The School is committed to training social workers who will work primarily in a minority Franco-Ontarian setting. All the same, the University of Ottawa has a long, distinguished tradition of welcoming Francophone students from all over Canada and internationally. We therefore offer training programs that pave the way for students to influence a wide range of milieux beyond local and regional boundaries.

In a sociocultural context, the School believes that plurality calls for openness to otherness and to differences in culture, income, religion, sexuality, gender and abilities. Moreover, it is essential to take into account the social dynamics linked to gender, income levels, race, age, sexual orientation and disability in order to eliminate multiple forms of intolerance, oppression, rejection, exclusion and marginalization. The theme of diversity has become the thread that links our programs as much in terms of approaches, practices and field placements as it does in research.

The School of Social Work also recognizes the self-determination of Indigenous peoples and calls into question injustices inflicted throughout Canada's colonial history and continuing colonization.