Jean-François Roberge

Francisation courses cut in Lévis as Duclos raises funding questions

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The subsidized French classes offered at the Des Navigateurs adult education centre (CEAN) in Lévis have become the latest casualty of a dispute over funding between the Quebec government and several school boards and service centres which offer the courses, known as francisation.

The courses are funded by the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) through the Ministry of Education and Higher Learning (MEES). The Centre des services scolaire des Navigateurs (CSSDN), which oversees the Lévis program, said in a statement that the program had received funding for the 2024-25 school year based on enrolment numbers from 2020-21, Enrolment numbers were far lower that year, owing to the fact that pandemic-era border restrictions had drastically reduced immigration, and classes at the time were still reserved for recent immigrants.

Like several of its counterparts in other regions, the CSSDN planned on the basis of current demand and hit a funding wall. More than 300 students were enrolled in francisation classes at CEAN this fall. As of this week, “two groups, about 30 learners, will receive training from now until June 2025,” the statement said. The other students will be placed on waiting lists.

The Centre de services scolaire (CSS) de la Capi- tale, which covers much of Quebec City, and the CSS des Découvreurs, in Sainte-Foy, announced similar cuts last week. According to teachers’ union representatives, similar cuts have taken place in the Montreal region, in the Eastern Townships, in the Lower St. Lawrence and in Abitibi, with the loss of dozens of jobs and hundreds of classroom places. The Quebec Liberal Party has called for Commissioner for the French Language Benoit Dubreuil to lead an inquiry into the cuts, arguing that Quebec is “breaking a moral contract” with newcomers.

“We are going to announce openings and increases in course offerings in the coming weeks, in the coming months,” Roberge told MNAs at the National Assembly on Oct. 30, without providing specifics.

Brian Gignac is the executive director of the Megan- tic Community Development Corporation (MCDC), a community organization which supports anglophones in the greater Lévis and Thetford Mines areas. “I think when the government starts cutting in certain regions, it was inevitable for this to happen in Lévis. Unfortunately, new- comers are left on their own,” he told the QCT. “From what we’re hearing, newcomers are extremely reliant on these classes … you might be one of the 30 people lucky enough to continue. If not, good luck. There have been a lot of people coming here for work over the years, and that’s a major blow to their whole integration.”

Gignac and South Shore English Network community development co-ordinator Olena Peleshok, herself a recent arrival from British Columbia who has benefited from francisation classes, said the classes were an important stepping stone into the labour market and into Quebec society, enabling newcomers to get jobs, make friends and communicate with their children’s teachers. They also were worried that the abrupt end to classes made it harder for families to plan.

“Now everyone’s just taking stock of what happened. … Will other groups be able to dispense the classes? How will everything be reorganized? I think it’s going to take maybe a few days or even weeks before we have clearer indications of what’s the path forward from now on,” Gignac said.

Duclos wonders where federal funding went

Early last week, Québec MP Jean-Yves Duclos wrote to Minister for the French Language Jean-François Roberge to formally ask how $775 million in federal funding for immigration and integration in Quebec had been spent.

“We sent $775 million, and the ministry invested $475 million, including $104 million in francisation,” Duclos told the QCT. “There’s a difference between $104 million and $775 million. … We continue to trust the Quebec government with these funds, but when we see classes closing, teachers being laid off and programs being interrupted, we ask questions and we don’t get answers.”

Roberge accused Duclos in a statement of “taking shortcuts that don’t help anyone.

“The real problem is the loss of control at our borders by the federal government. There are too many asylum seekers in Quebec,” Roberge wrote on so- cial media. “The costs involved are immense: health care, education, last-resort assis- tance, housing allowance, food assistance, legal aid, to name a few. Mr. Duclos should start by talking to his colleague [federal immigration minister] Marc Miller so that the $750 million promised by Justin Trudeau in June to compensate [the costs engendered by] asylum seekers is paid. The reality is that we have never invested so much in francisation.”

Duclos acknowledged that Quebec had received more than its share of asylum seekers in recent years, but said the proportion of asylum seekers in the province had dropped in 2024. “It’s normal that the Quebec government is asking for more, but we still signed an agreement for $750 million,” Duclos said, adding that asylum seekers “may need help [in the beginning] but in a few weeks, they find a job and feed their family and pay taxes like everyone else.”

No one from Miller’s office was immediately available to comment.