VANCOUVER — Back-to-school buzz only led to worry for a Vancouver father fretting about his daughter’s chances of getting into French immersion — a year before she starts kindergarten. Immigration is fuelling the popularity of French-immersion programs in some provinces and territories as parents across the country increasingly consider bilingualism an important national value tied to lifelong cultural opportunities for their children, Thibault said. School boards and employers in Alberta have offered French immersion programs in areas such as Fort McMurray in order to retain immigrant employees, she said from Ottawa. So there’s those what we call ‘crazy’ systems.”Federal funding of $31 million announced earlier this year for provinces and territories to recruit French immersion teachers is allowing jurisdictions to co-operate instead of compete with each other, Thibault said. She said she participated in a meeting of Canadian education ministers in June when they expressed concerns and discussed strategies.

Source: National Post September 11, 2018 08:03 UTC