A Project to Help the Integration of Newcomer Families in our Communities

Our Francophone schools and communities welcome more and more children whose families have recently arrived in Canada. Since the future of Francophone minority communities is linked to the ability to welcome and integrate newcomers, the Fédération des parents francophones de C.-B. is collaborating on a project to help with this integration.

It’s with this in mind that the Fédération des parents obtained funding to start, in early 2023, a pilot project for immigrant parents. This project is being carried out in partnership with the Commission nationale des parents francophones (CNPF), and is part of a national strategy funded through the Settlement Program of the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Six Francophone parents organizations in other provinces are already taking part in the project. The objective is to help with the integration and retention of newcomers in minority-language communities.

In the coming weeks, certain activities will be carried out in collaboration with the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF), in order to meet various targets. One of these activities aims to strengthen the skills of parents’ associations (APÉs) in welcoming immigrant parents, as part of their activities and governance. A second activity will be to present a webinar to newcomer parents on parental participation in the Francophone education system and within the school.

Another activity will take the form of an event bringing together all families, immigrant or not, of l’école Anne-Hébert in Vancouver. This event, which will be held on March 4, will be organized jointly with the school’s APÉ and the CSF’s Programme des travailleuses et travailleurs en établissement des familles immigrantes dans les écoles (Services TÉFIÉ) – which will also collaborate closely with the Fédération des parents on the first two activities.

It should be noted that this project is part of the implementation of the Fédération des parents 2020-2025 strategic plan, where inclusion and diversity are held among the organization's values. The Fédération’s aspiration is to contribute, with its partners, to the welcome and integration of immigrant families, in order to strengthen our communities and ensure their sustainability.

To learn more about the Intégration des nouveaux arrivants dans les communautés francophones au pays project jointly led by the CNPF with the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne and the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada, and funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, click here.