Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Created less than five years ago, Le Carrefour francophone du savoir et de l’innovation brings together more than thirty francophone organizations that are or will be integrated into the academic mission of the Université de l’Ontario français, a new French-language university in Toronto. Some of these organizations’ missions are to support the settlement of newcomers, others to meet the needs of the Francophone population in general, and others, like the Université de l’Ontario français, aim to attract post-secondary students from the French-speaking world. The paper draws from my master’s research, a case study whose purpose was to understand 1) how Carrefour francophone du savoir et de l’innovation’s partner organizations contribute to the recruitment, settlement, integration/inclusion and retention of Francophone newcomers, while taking into account the needs and requirements of various stakeholders; 2) what benefits, challenges, potential strategies and requirements partner organizations perceive when considering collaborative action on francophone immigration to Ontario; and 3) how these francophone organizations contribute to promoting an inclusive Franco-Ontarian community, and which challenges must be met in order to achieve this. For this research, 11 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups were conducted with a total of 13 participants from 11 francophone organizations. This research contributes to the literature on francophone immigration in Ontario and on multisectoral partnerships. It also provides important information to the organizations and decision-makers whose policies and programs aim to increase francophone immigration while seeking better equity in the integration of these newcomers.