2006-2007	Objective A	18,772 $ (50)	18,772 $ (50)
	Objective B	317,118 $ (60)	211,412 $ (40)
	Objective C	14,110 $ (50)	14,110 $ (50)
	Objective D	175,000 $ (75)	58,000 $ (25)
	Total	525,000 $ (63)	302,294 $ (37)
	Grand Total	827,294 $
2007-2008	Objective A	18,772 $ (50)	18,772 $ (50)
	Objective B	317,118 $ (55)	259,460 $ (45)
	Objective C	14,110 $ (50)	14,110 $ (50)
	Objective D	175,000 $ (75)	58,000 $ (25)
	Total	525,000 $ (60)	350,342 $ (40)
	Grand Total	875,342 $
2008-2009	Objective A	18,772 $ (48)	20,000 $ (52)
	Objective B	317,118 $ (43)	421,500 $ (57)
	Objective C	14,110 $ (50)	25,500 $ (50)
	Objective D	175,000 $ (75)	58,000 $ (25)
	Total	525,000 $ (50)	525,000 $ (50)
	Grand Total	1,050,000 $

Services - Newfoundland and Labrador

• Agreement
• Schedule A - Administrative Procedures and Conditions
• Schedule B - Newfoundland and Labrador's Strategic Plan
• Schedule C - Model - Certified final report on outputs and actual expenditures
• Schedule D - Special project approved in 2006-07 - "Workshops on how to be a welcoming community"

Note:

^[1] The measures implemented in 2005-06 have been funded under the Canada - Newfoundland and Labrador Agreement on French-Language Services - 2005-06.