Why Bilingualism Is A Money-Maker, Not A Drain On The Public Purse
The topic of official languages has surfaced a few times during the provincial election campaign and the discussions guided the public discourse towards the linguistic rights of Francophones and the costs of bilingualism for the province. This debate, however, leaves aside a major asset that only the province of New Brunswick holds at the Canadian level, namely its “economic bilingualism.”
In 2015, economists Pierre-Marcel Desjardins and David Campbell published the results of a study entitled, Two Languages: It’s Good for Business, on the economic advantages and potential of bilingualism in New Brunswick. It reveals that a bilingual workforce contributes to the economic development of the province. Here are a few findings identified in the study.
Firstly, a bilingual workforce is a major reason why New Brunswick has been able to attract large companies like the TD financial operations centre in Dieppe that will create up to 440 jobs, to name just this recent example. Secondly, bilingualism has led to the development of a dynamic language industry in the province. New Brunswick comes in second place among the 10 Canadian provinces in respect to the proportion of translators, terminologists and interpreters.
The third finding supports the hosting of Rendez-Vous Acadie Québec, since 2005, with bilingualism being a key factor in the development of commercial ties and investments with the Quebec market. The ability to serve the Quebec market in French is one of the key reasons N.B. has been able to break into this market.
Based on the size of its population, no other province exports more to Quebec than New Brunswick. Moreover, bilingualism has been key to the growth of New Brunswick’s professional services sector on the Quebec market.
The fourth finding is linked to the first since bilingualism is the primary reason why finance and insurance firms are serving their clients across the country from New Brunswick. Being able to serve their Francophone clients has been a key reason why insurance companies expanded employment in the province by 55 per cent between 2006 and 2013. Because of its bilingual workforce, our province has been able to attract customer contact and administrative support centres for several large Canadian banks.
Furthermore, like bilingualism, the Francophone reality also contributes to the province’s economy and is an economic asset. A good example of this is the tourism industry. Being able to provide service in French has allowed New Brunswick to attract Quebec tourists, as well as Francophone and francophile tourists.
Moreover, the province’s Francophone reality has allowed it to be part of the RDÉE Canada Heritage, Culture and Tourism Corridor and attract Francophones from throughout Canada and the world. There is no question that the Francophone reality increases and diversifies the tourism offer and benefits the entire New Brunswick tourism sector.
On the other hand, having French-language postsecondary institutions is also an advantage, since it helps us attract postsecondary students from other provinces and countries. Given our declining population and the constant need for skilled workers, having access to a supply of French-speaking graduates coming out of our postsecondary institutions is an important advantage for our growth. In addition to possessing the qualifications required to work in New Brunswick, these graduates then contribute to the French language and culture.
This last finding is important because to maintain our economic asset – bilingualism – we need Francophones, without whom we lose all the economic advantages that stem from economic bilingualism.
In such a case, it is not Francophones who would suffer, since for each bilingual job created in the province, two unilingual English ones are created (according to the above-mentioned study).
In conclusion, I will leave you with a quote on the subject of bilingualism from 2013 by Michel Carrier, former Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick: “Instead of seeing it as a cost, see it as an asset and develop it and stop cow-towing to the ones who are saying it’s a cost… and look at the potential of turning it into a money-making venture.”
Let’s stop hammering this important economic asset and use our economic bilingualism as a tool for growth.
Marie Chamberland is the Chair of the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick.
Banner photo: Premier Brian Gallant, TD Bank Deputy Chairman Frank McKenna, and Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold at a press conference announcing the creation of the TD financial operations centre in Dieppe that will create up to 440 jobs. Image: Inda Intiar/Huddle.