5.3 Agreements
Agreements
| Year | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Issue | Complaints about French-language services in designated postsecondary institutions |
| Impacts following FLSC’s intervention |
|
| Current status | Model for other designated institutions |
Equitable and equal access to French-language postsecondary education in Ontario remains an important issue. The Commissioner has always recognized that it is important for Francophone students to be able to pursue their postsecondary education with suitable availability of French-language services so that they can become qualified bilingual professionals ready to join the labour force.
Effectiveness of the intervention
The Commissioner’s Office has always provided support to postsecondary institutions applying for designation. Several designated postsecondary institutions waited years for their designation. Once designated, however, they have the same obligations as the Ministry on whose behalf they deliver programs and services. In addition, the Ministry that funds those designated programs and services is ultimately responsible for those postsecondary institutions, as it has a moral duty to ensure that they offer the same quality of service in French.
2008: Collège Boréal is the first postsecondary institution to receive full designation under the French Language Services Act. It showed considerable initiative and paved the way by requesting legal and political protection by the government.
2013: The Université de Hearst becomes the first university in the province to receive designation, more than a year and a half after it applied.
2014: After applying in December 2012, La Cité receives designation in January and is officially recognized as an institution that provides French-language services under the Act.
2014: In July, after two years of effort, Laurentian University becomes the first bilingual university to be recognized and partially designated under the Act.
2015: In September, after three years of effort, the University of Ottawa receives designation for its French-language undergraduate programs and services.
2016: In the spring, York University’s Glendon College is partially designated under the Act.
The Commissioner’s Office concluded agreements with the designated bilingual universities to identify contacts for the resolution of complaints about violations of the French Language Services Act. Over the next year, the Commissioner will attempt to reach agreements with the remaining postsecondary institutions.