After 15 years of implementation attempts, Quebec will finally have a one-stop shop for all francization services. Launched this Thursday 1er June, Francisation Québec will allow immigrants, non-francophone citizens and businesses to have access to francization courses by registering via an online platform, “Learning French”.
“The MIFI has developed solid pedagogical expertise in teaching and also leadership in francization that are recognized today. This is why she was entrusted with the implementation of Francisation Québec and the coordination of this major project with key players in order to harmonize government services for learning French,” indicated the Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI), Christine Fréchette, during the launch of the project alongside the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge.
Until now, francization services were managed and distributed among various departments, which created disparities in the service offer and complicated the lives of immigrants wishing to become francized. In a damning report describing francization as a “fiasco” in 2017, the Auditor General recommended that the three departments involved in francization (Immigration, Education, Employment) continue their efforts and agree to ensure that registrations, tests and course offerings are managed in one place. It’s now done.
One of the avowed objectives of Francisation Québec is to collect and centralize conclusive data, particularly on the number of people who take francization courses and the place where these courses are taken and the dropout rates. “One of the interesting spin-offs is that we will be able to bring together all the data of the people taking the courses. One of the issues we currently have is that there is a fragmentation of partners who offer francization and therefore data on people who take francization courses,” said Minister Fréchette. “With Francisation Québec, we will be able to bring all that together and monitor much more closely. »
Minister Fréchette welcomed the “enthusiasm” for francization, when some 47,000 immigrants were registered in francization for the year 2022-2023, full or part-time, or “an increase of 25%”. Without being able to give a precise figure, the ministry indicated that to this must be added some 20,000 newcomers who were taking francization courses at school service centres.
Some francization centers under the Ministry of Education already have waiting lists of several months, and people waiting will now be directed as of June 1 to register at the one-stop counter of Francisation Québec.
Asked if she feared that there would be too long a waiting list, the Minister of Immigration replied that centralizing the data would allow for better follow-up. “We will be better able to respond adequately to certain places where there could be delays,” she said. According to her, MIFI’s turnaround times, which are currently 50 business days, meet service standards.
And in the event of strong demand, she ensures that the online platform will not experience the failures of “SAAQclique”, the platform of the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec launched in the spring. “There were a lot of tests and pre-tests to make sure it held up […] We have several thousand people who will be able to register in one day and the system will support the load, that does not worry me. »
Centralizing services will not solve all the challenges, including that of recruiting francization teachers. “It’s a constant challenge, with the scarcity of manpower, it creates certain challenges, but there are a lot of efforts to ensure that the number of teachers is expanded,” she said. specifying that they are currently 550 already at work, only at the MIFI.
For the business component of this one-stop shop, services will be rolled out gradually in three phases over the next five months. Services will be offered to small businesses wishing to introduce their employees to French, but short training courses of 60-80 hours will also be offered, as is currently the case.
The MIFI will also offer 300-hour qualifying training, which would particularly target temporary workers wishing to apply for permanent immigration programs, such as those announced by the Minister last week.
Francisation Québec will soon launch a “flagship project” to support childcare service providers who want to francize toddlers from daycare.