Yes, excuse me.
It is a fundamental aspect of our Canadian identity. It is also a factor in Canada's economic prosperity. Ontario is a diversified economic ecosystem. In the francophone economic space, bilingualism represents a competitive advantage for new markets, for our entrepreneurs and for our francophone and bilingual businesses in Ontario.
The current growing relationship between the governments of Quebec and Ontario, and their political will to strengthen the Quebec-Ontario economic space to make it a hub of productivity, innovation and exportation, will greatly benefit our businesses and our francophone entrepreneurs, who will be able to develop interprovincial and international markets, and therefore set themselves apart from their competitors.
If bilingualism is a major asset, clearly our prime strength is our francophonie, a culture and language that we share with over 274 million people. The potential for economic opportunities and business development is huge. To that end, the fact that the Province of Ontario recognizes the importance of its francophone character, through its membership in the International Organisation of La Francophonie, is a unique opportunity for the province's francophone entrepreneurs and businesses and a major step forward.
We have identified a number of priorities for the federal government's next action plan. Let's talk about innovation first. RDÉE Ontario considers that francophone and Acadian communities, particularly the franco-Ontarian community, must be able to benefit from optimal use of new virtual platforms, mobile applications, to promote our areas of activity and to be more competitive. We want to have more of a presence in the WebSphere, on the new virtual platforms. For example, we want to create an interactive virtual platform for our entrepreneurs, for our young entrepreneurs and for our employability and immigration sector. My colleague will be able to tell you about the virtual job fair that was held recently, in February.
RDÉE Ontario recommends that the federal government creates a specific digital fund to enable francophone and Acadian communities to fully benefit from these new virtual platforms, to increase the presence of French in the WebSphere and to encourage the move to digital to strengthen the competitiveness of our areas of activity across the country so that we can become true drivers of innovation.
The second priority is to support economic sectors that are both innovative and promising. RDÉE Ontario has targeted two sectors, including the green economy. RDÉE Ontario will invest in the green economy and will be in line with the Eco-West project launched in Manitoba several years ago to reduce greenhouse gases. This project is also supported by RDÉE Canada. Its goal is to support rural and other communities commercializing clean technologies and implementing sustainable infrastructure projects.
The other sector is tourism. Over the years, RDÉE Ontario has developed excellent expertise in tourism through the Circuit Champlain project. It wants to develop more initiatives to promote francophone Ontario. We are also going to start promoting sustainable tourism, especially with the first North American edition of the ECORISMO event, in collaboration with RDÉE Canada.
The third priority is youth. It's very important to introduce the entrepreneurial culture to young people. Recently—last week, I think—the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française, or FJCF, published a study on the program for youth in the region. It clearly stated that an entrepreneurial culture needs to be developed to keep our young people in the region.
In 2015, the National Research Institute on Linguistic Minorities clearly acknowledged that 12 regions of Ontario have a significant negative migration flow. The migration of young francophones in Ontario is directly related to the jobs available in the regions. As a result, RDÉE Ontario proposes that the federal government put in place a special fund for youth in the regions to encourage our young people to stay.
We would also like the federal government to establish a fund that will help us to ensure a continuum of support services to young people to start a business.
In a moment, my colleague will speak to you in more detail about francophone immigration because she is an expert in it.
Briefly, Ontario is home to 70% of francophone immigrants outside Quebec. Unlike other provinces, Ontario was not identified in the roadmap and, therefore, did not receive funding. To promote francophone Ontario nationally and internationally, we are asking the federal government to put in place a special budget envelope for Ontario, using a model that has been put in place in New Brunswick's roadmap, which was managed by ACOA. We think that this initiative would enable the provincial and federal governments to meet the quotas for francophone immigration that they have set for themselves. Our organizations are excellent in this area, and my colleague will tell you more later.
As for promoting francophone communities outside the country, it is important that, before they enter the country, newcomers know about the francophone and Acadian communities, the vitality, the employability sectors and the organizations that work within our communities. Visibility means knowledge. There is still a lack of knowledge about the vitality of our francophone and Acadian communities. Again, a big marketing investment is needed to promote the pan-Canadian francophone presence outside the country.
Let's talk about intensifying recruitment fairs and missions. RDÉE Ontario will attend Destination Canada, a major event held in Paris and Brussels. However, be aware that we have to cover the cost of our own participation, which is a fairly substantial budget. We have to tighten our belts, but it's important for us to be there. Therefore, the federal government should think about setting aside additional budgets that would enable us to attend events like that.
We are requesting a real increase in the budget envelopes for francophone immigration. My colleague will speak to you about this. Our team is very small and covers the province. Our activities are wide-ranging but to adequately meet the needs on the ground, the budget envelopes given to immigration and employability must be increased.
The last priority in our brief is the sustainability of our fields of expertise. It's clear that it is urgent that multi-year budgets be put in place and increased to improve our human resources, especially in employability and immigration. We must encourage the settlement of our human resources.
Everyone at RDÉE Ontario has professional experience and qualifications. Ms. Sniadoch's team includes human resources counsellors from the private sector. We use our expertise for the benefit of pan-Canadian francophonie because we believe in the cause, but we need to optimally strengthen our capacities for activity in the field and to consolidate our unique professional expertise to adequately respond to economic market trends. Therefore, RDEE Ontario intends to increase its budget envelope.
I'd like to talk about building our capacity. We currently have a team of 25 employees. There are six people at headquarters in Ottawa, 14 economic development officers to cover all of Ontario—it's big, as you know—and five employability and immigration professionals.
In conclusion, RDÉE Ontario is renewing its willingness to work with the federal government in an open and constructive spirit so that the next official languages action plan is focused on a strong, mobilizing economic vision enhanced by strategic orientations that will actively support the economic fabric of our francophone regions, while communicating its relevance to the present and the future for the francophonie in Ontario and in Canada.