At last year’s celebration of Franco-Ontarian Day at the University of Sudbury, the Francophone community vowed to keep fighting for a French-language university in the wake of the province’s 2023 rejection of a proposal by the U of S.
Keep fighting they did, and a year later, the University of Sudbury, or Université de Sudbury, as it now calls itself, is a lot closer to its goal.
The U of S expanded on its French-language university plans Sept. 25, on the occasion of its annual Franco-Ontarian Day celebration, which featured speeches by several politicians and community members, and the traditional raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag.
It was on the University of Sudbury campus that the Franco-Ontarian flag was first raised 49 years ago, on Sept. 25, 1975.
Laurentian University also held its own Franco-Ontarian Day celebration and flag-raising Wednesday, immediately after the event at the U of S.
In March, the Université de Sudbury, a school located on the campus of Laurentian University and formerly federated with LU, announced it is partnering with the University of Ottawa to offer programs here in Sudbury as of the fall of 2025.
The province has not yet officially announced funding for this partnership, although the Ministry of Colleges and Universities spoke favourably of the idea in a statement released in June.
The U of S hadn’t yet made its application to the province as of June. When we asked university president Serge Miville Sept. 25 if this had happened, he did not give an answer, saying it’s a “question for another time,” preferring to focus on what was being offered to students.
“We'll have the chance to have a conversation on that in the following weeks,” he said.
In June, Université de Sudbury announced it would offer 23 programs and program options in 2025 through its partnership with the University of Ottawa. However, the U of S has now expanded those offerings to 33, with the inclusion of science programs.
“I think it's really important to respond to what students are asking for, and they want a full suite of programs,” said Miville.
Registration for the 2025-2026 academic year has officially opened, and prospective students are being enticed to the Université de Sudbury through scholarship money, and could receive up to $17,000 in financial support over four years.
An automatic entrance scholarship of $12,000 is available to Ontario residents who enrol on a full-time basis ($3,000 per year over four years).
Northern French-language and immersion high schools will be able to offer up to three scholarships worth $3,000. There will also be 50 bursaries of $2,000 to cover students' accommodation costs at the Université de Sudbury residence.
This financial support is worth more than $1 million, said Miville.
The Université de Sudbury also released its new brand identity Sept. 25, created in conjunction with Sudbury firm Design de Plume. Its new slogan is “Ici, on réussit” (Here, we succeed), and its logo is a bell with a fleur-de-lis (a symbol of Franco-Ontarian identity).
The logo is based on this historic bell that goes right back to Université de Sudbury’s founding as Collège du Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart College) in 1913 by the Jesuits.
“It rang when the University of Sudbury was Sacred Heart College in Sudbury,” said Miville. “So it rang for decades. It was lost to time, and it was found on Hemingway Island on the French River, and brought back to uSudbury. When I came in, it was in the archives. I'm like, ‘Wait, why is this in the archives?’”
Miville said students taking summer programs at Université de Sudbury this year came up with the idea of using the bell as the university’s symbol. “So we just listened to them,” he said.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.