CAQ condemned for closure of French-language classes

Benoit Dubreuil, commissary to the French language, speaks during a news conference after he presented his his annual report, Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

French Language Commissioner Benoît Dubreuil has condemned the Coalition Avenir Québec government for closing francization services in several school service centres (CSS).

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 providers other than the CSSs.”

He stressed “the importance of quickly replacing students whose courses have suddenly ended.”

The commissioner attributes the difficulties experienced in the CSSs in particular to Francisation Québec's deployment issues. He believes that it is currently “very difficult” to adequately plan the deployment of francization services.

Francization Québec, the Education Ministry and the CSSs need to do a better job of planning their French-language course offerings in advance and properly forecast the resources needed to deliver these courses,” he said.

Dubreuil pointed out that “there is still an imbalance between the supply of francization services and the demand for these services” as a result of the increase in the number of temporary foreign workers in recent years.

This resulted in 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 process, about restoring the balance between the number of people wishing to take French courses and Francisation Québec's ability to meet their demand, he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 4, 2024.