Ottawa’s investments in the creation of a new Franco-Ontarian multigenerational community center in Welland are doubling due to the pandemic. Le Foyer Richelieu — one of the only French-language long-term care centers in southern Ontario — obtained financial assistance of $2.7 million on Tuesday, bringing the total sum of the federal government’s investments to almost of 5 million.
In April 2021, the federal government granted $2 million to the project, which will be able to accommodate hundreds of visitors, including the families of users and employees of the long-term care center. Construction costs for the building, which could open in March 2025, have doubled since the first announcement, according to Sean Keays, the general manager of Foyer Richelieu. The financing of 4.7 million represents approximately 45% of the project costs.
The new building of nearly 1,000 square meters will include the community center as well as 130 long-term beds, while the current building – in which there are 65 long-term beds – will be transformed into an assisted living facility. The new building will offer, among other things, physiotherapy and hairdressing services to residents, as well as shows. “It will be a meeting place”, summarizes Muriel Thibault-Gauthier, the president of the board of directors of the Foyer Richelieu.
A way to keep French
Several residents of the long-term care center — one of only two offering services in French in the south of the province — are descendants of Quebec migration to Welland at the turn of the 20th century.e century. Originally, Quebecers had landed in the Niagara region municipality to work in a textile mill. Over time, however, their population has declined. In 2021, French was the mother tongue of around 4,000 people, 15% less than in 2016.
Muriel Thibault-Gauthier believes that the new community center will enable Francophones to continue to express themselves in their language and to express their pride. “Increasingly, unfortunately, we are in an anglicized environment,” laments the president. The new center will allow the Foyer Richelieu to organize more cultural activities. The current building has little space and therefore often organizes activities outside, which requires the rental of buses.
“Seniors are the pioneers of the Francophonie [dans la région], supports Muriel Thibault-Gauthier. It came to pick me up, to see them this morning, since they are people who have been fighting for a long time, ”she adds. According to the President, the Foyer Richelieu will become one of the largest Francophone employers in the Niagara region when the new building is built.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.