The McGuinty government has increased support for French-speaking students to ensure they have more opportunities to study and succeed in their own language at postsecondary institutions, including the University of Ottawa. Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, announced the funding on June 21, 2006.
“We are on the side of hard-working Ontario families who want their children to find opportunity through access to postsecondary education,” Bentley said. “That's why our government is committed to ensuring that the francophone community has increased access to a high quality French-language postsecondary education and training system which can help them reach their full potential.”
The Ontario government provided new investments of $8.2 million to support French-language postsecondary education. The government has committed $4.7 million in 2006-07 to enhance the quality of French-language programming at Ontario's bilingual universities, in addition to a $3.5 million investment in 2005-06 to support expanded access for francophone students through pilot projects and expanded programming at Ontario’s French-language colleges and bilingual universities.
The University of Ottawa and its affiliate Saint Paul University will receive $3 million to enhance program quality and has invested $662,704 in access funding to offer a wider variety of French-language courses and an innovative immersion program.
“This funding will allow our university to hire new francophone faculty, increase the number and the quality of courses we offer in French, and provide better services and support to francophone students,” said President Gilles Patry. “This is an important step by the province in giving us the resources we need to fulfil our mandate to Ontario's francophone community.”
Related link:
French immersion studies
