“Financial issues” explain the closure of French language classes, agrees Roberge

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “When you read the newspapers, you get the impression that Francisation Québec is being closed. That’s not true. We’re francizing more than last year,” Minister Jean-François Roberge said Tuesday.

Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge cited “financial issues” to explain the closure of certain francization classes in Quebec in recent weeks. However, he defends his government’s efforts, which have made it possible, according to his figures, to double the number of people trained in schools over the past year.

In a speech delivered before the floor of the fifth Quebec Immigration Summit on Tuesday, the elected member of the Coalition avenir Québec wanted to react to the multiple closures of classes and programs reported in the media in recent weeks.

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Just last week, Le Devoir reported reductions in francization services in school service centres in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Estrie and Montreal. This is in addition to other operations of the same type in Quebec City and on the northern shore of Montreal in recent months.

“When you read the newspapers, you get the impression that Francisation Québec (FQ) is in the process of closing down. That's not true. “We are speaking more French than last year,” retorted Mr. Roberge from the Château Frontenac.

Despite the difficulties some classes have in remaining open for the immigrant population, the number of students who have been francized in the education network has increased from 13,591 for the period from June 1 to September 30, 2023, to 32,040 for the same period in 2024, Mr. Roberge noted. This is an increase of 136%.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t financial issues,” the minister agreed on Tuesday. “That doesn’t mean some school service centres aren’t going to spend their entire budget in the first few months—they’ll have to explain themselves in that regard.” »

« But what I am telling you is that this year there is $40 million more for Francisation Québec, » added Mr. Roberge, who is committed to « deploying, redeploying » immigrant francization services in the coming months.

With the next Quebec budget still months away, the elected official assures that he will discuss with his colleague in Finance, Eric Girard, to secure funding for FQ.

“I commit here, before you, to defending Francisation Québec, to defending its budgets,” he maintained.

According to data obtained by Le Devoir last week, the number of people registered for francization has increased from approximately 31,000 at the beginning of fall 2023 to more than 40,000 at the same time this year. However, the waiting times to obtain a course have almost doubled.