Franco-Ontarians: Our Voice, Our Future

Lee’s Plan

For too long, the approach to Francophone policy in Ontario has been focused on preserving what we have. Lee stands with Franco-Ontarians in the belief that we should be asking how we help Ontario’s Francophonie to grow.

French-language services are too often treated as an obligation to manage rather than an asset to strengthen. A serious provincial government should make Francophone policy part of its broader vision for Ontario: moving from protection to development, from promises to measurable access, and from consultation to real participation in decision-making.

As Premier, Lee will champion a long-term strategy that helps Francophone communities grow, attract families and workers, build institutions, and live fully in French.

1. Protect French-language education and Francophone governance

French-language schools are among the most important institutions for the survival and growth of Ontario’s Francophonie. They transmit language and culture while creating the next generation of Francophone professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders.

Francophone school governance is not merely an administrative arrangement. Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the right of linguistic minorities to meaningful management and control of their educational institutions.

To allow French-language education to flourish, a Lee Fairclough Ontario Liberal government will:

• Guarantee the autonomy and governance rights of Ontario’s 13 French-language school boards and ensure that any education governance reform respects section 23 of the Charter.
• Address the chronic shortage of French-language teachers through expanded teacher-training capacity, recruitment initiatives and, critically, a comprehensive retention strategy.
• Establish measurable targets for reducing reliance on temporary letters of permission and publicly report progress.
• Increase investments in French-language school infrastructure, particularly in growing communities where students are learning in overcrowded schools or portables.
• Ensure equitable access to special education, mental health supports and educational professionals in French.
• Strengthen pathways from French-language secondary schools into French and bilingual postsecondary education.

2. Make access to healthcare in French a reality

A right to French-language health services means little if the professionals required to deliver those services are unavailable.

Francophones in Ontario still face the choice between receiving timely care in English or waiting longer for care in French. This is particularly concerning for seniors, people experiencing mental health challenges, newcomers and patients with complex medical needs.

Lee is committed to changing this. Her government will develop a dedicated French-Language Health Workforce Strategy, including expanded training, recruitment and retention of bilingual physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, personal support workers, mental health and other professionals.

It will also expand French-language primary care teams and community health services in areas with significant Francophone populations and set measurable standards for access to care in French. Ontario should build on the expertise of Montfort and other Francophone institutions that have been empowered to lead.

3. Restore accountability for French-language services

Accountability for French-language services should be proactive, not dependent on individual Francophones filing complaints. Francophones should not have to prove that services promised in French are available in French.

The elimination of the independent French Language Services Commissioner weakened accountability.

As Premier, Lee will restore an independent French Language Services Commissioner, with the authority and resources to investigate systemic problems, publicly report on the government’s performance and make recommendations.

A new annual French-language services accountability report will show where services are available, where shortages remain and what is being done to address them.

4. Build the Francophone workforce Ontario needs

The shortage of French-speaking professionals extends far beyond education. Ontario needs bilingual health professionals, early childhood educators, social workers, legal professionals, public servants and skilled workers.

Lee will create a coordinated Francophone Workforce Strategy connecting immigration, education, postsecondary institutions and employers. This includes expanding French-language and bilingual programs in fields facing labour shortages and improving recognition of international credentials.

Strengthening Francophone immigration is also essential to our economy and the demographic vitality of Francophone communities. Lee is committed to setting ambitious Francophone immigration targets and ensuring newcomers have access to settlement, employment and community services in French from the moment they arrive.

5. Strengthen Francophone economic development

Francophone policy should also be economic policy — one that views Ontario’s Francophonie as a vital investment.

Ontario’s Francophone and bilingual workforce gives the province a competitive advantage, particularly in relationships with Quebec, Europe, Africa and the wider Francophone world.

A Lee Fairclough Ontario Liberal government will champion a Francophone Economic Development Strategy supporting Francophone entrepreneurs and small businesses, tourism, cultural industries and trade. It will also use Ontario’s participation in the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie strategically to create economic, educational and cultural opportunities.

6. Protect Francophone culture, media and community institutions

A language survives when people can live in it. That requires theatres, festivals, libraries, bookstores, community organizations, cultural institutions and local media. Yet, too many Francophone organizations that provide essential services and cultural infrastructure operate from one funding cycle to the next.

As Premier, Lee will move Ontario toward predictable, multi-year funding for Francophone institutions and community organizations, strengthen support for Franco-Ontarian art councils and cultural centres, and support new digital and traditional French-language media and bookstores. This approach recognizes that institutions serving a linguistic minority often cannot achieve the same economies of scale as majority-language organizations. Artists who bring Francophone culture to life also need support that reflects the realities of working in a minority-language community.

7. Guarantee access to justice in French

A person should never have to choose between timely justice and justice in their own language.

A Lee Fairclough Ontario Liberal government will establish measurable standards for French-language capacity across courts and administrative tribunals, and improve recruitment of bilingual judges, adjudicators, crown attorneys and court personnel. This is particularly important at high-volume tribunals such as the Landlord and Tenant Board, where delays and limited French-language capacity compound the barriers Francophones face.

French-language capacity should also be considered when appointing senior officials and Officers of the Legislature who serve the public.

8. Put Francophones at the table before decisions are made

Too often, consultation occurs after a government has decided what it wants to do. Lee will involve Francophones in designing policies that affect them.

As Premier, Lee will require a Francophone impact lens for legislation, regulations and policy changes — particularly in education, health, justice and municipal affairs. Cabinet submissions affecting French language services will identify their impact on Francophone communities, just as governments assess financial or regulatory consequences.

For Lee, success means that the next generation of Franco-Ontarians inherits a Francophonie that is stronger, larger, more confident and more influential than the one we have today.