adult education

CEGEPs honour Indigenous achievement at St. Lawrence

Local Journalism Initiative / The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph / May 13, 2025 / adult education, Cassandra Kerwin, CEGEP Champlain-St. Lawrence, Education, Indigenous, Quebec City, Wendat Nation

CEGEPs honour Indigenous achievement at St. Lawrence

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

cassandra@qctonline.com

For the first time, the four CEGEPs of Quebec City honoured Indigenous students at a recognition gala for the Indigenous college community of Quebec. On May 2, the ceremony welcomed recipients, family, friends and community members for a cocktail, gala dinner and show at CEGEP Champlain- St. Lawrence.

The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgement followed by an opening prayer by Wendat elder Yolande Picard. “Throughout my life, I never considered higher education important, but now, after re- flection, I have realized that it is greatly important in today’s age because my education has allowed me to tour the world and to be here this evening,” she said after the prayer. “Thanks for recognizing the value of our youth and their hard work. Thanks for recognizing our peoples, because they’re just as important and valuable as any other people.”

“In a spirit of friendship and solidarity, inspired by Université Laval’s territorial acknowledgement, I pay tribute to the First Peoples who welcome our college and all of its activities onto their ancestral territories,” said Edward Berryman, director of studies at St. Lawrence. “Since we are at the crossroads of the Nionwentsïo of the Wendat people, the Ndakina of the Wabanaki people, the Nitassinan of the Innu people, the Nitaskinan of the Atikamekw people and the Wolastokuk of the Wolastoqey people, we honour our relationships with one another.

“Dear students, this gala is an opportunity to recognize your remarkable journeys of resilience and commitment, to celebrate your voices and, through them, those of your families and communities, and to highlight your unique contributions that enrich our college and community life,” said Berryman. “You bring knowledge, cultures, visions and dreams that transform our institutions, step by step. Tonight’s event, which brings us together around you, is a magnificent example of how far we have come and the hopes we can nurture for generations to come!”

To celebrate the students’ hard work and dedication, the Indigenous community organized the first Recognition Gala for Indigenous CEGEP students in Quebec City, inspired by a similar ceremony at Cégep de Sept-Îles, created by Innu author Naomi Fontaine. The gala ceremony was held in English, French and several Indigenous languages.

Members of the community and alumni from the four participating CEGEPs (St. Lawrence, Garneau, Sainte-Foy and Limoilou) distributed four awards to the 16 participants: Leadership and Community Engagement; Promotion of Indigenous Cultures; Resilience and Perseverance; and Solidarity and Collaborative Spirit. The Puamun Meshkenu organization also awarded a Coup de Cœur scholarship. After the ceremony, attendees enjoyed a buffet dinner and a concert with a live band.

The full list of award winners is below:

Leadership and Community Engagement

– Frédérique-Christina Picard (Innu Nation; Cégep Limoilou)

– Hugo Picard Copeau (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep Limoilou)

– Laurence Vollant-Vachon (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– William-Frédéric Bacon-Hervieux (Innu Nation; Cégep Garneau)

Promotion of Indigenous Cultures

– Émilie Labbé-Hervieux (Innu Nation: Pessamit, Que.; Cégep Limoilou)

– Janie Fontaine (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Kimi Ottawa-Flamand (Atikamekw Nation; Manawan, Que.; Cégep Garneau)

-Logan Morsillo (Ojibway Nation; Matachewan, Ont.; St. Lawrence)

Resilience and Perseverance

– Anne-Marie Riverin Rousselot (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Ève Jean (Wendat Nation; Cégep Garneau)

– Jennifer Côté-Wapachee (Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Julianne Labbé (Wendake, Que.; Cégep Limoilou)

– Stecy Jourdain (Innu Nation; Uashat mak Mani-Utenam, Que.; Cégep Garneau)

Solidarity and Collaborative Spirit

– Aiden Aqpik-Savard (Inuit Nation; Iqaluit, Nunavut; Cégep Limoilou)

– Amélie André (Innu Nation, Maliotenam, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Louis-Félix Morin (Abenaki Nation; Odanak, Que.; Cégep Garneau)

Puamun Meshkenu Coup de Coeur award

Laurence Vollant-Vachon (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Ste-Foy)

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Centre de Services Scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands: New adult general education service point opens in Huntingdon

Local Journalism Initiative / The Gleaner / March 13, 2025 / adult education, Centre de services scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands, Education, Huntingdon, MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, Sarah Rennie

Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

The Centre de Services Scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands (CSSVT) has opened a new adult general education service point in Huntingdon.

The Centre de Formation Générale des Adultes des Tisserands (CFGAT) added the new service point to offer educational services and programs to residents of the Haut-Saint-Laurent and surrounding areas who are over 16 years old. The new location responds to an objective set out by the CSSVT’s Commitment to Success Plan, which aimed to open a vocational training program in each of the sectors served by the service centre.

