Immigrants rally against cuts to francisation courses in Quebec City
Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
cassandra@qctonline.com
Students across the province rallied on Nov. 12 to call on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to walk back planned cuts to subsidized French courses for adults, known as francisation. More than 250 students assembled at the Centre Louis-Jolliet, the largest francisation course centre in Quebec City.
School boards and service centres across the province have been forced to drastically reduce adult francisation course offerings because of a lack of funding.
“Last year, we sent $104 million to school service centres, and this year, we are sending another $104 million to school service centres. The total budget allocated to francisation, which has been increasing for four years, will reach $251.3 million in 2024-2025. Quebecers’ ability to pay is not elastic,” Jean-François Roberge, minister of immigration, francisation and integration, argued in October. “No one is telling us, ‘Increase our taxes and our duties to francize more people.’”
Demand for the courses has risen significantly in recent years, pushed by rising immigration and changes to the Charter of the French Language which opened the courses, previously reserved for recent immigrants, to longtime Quebec residents and newcomers from other provinces. As teachers’ union representatives previously explained to the QCT, school service centres scheduled courses and hired staff for the current school year based on current demand, but the funding for the courses was calculated based on far lower pandemic-era demand. When it became clear that the government didn’t intend to top up the funding, service centres cancelled classes.
“I understand that they want to do well, but the demand is enormous,” said Roberge. “Every day, 350 people register with Francisation Québec. That is 170,000 people per year. We cannot francize 170,000 people per year.”
“These budgetary restrictions lead to human tragedies. After years of investment, immigrants won’t be able to access the job market, while others will have to give up their plans for permanent residency if they do not master the French language,” said Marianne Bois, a francisation educational advisor and teacher at the Centre Louis- Jolliet who has taught there since 2018. Bois explained that immigrants must complete level seven of 12 to earn a certificate allowing them to apply for permanent residence, a path that has been suddenly cut short.
“I don’t understand Premier François Legault and Minister Jean-François Roberge claiming to be the greatest defenders of the French language and, on the other hand, cutting francisation. It doesn’t take a PhD in quantum physics to understand that this is completely ridiculous, that it’s not going in the right direction,” Québec Solidaire MNA for Taschereau Étienne Grandmont said at the protest.
“We could certainly have let this cohort finish their course. It doesn’t make sense to cut it off in the middle of the process,” said Grandmont. “What are their options? What do they have left?” Government officials suggest applying to programs run by the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI), despite long waiting lists for places in those programs.
“If these people had the right to vote, I’m pretty sure the CAQ would take better care of them,” said Grandmont. “Today, I’m very happy to see them come out, to demonstrate, to say that they’ve had enough of this government that mistreats them.”
Francisation student Maria Estevez arrived in Quebec five years ago from Miami, Florida. “These courses are extremely useful and helpful for us im- migrants. They teach more than just the French language. We learn about the Quebec culture, society and how things work here.” Her words were echoed by numerous others at the rally. Students of the Centre Saint-Louis, an adult education centre in Loretteville where francisation courses were also cut, distributed an open letter on the matter; separately, members of the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) teachers’ union federation protested against the cuts at the office of Education Minister Bernard Drainville in Lévis on Nov. 15.
With files from Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter