Toronto Public Library will be hosting lots of FREE entertaining events in French for children including Reptilia en français, theatre and musical performances at branches across the city. Details here. 

EduTravel, in partnership with the TDSB and other Ontario school boards, offers credits in French in an exciting experiential program. What better way to build your French skills than to immerse yourself right into French culture. Grade 10 Civics and Careers that travels to Ottawa, Montreal and New York City, and Grade 10 Canadian History that travels to Belgium and France are offered in Extended French and French Immersion options. Grade 11 and 12 Core, Extended and Immersion are offered on the French Connection program which tours Paris, Lyon, the Canadian battlefields, Annecy, the French Riviera and more! Info here. 

The TDSB offers free Elementary Summer School in French in July. Details will be posted here when available. 

For Secondary credits, there is Summer School and e-learning. Details will be posted here when available.  

For French summer camps and exchanges, check out frenchstreet.ca where you can search by location and age. There are lots of possibilities in Toronto including Camp Tournesol and Alliance Française. 

Thinking of something for the whole family in Quebec? Check out French Immersion Family Week in Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, a project of Western University.

Check out this powerpoint from the fall Parent Involvement Conference. It has tips on homework and how to support your child’s French learning. Thank you Kristina Laperle, past FSLAC co-chair, immersion grad and mom, for sharing this with us!

The Standing Committee of the Senate on Official Languages has released a new report  to share the views of young people from across Canada on Official Languages. The “Senate Committee members took heart from the clear commitment these young witnesses demonstrated to support and uphold the values of bilingualism and linguistic duality. That said, their energy cannot by itself safeguard these values”.

The Official Languages Act was enacted 50 years ago and modernizing it is under consideration. The departments of the Federal Government that play a role in Official Languages are Canadian Heritage, Treasury Board, Justice and the Public Service Commission. Canadian Heritage supports French Second Language learning in our schools by providing leadership and funding under the Official Languages in Education Protocol and Agreement with the government of Ontario.  

My name is Tristan and I participated in a French Exchange with ISE Ontario. It was an AMAZING one of a kind experience that I don’t think I could get any other way. It was fantastic meeting so many new friends and living in French. I HIGHLY recommend it. I gained confidence and grew lots while I was away and that is what my partners would also say was so incredible about the experience.

My partner came from a small town of 800 people named Hostun, near Grenoble. Coming from Toronto made living in a small community very special. My family was warm and welcoming, truly my own family away from home. I attended school in France from February to May of my Grade 10 year and my partner came to live with us and attend my TDSB school in my Grade 11 year from August to November. My partner, Loric, and I were really good pals, and my family loved him too.

The exchange went so well that I went back during the March Break in my Grade 11 year to go visit my French family and friends. Loric’s family visited us in Canada the following summer, touring Ontario and travelling on a canoe trip. My twin sisters and his sister, all the same age, have also become great friends.

Thank you, ISE, for such great work in matching us and helping us take on this life-changing adventure! Though I was scared before I left and worried I had made a mistake, I saw some of the world, made new friends, spoke French and learned about French culture. Our whole family agrees - it was one of our best experiences ever!

  Bon Voyage, start packing your bags!

Raymond Théberge took office as Commissioner of Official Languages on January 29, 2018. The Commissioner reports directly to Parliament in accordance with the Official Languages Act. One of his main responsibilities is to support linguistic duality in Canada. Commissioner Théberge is a Franco-Manitoban and a PhD in linguistics. He has worked in academia in Manitoba, Quebec and most recently as president of the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick. He also served as an assistant deputy minister in the Ontario Ministry of Education with responsibility for French First Language, French Second Language and Indigenous education.