Université de l’Ontario français

The establishment of a French-language university in Ontario had been talked about for decades by the time Bado joined Le Droit in 1981. Back in the 1940s, Ontario’s French-language universities had to choose between declaring themselves as mainly francophone or institutionally bilingual. Draft legislation was tabled in 1943 to declare Sudbury’s Collège du Sacré-Cœur a francophone university. Some 15 years later, that college ended up becoming the Université de Sudbury, adopting institutional bilingualism. When Université Laurentienne was established in 1960, the hope was that it would be a francophone university. Unfortunately, it too opted for bilingualism.

In 1981, the ACFO endorsed the creation of a French-language university in Ontario. Roger Guindon, Rector of the University of Ottawa, was quite a fan of institutional bilingualism in universities.

In 2015, draft legislation revived the idea of a French-language university in Ontario, a project that had originated decades ago.

With the push-back momentum in the 1970s, many called for the creation of a real university where all instruction would be in French. It was thought that the bilingual university model was inadequate. In most bilingual institutions, the proportion of francophone students kept falling, followed by a shrinking number of French-language classes.

The decades-old idea of a French-language university in Ontario is on the table again.

The Liberal Government of Kathleen Wynne gives the green light for the creation of a francophone university in Toronto.

After sitting on the back burner for years, the Université de l’Ontario français project finally takes flight after getting the green light from the Ontario Government.

In the early 1990s, the NDP Government of Bob Rae, initially receptive, was quickly side-tracked by the economic crisis and the arrival of Mike Harris’ Conservatives. Yes, those same Conservatives who, in 1997, gave Franco-Ontarians full authority to manage their schools.

An omnibus bill containing the creation of Université de l’Ontario français and the protection of bilingualism for the City of Ottawa is tabled in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Newly elected Conservative Premier Doug Ford, giving his Speech from the Throne, in which he doesn’t once mention Ontario’s francophones.

On the pretext of budget cuts, the Doug Ford Conservative Government shuts down both the Université de l’Ontario français project and the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner.

In 2015, supporters of a francophone university were once again given reason to hope. The idea of a French-language university in Ontario was revived in the form of draft legislation. The creation of a francophone university in the Toronto area was recommended in a report, although many people remained confused about the university’s location and the ambiguity of the programs it would offer.

After the Doug Ford Government drops the Université de l’Ontario français project, the Federal Government hands the project $1.9 million.

Universities serving Ontario francophones face a number of issues. On the one hand, UOF loses its rector and has to contend with low enrolment, while Sudbury’s Université Laurentienne is beset by unprecedented financial challenges.

In 2017, the Liberal government gave the green light for the establishment of the Université de l’Ontario français in an omnibus bill that also included making the City of Ottawa officially bilingual. The Conservative Government that came to power in 2018 put a stop to the project. Elected on a platform of budget reductions, the government’s many cutbacks directly affected the Franco-Ontarian community’s prospects. The cutbacks reignited their fighting spirit, prompting many to remember the tremendous burst of solidarity that had helped save the Montfort. Just when everything appeared lost, a generous subsidy from the federal government saved the day. the Université de l’Ontario français welcomed its first students in September 2021.

Université de Sudbury, although linked to Université Laurentienne, would like to become an exclusively francophone university.

Release of a damning report on the place of French at the University of Ottawa, attesting to several francophobic actions and failure to comply with a number of bilingualism policies.