Boréal, Laurentian co-host French health education conference

Collège Boréal and Laurentian University co-hosted the annual general meeting of the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS) at Collège Boréal May 26.

Funded by Health Canada, the CNFS brings together 11 colleges and universities offering French-language programs in the various health disciplines. The alliance's goal is to heighten the presence and contributions of francophone health professionals and researchers.
Dominic Giroux, Laurentian president and CNFS national co-president, praised Health Canada for funding the project.

“Because of our partnership with the CNFS, Laurentian was able to increase the number and quality of health programs offered,” he said, in a press release. “We are proud of our accomplishments with the consortium.”

Among these accomplishments is the agreement between Laurentian University and Sainte-Anne University in Nova Scotia for the bachelor of social work.
Since September 2006, students from Sainte-Anne’s can earn a B.S.S. (baccalauréat en service social) from Laurentian by taking courses on their campus, as well as distance education courses and performing clinical placements in nearby communities.
 
Since 2005, the CNFS at Laurentian University has also offered scholarships to students enrolled in French-language health programs supported by the consortium. More than 200 students have benefitted from these entrance, undergraduate and graduate awards.

Boréal president Denis Hubert said the CNFS promotes collaboration.
“This approach...allows Collège Boréal and Laurentian University to better meet the health needs of the Franco-Ontarian population by offering among other things a joint bachelor of nursing, surpassing their objectives and optimally using funds granted by Health Canada.”