On December 1, uOttawa’s Jacques Frémont (President and Vice-Chancellor), Sanni Yaya (Vice-President, International and Francophonie) and Richard Barwell (Dean of the Faculty of Education) visited southwestern Ontario to inaugurate the new Windsor campus space and meet francophone community leaders to discuss higher education needs in French-language in the region.
The new Windsor campus came to be thanks to a $1.2 million investment by the University of Ottawa. These funds were used for the renovation of the new facilities and modernization of teaching technologies. The new campus, currently set up right downtown at the Carrefour francophone of the Centre Communautaire Francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent, 720 Ouellette Avenue, will allow the University of Ottawa to diversify its program offerings while greatly increasing its ability to educate future Francophone teachers in Southern Ontario. In collaboration with the community centre, uOttawa is strengthening its longstanding partnership with the francophone community.
The inauguration of the new campus provided President Frémont, Vice-President Yaya and Dean Barwell the opportunity to meet with a delegation of Francophone community leaders and discuss potential collaborations that might enable a strong, sustained and coordinated response to francophone minorities’ needs, by developing programs of study and creating learning spaces that further these communities’ vitality.
“The University of Ottawa is firmly committed to the growth of Francophone communities here and elsewhere. We will continue to strengthen our ties to other Francophone stakeholders, in keeping with their diversity, so that all Francophones can thrive, with pride and dignity."
–Jacques Frémont, President and Vice-Chancellor
“Today, we take one more step in achieving the University’s mandate as an instrument of sustainability, identity production and social reproduction for Francophone minority communities. Through innovative, constantly renewed programs, our goal is to ensure that French-language communities in Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada, are able to play an active role in enriching the future of Canada and the world."
–Sanni Yaya, Vice-President, International and Francophonie
“Education is key to the vitality of francophone communities in Ontario. For many years, the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa has trained over 80% of Francophone teachers in the province. We are grateful to the partners in the regional school system, without whom we wouldn’t be able to offer our programs. We can’t wait to use our new facilities to create new collaborations to support education in French-language in the region.”
–Richard Barwell, Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa
“The Centre Communautaire Francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent and our Carrefour communautaire francophone partners are very pleased to have the University of Ottawa Faculty of Education under the same roof. Choosing this location not only offers accessibility and visibility, but also a Francophone synergy that could only happen here and bodes well for the growth of the French fact in the region. Congratulations and much success.”
–Didier Marotte, Executive Director, Centre Communautaire Francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent
The new Windsor campus is another concrete achievement as part of the University of Ottawa’s commitment towards Francophone communities. It aims to rise to the expectations of the region’s francophone minority. With access to high-quality university education in French, today’s students will become committed citizens who will help form strong, dynamic and blossoming communities.
