University of Ottawa expands Windsor campus

To meet the pressing need to increase the number of qualified francophone teachers in Ontario, the University of Ottawa Faculty of Education is joining with Windsor’s new Carrefour communautaire francophone to expand its French-language teacher education programs.

The University is investing $1.2 million to renovate and furnish new spaces for the Windsor campus at the Carrefour communautaire francophone, located at 720 Ouellette Avenue, in downtown Windsor. This community hub will bring together a variety of organizations and French-language services under one roof.

The Windsor expansion will increase the campus’s capacity to train educators ready to work in the region’s francophone schools.

“Our new facilities at the Carrefour communautaire francophone will allow us to double the number of students on campus to 120, by offering not only the primary/junior program but also adding a new junior/intermediate program with cohorts of 30 students a year for a two-year program,” says Nicole Baillargeon, Windsor campus coordinator.

“We will have a worthy francophone university campus for Southwest Ontario. The partnerships with the Centre communautaire francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent as well as our school partners, the Conseil scolaire Viamonde and the Conseil scolaire catholique Providence, will be win-win as we move towards our shared vision.”

The University of Ottawa

Windsor campus

has operated for over 20 years in a space at the École élémentaire L’Envolée, part of the Conseil scolaire Viamonde.

The campus is an important spot for francophone teacher education in Southwest Ontario. Initially, the teacher education program only had a handful of students. Over the years, it has developed and currently has around 60 future French-language teachers. It will continue to grow under its new roof.

“The University of Ottawa is the main university for francophone teacher education in Ontario,” says Richard Barwell, Dean of the uOttawa Faculty of Education.

“Our Faculty has been a long-standing partner in the region’s francophone community and we’re proud to be associated with the Carrefour communautaire francophone, a focal point for Franco-Ontarians in Windsor. There’s a major shortage of French-language teachers in the province. This project will enable us to considerably increase our capacity to educate future teachers in Southwest Ontario, and to diversify our program offerings in Windsor.”

The new facilities will be equipped with the latest classroom technology and meet accessibility standards.

And in addition to the teacher education program, the new space will also be able to host professional development activities and a master’s program.

“The University of Ottawa is firmly committed to improving access to postsecondary education in French in Ontario, as indicated in the law that created it. Expanding our presence in Windsor is one more step towards our wish to play a leading role in revitalizing francophone minority communities,” says Sanni Yaya, Vice-President International and Francophonie. “There is strong demand for our programs in Southwest Ontario and we’ve reached the saturation point with our current spaces. Increasing our capacity will ensure an active offer of postsecondary programs in French and thus close the door to assimilation.”

“We are very excited to welcome within our new francophone community hub the Windsor campus of the University of Ottawa,” says André Gagnon, President of the Centre communautaire francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent (CCFWEK). “It’s a solid partnership that will augment the visibility of our partners and the francophone community’s capacity, in all its diversity.”

The new University of Ottawa Windsor campus will open in 2022.

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