Population growth in Manitoba would be so much simpler if every immigrant was like Sophie Gaulin.

The editor-in-chief of La Liberté, a weekly newspaper based in the French-speaking neighbourhood of St. Boniface, came to Winnipeg last year, leaving behind her family, her horse and her fiancé in Bordeaux, France. “He couldn’t imagine himself in a country where the temperature gets to minus 40,” she said. “And I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else but Winnipeg.”

Gaulin is one of a growing number of people from France and Belgium to be attracted to St. Boniface, the second-largest French-speaking community in Canada outside of Quebec, by Programme Vacance Travail, a program encouraging foreign residents to work and holiday in Manitoba. Gaulin first came to Winnipeg in 2003 to teach at the University of Manitoba for a year. She fell in love with the city, its culture and even its weather.

Mariette Mulaire, president and CEO of l’Agence nationale et internationale du Manitoba, says more than 50 French and Belgian nationals came to Winnipeg in 2009: almost 90 more are to arrive this year.

“We’re trying to develop the French quarter, but we have the responsibility of economic immigration [to attract] people to fill jobs and start businesses [throughout Manitoba], not just in French-speaking communities,” Mulaire said. She is more concerned about the quality of newcomers than the quantity: the last thing she wants to see is disgruntled people returning to France and Belgium after aborting their stay in Manitoba.

Mulaire says France and Belgium aren’t natural sources of people for Manitoba because those countries have stable economies and attractive lifestyles. Even though Manitoba isn’t well known to such immigrants — if they know anything about Canada, it’s Quebec, she says — she is confident the job opportunities and quality of life will maintain the upswing.

“When they think of Western Canada, they think nobody speaks French,” Mulaire says. “We tell them, ‘Ameliorate your English and come and live in French.’ France is way more open for the youth to learn English than ever before. We can offer a bilingual context. France is one of Canada’s founding nations. There are familiarities with our way of life and basic belief system.”

The hospitality industry has welcomed French and Belgian workers. Mulaire says that’s because working in hotels and restaurants is seen as a career in those countries, not just a means of paying for university, and the foreigners bring a much welcome je ne sais quoi to the local scene: “For them, it’s a way of life. Their attitude is completely different. They have the savoir faire, the savoir être, how to be and how to create beautiful things for their clients.”

Doug Stephen, president and CEO of WOW! Hospitality Concepts, which operates seven eateries in Winnipeg, has hired three of the newcomers. Two are at steakhouse 529 Wellington: one is the assistant sommelier and training to be a manager, another is a server, and the third is a server and in training to be a supervisor at Terrace Fifty-Five in Assiniboine Park.

“We’re striving to improve the dining landscape in Winnipeg and Manitoba,” Stephen says. “They bring a different perspective. They have certainly helped us improve our training programs. They give us feedback on how things are being done in another country.”

Gaulin says she is baffled when Win-nipeggers speak badly about their hometown: “People here don’t know how good they’ve got it. Sometimes, it saddens me to see them despising Winnipeg. When you live in Winnipeg, you have a quality of life that is amazing.” IE