Closures of French-language classes: Legault government reprimanded

French Language Commissioner Benoît Dubreuil condemned the Legault government for ending francization services in several school service centres (CSS). However, he will not launch an investigation into the matter, as requested by the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ). 

In a rare written statement sent to the media, Dubreuil said he was “concerned about the short-term repercussions of service disruptions on students, particularly in regions where there are no other providers than the CSS.” 

He stressed “the importance of quickly reintegrating students whose classes have ended suddenly.”

‘Plan better‘

The commissioner attributes the difficulties experienced in the CSS in particular to the deployment issues of Francisation Québec (FQ). He considers that it is currently “very difficult” to adequately plan the deployment of the francization service offer.

“Francisation Québec, the Ministry of Education and the CSS must better plan their French course offerings in advance and properly provide the resources needed to provide these courses,” he said. 

The closures of French language classes in Quebec continue to make headlines.

“Le Devoir” reported again on Wednesday that 1,468 students in Beauce had to interrupt their French language classes in November.

A few weeks ago, Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge blamed the school service centres for the closure of these classes, stating that his government had increased the francization budgets.

At the end of October, the minister had suggested that there would soon be more French courses offered to new arrivals.

Imbalance between supply and demand

Dubreuil emphasized that “an imbalance persists between the supply of francization services and the demand for these services” resulting from the increase in the number of temporary foreign workers in recent years.

This translates into significant delays for those wishing to access government French courses, he said.

The government will have to think, during the next multi-year immigration planning, about restoring the balance between the number of people who want to take French courses and the capacity of Francisation Québec to respond to their demand, according to him.

No investigation 

In October, The Canadian Press reported that Liberal MPs André A. Morin and Madwa-Nika Cadet had sent a letter to Commissioner Dubreuil urging him to investigate “service failures” in French-language classes in several regions of Quebec, arguing that the government is “breaking the moral contract between Quebec and the people who come to settle there.”

In a letter sent to the PLQ and of which The Canadian Press obtained a copy, the commissioner indicated that he would not launch an investigation, arguing that he had already made recommendations concerning francization in his report last May.

In this report, he suggests in particular “developing a robust demand forecasting model and strengthening registration management mechanisms, so as to promote the reduction of processing times” and “prioritizing, in the continued deployment of FQ, changes to the ‘Learn French’ platform that improve the user experience and contribute to increasing operational efficiency.” 

“As these recommendations still seem relevant to us, and as they will be followed up with the ministry, it does not seem necessary to launch an investigation,” wrote the commissioner in his letter to the PLQ.  

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews