Ontario Supporting French-language Education in the Skilled Trades

The Ontario government is supporting an accelerated, flexible French-language teacher education program through a partnership with the University of Ottawa that will address the critical shortage of French-language technological education teachers.

Details were shared today by Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities, who was joined by Goldie Ghamari, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities at the University of Ottawa.

“Ontario has listened to the Francophone community and is taking action to increase the much-needed supply of French-language technological education teachers in the province,” said Minister Dunlop. “This new French-language postsecondary education program will not only bolster the supply of technological teachers in the secondary school system but will also help address the educational needs of French-speaking students looking to pursue opportunities in the skilled trades. Our government’s partnership with the University of Ottawa will help harness the unique talents and contributions of Ontario’s Francophonie while building a strong future bilingual workforce.”

The University of Ottawa is offering French-language teacher training aimed at people in skilled trades careers and people with vocational training in technology. The new program will use a flexible, hybrid delivery model (on campus and online) that will allow teacher candidates to complete the program in 14 months instead of two years.

The University of Ottawa will welcome its first cohort of teacher candidates for this new program in January 2022.

“We are grateful for this investment from the provincial government which will strengthen francophone and Francophile students’ ability to acquire new knowledge in French,” said Jacques Frémont, President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Ottawa. “By training more future teachers in various technology-related fields, the University of Ottawa will in turn continue to help bolster Ontario’s innovation economy and the Franco-Ontarian community.”

“Through the University of Ottawa, the French-language training program will provide high-quality skilled education supporting the younger generation of Franco-Ontarians,” said Goldie Ghamari, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities and MPP for Carleton. “Ontario has the largest Francophone community outside of Quebec, and French-language training encourages a successful and flourishing bilingual workforce.”

This program receives financial support from the Government of Canada under the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Minority-Language Education and Second Official-Language Instruction 2020-2021 to 2022-2023.

Quick Facts

• In some parts of Ontario, growth in student enrolment, combined with the decrease in recently certified French-language and French as a Second Language (FSL) teachers by more than 50 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, has resulted in a shortage of teachers for both the French- and English-language education systems.
• The Working Group on Teacher Shortage in the French-language School System was formed in September 2020 with the mandate to address the recruitment and retention of teachers in the French-language school system to ensure that all students receive a high-quality French-language or FSL education.
• In June 2021, the Ontario government released a French Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, a four-year, multi-pronged strategy that aims to address the French-language and FSL teacher shortage in both the French and English school systems.
• Ontario’s three youth advisors, along with the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, are working to attract more youth, including under-represented groups, to skilled trades careers. They are identifying opportunities to develop new, and enhance existing, pathways programs for elementary and secondary students.