Ontario needs a French university? Bien sûr, Gélinas says

Nickel Belt MPP and NDP critic for Francophone affairs, France Gélinas introduced a bill today to create the Université de l’Ontario français, or the Franco-Ontarian University.

The Franco-Ontarian community presently governs a network of 450 primary and secondary schools, 12 school boards and two community colleges; but French-speaking Ontarians have limited access to university programs in French.

The creation of a French-language university in Ontario is the next step in Franco-Ontarian education to help the community flourish, thrive and fulfil its full potential, said Gélinas.

From 2013 to 2014, the province conducted a number of consultations on the status of French post-secondary education in Ontario with school boards, students and community members. The primary recommendation from those talks was the need to create a French-language university in Ontario.

The introduction of this bill is one step, Gélinas said in a news release, toward that university becoming a reality. The university’s mission will be to offer a full range of university degrees and programs in French and to provide French-speaking students with the opportunity to complete all of their university coursework and studies in French.