The University of Ottawa will benefit from financial support of $35 million from the federal and provincial governments to increase its offer of education in French. Nearly a third of public funds will go to the creation of new programs in French and the hiring of French-speaking teachers.
The funding will make it possible to create new bachelor’s degrees entirely in French in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. New programs in French in health and management will also be created. The post-secondary institution will also gradually hire 20 French-speaking professors, which will improve access to research laboratories in French.
To compensate for the shortage of French-speaking teachers, the university will also implement, with federal and provincial support, a strategy of awareness, recruitment and access to teacher training in order to attract more of students in its French education program. Approximately $1.6 million from both governments will be invested in this regard.
In interview with The duty in December, the director of the teacher training program at the University of Ottawa, Mirela Moldoveanu, said that the establishment did not always reach its target of students in the French section of the program. Across the province, French school boards are increasingly dependent on teachers who are not members of the Ontario College of Teachers.
The investments announced Wednesday “will provide Ontarians with more opportunities to learn, live and thrive in the language of their choice,” said Ottawa-Vanier MP and President of the Treasury Board, Mona Fortier. “This funding allows us to achieve a historic breakthrough for the vitality and sustainability of these communities who only aspire to integrate the knowledge economy in order to contribute to building the future of the country and the world,” said noted the rector Jacques Frémont.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.
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