“Vicious circle” of supply and demand for French-language care in Ontario

Planning for French-language health services in the Greater Toronto Area is “locked in a vicious circle.” Suppliers do not perceive a strong demand, while French speakers face numerous “barriers” to requesting services in their language, according to a survey.

“The motivation of Francophones to use services in French is closely linked to a proactive offer”, we can read in a report from Entité 3. The organization, whose mission is to “provide advice to Ontario Health”, surveyed 30 French-speaking immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area and conducted interviews with them to better understand their perception of active demand, a practice which aims to actively request services in French to put “pressure on health institutions, inciting the system to meet this growing demand,” explains Entité 3.

Since the entry into force of the active offer regulation in 2023, any organization designated under the French Language Services Act in Ontario must welcome users in their language without them having to ask. This concerns ministries, but also education and health services.

Despite this, 73% of French-speaking immigrants who responded to the survey receive care in English, even though a majority of them (60%) have “expressed their desire to receive health services in French at least once.” And among them, only 22% obtained “regular satisfaction”.

“Serious information gap”

It should be noted, however, that 40% of participants have never “expressed their desire to receive health services in French”, we can read in the report, even if 91% believe that being treated in one’s language is “crucial “.

According to Entité 3, there is a “serious information deficit within the French-speaking community” regarding linguistic rights in health matters, while 74% of participants “are not informed of available resources.”

But language barriers and “the perception that health institutions lack motivation to recruit French-speaking staff reinforce the feeling of injustice and distress” and lead to “delays in care, a certain frustration as well as a feeling of marginalization “. Many participants “often feel excluded from their own care process.”

One participant said he had already “undergone” shoulder surgery without understanding what led to this decision. “I was made to sign a document that was completely in English, [dont] I didn’t understand the content, but I accepted because it was a question of life and death, perhaps. »

They all also show “distrust” of interpretation services, which they do not always consider accurate.

Only 35% of them use family doctors, while almost half turn to “various health institutions, with a marked predominance for non-ordinary services, such as emergencies, walk-in clinics. you” or even “self-medication”, which offers “neither permanence nor regularity in monitoring”, comments the organization.

“For those who live in Ontario, I think that having French-speaking family doctors is not even just a priority, but it is an emergency to save lives,” testifies a participant.

This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.

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