“As Beauharnois and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield already have their service points, it became a priority for the CFGAT to take steps to offer its services to the population of the Haut-Saint-Laurent,” said Stéphanie Leduc Joseph, a communications councillor with the CSSVT’s Services du Secretariat General et des Communications.

The expansion was made possible through a collaboration with the local Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi (CJE)/PS Jeunesse, which offered a learning space for students at their Huntingdon location.

“Several sites were considered in recent years, but none met the needs of our organization. Our existing partnership with the Beauharnois-Salaberry CJE led us to consider the CJE in Huntingdon, which had available premises that met our criteria,” Leduc Joseph explained.

For the CJE/PS Jeunesse, the partnership made sense. “Our mission is to offer support and employability prospects to young adults,” said Gilles Tardif, who chairs the CJE/PS Jeunesse board of directors. The partnership opens new education opportunities in the region, he said, stating, “There is nothing more constructive for our community than to unite our efforts and our expertise to help young people move closer to their future.”

There are currently seven students registered at the Huntingdon service point. The CSSVT is expecting this to increase to around 50 registrations per year. The programs available in Huntingdon include French, mathematics, and English classes, as well as prior learning assessment and recognition testing.

“Our priority is to provide access to services for adults in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, making it easier for them to resume their studies without the challenge of travelling to our Beauharnois or Valleyfield service points,” said Leduc Joseph.

The CFGAT helps adults who wish to improve their career prospects, perfect their knowledge, or complete their high school diploma. For CSSVT director general Suzie Vranderick, the new service point represents “a significant step towards bringing education closer to the Haut-Saint-Laurent community.”

Along with the new service point, the CFGAT has also recently launched an improved website. The modernized information platform allows users to find more information about the CFGAT’s services and programs.

“This new tool was created with the needs of future students in mind, and to facilitate contact with the organization. Users are now able to apply online and access pertinent information for their individual journeys,” said CFGAT director Dominic Tremblay.

More information about the CFGAT’s new service point in Huntingdon is available online at cfgatisserands.ca.

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Community organizations take on francisation workload

Local Journalism Initiative / The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph / January 21, 2025 / adult education, francisation, Quebec City, Ruby Pratka

Community organizations take on francisation workload

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Subsidized French language-learning programs for adults offered by school service centres (CSS) in the greater Quebec City area won’t be scaling registrations back up anytime soon, service centre representatives have confirmed.

The Centre Louis-Jolliet in Limoilou, the Le Phénix adult learning centre in Sainte-Foy, the Centre Saint-Louis in Loretteville and the Centre d’éducation des adultes des Navigateurs in Lévis, along with a number of other adult education centres around the province, were forced to suspend enrolment for subsidized French courses known as francisation this fall due to a mismatch between funding provided by the Ministry of Education and Higher Learning (MEES) and higher-than-expected enrolment.

In December, after months of lobbying by immigrant rights organizations, unions and individual students and teachers, Minister for the French Language Jean-François Roberge announced $10 million in new funding for francisation programs offered by school service centres in underserved regions. However, none of the three greater Quebec City-area service centres – the CSS de la Capitale, CSS des Découvreurs and CSS des Navigateurs – received extra funding, the QCT confirmed early in the New Year. Students who lost their place in a subsidized class offered by a school service centre this fall were expected to be placed on a waiting list for a course administered through a community group in partnership with the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI)

“The ministries [of education and immigration] believe that residents of our territory have access to francization services nearby,” CSS des Navigateurs spokesperson Louise Boisvert said. “Our CSS was not targeted to receive part of this funding.” She added that 28 people were currently enrolled in full-time or part-time francisation classes through the CSS, compared to 576 last January.

With the suspension of francisation programs offered by school boards and service centres, students who want to enrol in francisation classes are turning to private options or joining waiting lists for courses offered by the MIFI through community organizations.

Those classes are at “98 per cent capacity” according to Carlos Carmona, co-ordinator of the Régroupement des organismes en francisation du Québec (ROFQ), which represents community organizations offering subsidized francisation courses. Nevertheless, Carmona said, people looking for a place in a francisation class can contact community organizations working with immigrants in their area. ROFQ members in Quebec City include the Centre RIRE 2000 and Le Mieux-être des Immigrants.

In principle, would-be students need to sign up on the Francisation Québec web portal (apprendrelefrancais.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca), although the portal is only available in French as of this writing and requires an internet connection. “I know they are working on a new portal, which should be at least available in English and Spanish, although I don’t know what languages it will be available in,” Carmona said. Alternatively, he said, “People can contact our members and come to their offices with their immigration documents and we’ll help them fill out the forms – that’s a service we offer.”

A person who signs up for a course today, he added, can expect to wait until “at least April” because organizations are no longer accepting new students for the winter semester. The subsidized classes are open to adult immigrants to Canada, transplants from out of province and Quebecers who would like to improve their French skills.

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