The Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announce more than $7.1 million in funding for the University of Regina’s La Cité universitaire francophone and Collège Mathieu
In order to support official-language minority communities and the vitality of the French language, it is essential to invest in the Francophone education system, particularly post-secondary institutions. These institutions are essential to the development of Francophone communities in Canada, and they improve the quality of French-language education. That is why the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan have joined forces to support Fransaskois post-secondary institutions.
To support the construction, renovation and development of post-secondary educational spaces and increase the availability of programs that serve official-language minority communities, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister for Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced $7.1 million in funding for the Fransaskois community. The Minister was joined by the Honourable Gordon Wyant, Minister of Advanced Education for Saskatchewan.
More specifically, the funding is for three projects related to post-secondary education in French in Saskatchewan.
The first project involves the stabilization and consolidation of Francophone post-secondary programs at the University of Regina’s La Cité universitaire francophone and Collège Mathieu in Saskatchewan. This project aims to increase the number of programs, courses and services offered and to promote the development of new programs and courses. The project has two components: university education and college education. The university component is provided by La Cité universitaire francophone, and the college component by Collège Mathieu.
This project is made possible by $3,590,000 in funding allocated by the Government of Canada in Budget 2021 to support high-quality post-secondary education in the minority language. The Government of Saskatchewan supports this project.
Funding will also be used for the renovation of De Mazenod Hall at Collège Mathieu, which will include restoration of classrooms, conference rooms and a library. The building will also undergo additional upgrades, including repairs to the drainage, ventilation, heating and air conditioning systems.
The Government of Canada is contributing a total of $1,060,000 to this project.
Finally, both governments will support the modernization of classrooms, meeting rooms and community spaces at the University of Regina’s La Cité universitaire francophone. This infrastructure project will modernize the spaces at La Cité universitaire in order to provide a quality teaching environment and meet the growing demand of the Fransaskois community. The spaces will be renovated with a view to hosting community cultural activities. Equipment to allow hybrid teaching, distance learning and simultaneous translation services will be installed. This project will improve the student population’s learning environment and create new opportunities for collaboration with the Francophone community through larger and more modern community spaces.
The Government of Canada is providing $133,525 for this project. The Government of Saskatchewan also supports the project.
The three projects are funded through the Canada–Saskatchewan Agreement for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction 2019–20 to 2022–23, which is made possible largely through the new investments provided in Budget 2021.