Federal government invests $72M for French education in Manitoba

French language in Manitoba is getting a multi-million dollar boost from Ottawa in the coming years.

The federal government is providing over $72 million over four years to help support French language education from pre-school to post-secondary institutions in Manitoba.

St. Boniface-St. Vital MP Ginette Lavack and Renée Cable, Manitoba’s minister of advanced education and training, signed a bilaterial agreement on minority-language education and second language instruction at École Sage Creek Bonavista on Tuesday.

“Whether it be pre-school, high school, university, at every level, it is important that we continue to fund and to support French language instruction in this province,” Lavack said.

“There is a growing demand from French education—be it in Francophone schools in the Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine or in our immersion programs throughout the province—there’s exponential growth. So, I think it’s important we support these organizations and these institutions properly.”

Lavack said the funding is part of $1.4 billion in spending on minority-language education across the country over four years, which was initially announced in February.

“I’m incredibly grateful that we’re putting more investment into bilingualism in this province, because it really is the core of who we are,” Cable said.

According to news release from the federal government, an investment from the province is also planned to support the aims of the agreement.

Cable also said province has seen a deficit among French-speaking teachers and that higher immigration rates—particularly people coming from African countries where French is a first language—has increased the demand for French education.

Enrolment in French-language minority schools across Canada increased by 21.5 per cent from 2005 to 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

During that same period, the number of students enrolled in French immersion programs at elementary and secondary levels has increased from 295,000 to 484,000, or 64 per cent, per Statistics Canada.