In an effort to rethink the way that it serves the needs of young drivers, the Ministry of Transportation produced a series of four videos entitled “Getting Your Ontario Driver’s Licence.” These videos, available on YouTube, explain the different requirements of each level of graduated licensing, and effectively offer the information in a more appealing way for those who prefer videos to reading plain text. Over 40 Francophone public service volunteers and road safety partners were part of the collaboration effort to produce the video series, and they certainly had a significant impact on the quality and diversity of these products, as they are well adapted to the needs of a growing young Francophone audience.
With more than half of all new drivers being 25 years or under, developing these online products was a logical way to enhance our young drivers’ level of understanding, not to mention an effective way to cater to the technophile generation! Well done!
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
On February 27, 2013, the French-Language, Aboriginal Learning and Research Division and the Early Learning Division of the Ministry of Education invited 12 French-language school board system leaders to attend a meeting in Toronto on the topic of Full-Day Kindergarten. The meeting was co-chaired by Assistant Deputy Ministers Janine Griffore and Jim Grieve, as they sought to provide school board leaders with the chance to discuss the vision of early learning and how senior leaders are vitally important to making the vision a reality.
Staff from the French Language Education Policy and Programs Branch as well as from the Early Learning Division worked together to provide informative presentations and activities to participants which would enable school boards to reflect on the vision of early learning.
I am glad to hear that the French-language school boards are collaborating, and I look forward to seeing the progress resulting from these types of mobilizing meetings.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
As part of its commitment to providing Ontarians with excellent service, ServiceOntario and the Ministry of Government Services have developed an e-learning tool on the active offer of services in French for ServiceOntario staff. The training was scheduled to be completed by all the ServiceOntario staff in the divisions of Customer Care, Business Development, Central Services, Service Delivery Strategy and Business Improvement.
This excellent initiative focuses on providing support and enabling ServiceOntario staff to comply with the active offer of services in French. The e-learning tool uses an interactive approach and consists of three modules, each one approximately 15 minutes in length. The individual modules target front line ministry staff, analyst roles, and third party service providers, and is designed to address the specific needs of each of those roles based on their unique functions.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
The Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) allocated funds to the Chatham-Kent Community Health Centres to provide primary care services to elderly citizens in French. The funds cover the cost of one full-time French-speaking nurse practitioner who will be based in Pain Court and who will provide primary care services to senior Francophones in their homes in an effort to prevent ER visits, while increasing their well-being and satisfaction.
The goal of this project is to maximize the use of existing French-speaking resources through partnerships with other community health centres and primary care providers, while leveraging the Ontario Telemedicine Network to facilitate access to specialty services in French. Although the project provides funding for only one nurse practitioner, the region being covered is feasible, and the efficient use of the resources should significantly improve the care that Francophone seniors in Pain Court will receive, without having to worry about language barriers.
As I wrote in my post of December 18, I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Renée Moison, the nurse practitioner in this new role. Under her leadership, the community of Pain Court will be well served because she has a stong vision and no shortage of ideas!
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
Throughout the past year, the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (TC LHIN) has focused on increasing awareness amongst its health service providers about the shared responsibility to deliver health services in French. To help them comply with the French Language Services Act, the Toronto Central LHIN initiated a capacity survey last year which required each health service provider ─ including those that are non-designated ─ to conduct a self-evaluation of its capacity to deliver French-language services. The objective of this survey was to identify gaps in these services, and to outline areas where assistance was needed from the LHIN to implement adequate French-language services.
The Toronto Central LHIN is working with agencies to build their collective capacity to deliver French-language services through collaboration, shared knowledge and resources. This is part of the French-language services strategy that the Toronto Central LHIN has adopted, which includes mandates to provide Francophones with access to French-language services across the full range of health services, create formal and informal partnerships among French-language services providers to optimize the use of scare resources, and work with French Language Health Planning Entities to build awareness of the active offer of French-language services. These are just some of the mandates that constitute the Toronto Central LHIN’s strategy to improve the active offer of services for the Francophone clientele, and I believe this strategy will prove to be an effective method to achieve several targets.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
The Supervised Access Program offers separated families a safe, neutral and child-focused setting to facilitate exchanges and visits in order to deal with difficulties that may arise as a result of the difficult circumstances that these families are facing. The program is funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General and delivered by third party providers ─ supervised access centres ─ under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers.
In order to raise awareness amongst staff about French-language services and ensure that these services are offered for those who need them, the Supervised Access Program of the Ministry of the Attorney General created a French Language Services Subcommittee with membership from both the ministry and the supervised access centres in order to exchange best practices, share tools and resources, and create protocols for providing French-language services to its clientele.
I am aware that this subcommittee created an interactive user-friendly French-language services orientation e-learning module for all supervised access centres’ employees to help them better understand and fulfill the needs of their Francophone clientele. The module includes French-language services legislative requirements and clarifies the concept of active offer of services in French for the staff, by providing practical tips and tools to support them.
The staff participating in the French Language Services Subcommittee is confident that the e-learning module will support Supervised Access Program employees in their duties by enhancing their understanding of requirements and best practices related to services in French as applicable to everyday situations. This will ultimately result in a higher quality of service and a more satisfied Francophone clientele. I congratulate the Ministry of the Attorney General and, the Supervised Access Program in particular, for this important initiative.
