Quebec has launched a new portal for anyone who wants to learn French
As of June 1, anyone wishing to learn or improve their command of the French language will have to register via the Francization Québec portal, the government's new single point of service for coordinating all French language learning services.
Christine Fréchette, Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, and Jean-François Roberge, her colleague responsible for the French language, launched the platform on Monday morning.
The new service, which was developed over the past year in response to the new right created by Bill 96 to free access to francization services, will manage all French-language learning services for new arrivals, future immigrants wishing to learn French ahead of their arrival, workers and Quebec residents who do not speak French.
The whole process will be rolled out in different phases, Minister Fréchette emphasized, in order to simplify the process, harmonize the services offered and improve customer service.
Financial support will also be offered to clients who need it. The Francisation Québec programs will replace the current programs, the Programme d'intégration linguistique des immigrants and the Programme d'aide financière pour l'intégration linguistique des immigrants.
UNKNOWN DEMAND
Although they speak of an unprecedented "craze" for francization, to the point where they expect more people to sign up for the various services over the coming months, the ministers have no targets or projections for the number of francization candidates in the province.
"The government will adapt" to demand, and Francisation Québec is "continuously recruiting" teachers to meet it, Fréchette said. Her department currently employs 550 teachers.
"As current francization services were fragmented due to the large number of partners, it was more difficult to obtain data on the number of people in francization," she explained. With Francisation Québec, we're going to consolidate, monitor and centralize this data, which will give us a more accurate picture of the situation."
In 2021-2022, more than 37,000 people took part in a francization process, an increase of 16 per cent over the previous year. For 2022-2023, the increase was even more pronounced, at 25 per cent, with a peak of nearly 46,000 registrants.
Fréchette attributes this growth to her government's investment in francization, which doubled between 2018 and 2022.
"In 2017, the Auditor General had said that the organization of francization services was a real fiasco," the minister recalled.
"The Premier reiterated: we are the government that will have recognized the reality, named the decline of French and taken concrete action to remedy it," added Roberge.
Francization services will continue to be offered online or face-to-face, in the workplace or even in certain early childhood settings, on a full-time or part-time basis, all to meet the needs of as many people as possible.
This report was written with the financial assistance of the Meta Bourse and The Canadian Press for news and was first published in French by The Canadian Press on May 29, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Alleged Montreal-area 'Chinese police stations' planning to sue RCMP for $2.5 million
Two Chinese community centres in the Montreal area are planning to launch a $2.5 million defamation lawsuit against the RCMP and the Attorney General of Canada after being accused by the police force of hosting 'alleged Chinese police stations.'
Lawyer in Ali murder trial says 13-year-old B.C. victim was not an 'innocent'
Ibrahim Ali's lawyer says the 13-year-old girl he's accused of murdering in a British Columbia park wasn't the “innocent” depicted in a “rose-coloured” portrayal by the Crown at trial.
'I cry all the time': Nova Scotia couple returns after 40 days in Gaza
It has been five days since Palestinian-Canadian couple, Khalil and Nabila Manna, returned from visiting relatives in Gaza, but while the couple planned to visit for a short-period of time, the Israel-Hamas conflict left them stranded for 40 days
With Canada set to reimpose cap on working hours, international students worry about paying for tuition, living expenses
Canada is set to reimpose the cap on the number of hours that international students can work off campus. But with heightened cost-of-living concerns in Canada, many international students say they're not sure how they'll be able to afford their tuition and living expenses if they can't work full-time.
Inmate stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times, charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say
A federal inmate was charged Friday with attempted murder in the prison stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
'Jumped over their heads': Kangaroo escapes Ontario zoo during overnight stay
The search for a kangaroo that escaped an Ontario zoo will resume on Saturday morning, according to staff and volunteers.
Mild, rainy winter expected as Canada warms at twice the global rate
Winter will be unusually warm and rainy across much of the country this year, according to the latest data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Here's how Air Canada's new baggage tracking app works
Air Canada is hoping to give its customers more confidence when travelling with checked luggage through a new baggage tracking feature.
Alleged victims speak out after a Waterloo, Ont. man posed as a CSIS agent and scammed women out of millions
Several women have come forward claiming they were victims of a romance scam by a Waterloo, Ont. man. Police believe he allegedly defrauded dozens of women out of more than $2 million over 15 years.