Two posts ago I spoke about Franco-Ontariens often being overlooked by people elsewhere in Canada (by Francophones and Anglophones) and outside Canada when people talk / write about French in Canada or Francophone culture in Canada. Yet Francophone Ontario is more than twice as populous as Acadia, and Ontario’s rate of growth of people who French at home (9.5% growth between 2006 and 2011), as well as the growth in (Anglophone) bilingualism are among the fastest growth rates in Canada.
The Premier of Ontario visiting faculty and students at “L’Université de Sudbury”, holding the Franco-Ontarien Flag
In this post, I’ll provide many different links relating to Franco-Ontarien society. These links are only the tip of the iceburg. If you can think of a subject related to Francophones and French in Ontario, you are sure to be able to find it online. Therefore, the list below could go on and on if I had more time.
(Note: the word Ontarois, mentioned in the title of this post, is used more and more interchangeably with Franco-Ontarien. I personally have a tendency to say Ontarois more than Franco-Ontarian, but everyone makes their own choice with respect to saying Ontarois or Franco-Ontarien).
Links:
Statistics Canada with numbers of users of French at home :
a) Wikipedia article on Franco-Ontariens:
- French (more detailed than English) – http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Ontariens
- English – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Ontarian
b) 40th Annual Franco-Ontarien Festival (June 11-13, 2015): http://www.ffo.ca/
- The largest event of the year. Held in Ottawa. Ontario’s version of the annual summer festival on the Plains of Abraham in Québec City.
c) Ontario government’s Bureau of Francophone Affairs: http://www.ofa.gov.on.ca/fr/index.html
- Their page with census statistics: http://www.ofa.gov.on.ca/fr/franco-stats.html
- Their page with info on the Franco-Ontarien flag: http://www.ofa.gov.on.ca/fr/franco-drapeau.html
- Francophone and French-Service hospitals, doctors and health services: www.health.gov.on.ca/fr
d) Laurentian University: http://laurentienne.ca/institut-franco-ontarien
- One of Ontario’s universities which offers post-secondary education in French
e) University of Ottawa: http://www.uottawa.ca/fr
- Ontario’s largest university offering post-secondary education in French.
f) The Francophonie Association of Ontario: http://monassemblee.ca/
- A politically and socially oriented NGO which takes up the cause of anything Francophone in Ontario
g) Le Droit daily newspaper: http://www.lapresse.ca/le-droit/
- The largest daily French-language newspaper in Ontario. Based in Ottawa. One of the largest daily newspapers in Canada.
h) Établissement.org : http://etablissement.org/
- An organization who assists anyone who wants to move to Ontario and live in French
i) An NFO video about “what happened” when some youth showed up at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Festival on the Plains of Abraham in Québec city, carrying the Franco-Ontario flag: https://www.onf.ca/film/pis_nous_autres_dans_tout_ca
- Guess what happened? Go on, take a guess… Nothing! As we found out, many people in Québec had not even heard of Franco-Ontariens. HUGE huge SIGH towards the Francophone-to-Francophone Two Solitudes. The Two Solitudes are not only Anglophone-Francophone. (A whole other subject which I could write a book about).
j) The Government of Ontario’s website devoted to Francophone immigration to Ontario (note: much of the French I hear in Toronto carries an accent from other parts of the world, Europe, Africa, the Middle-East… so something is obviously working for Ontario’s Frencophone immigration program): http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/fr/living/OI_FR_HOW_LIVE_FRENCH_CULTURE.html
k) List of better-known or community-marking Franco-Ontariens: http://franco.ca/canadienerrant/index.cfm?Voir=blogue&Id=12329&M=2964
l) Northern Ontario Travel site: http://www.northernontario.travel/fr/direction-ontario/5-choses-que-vous-ne-saviez-pas-sur-le-franco-ontarien
- Provides a list of things you maybe wouldn’t have known about Francophone Ontario.
m) L’Express de Toronto: http://www.lexpress.to/
- Toronto’s French language newspaper
n) The Franco-Ontarien Heritage Network: http://www.rpfo.ca/fr/
o) The Franco-Ontarien Folklore Centre: http://www.cfof.on.ca/accueil
p) The Franco-Ontarien Student’s Association (RÉFO) : http://www.refo.ca/
q) The Franco-Ontarien Foundation : http://fondationfranco-ontarienne.ca/#
- A fund raising organization which supports Francophone activities across Ontario
r) The Franco-Ontarien Institute: http://ifolaurentienne.ca/
- A research institute on everything regarding Francophone Ontario.
- Based out of the Laurentian University, one of Ontario’s Universities which offers post-secondary education in French.
s) The Francophone Centre of Toronto: http://www.centrefranco.org/
- A resource centre for Francophones in need of assistance in Toronto (health, social services, arts, education, anything).
t) Alliance Française: http://www.alliance-francaise.ca/fr/
- A good place to start if you want to learn French and take French courses (in different parts of Ontario).
- Note: Local school boards also offer a “ton” of evening courses everywhere in Ontario. In Toronto, it is difficult to go more than 10 – 20 blocks without seeing a school or private education centre somewhere which offers French courses for adults… making Ontario one of the easiest places to learn French in the world outside of French-dominant societies (quite interesting in that respect).
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SERIES: FRANCOPHONE ONTARIO & ONTAROIS (6 POSTS)
- ENG – “Les Ontarois”: More than double Acadia’s population, yet they rarely get outside attention (#219)
- ENG – Celebrating 400 years of Francophone history in Ontario (#220)
- ENG – Links related to everything “Franco-Ontarian” or “Ontarois” (#221)
- ENG – Why Franco-Ontarians are not better recognized in a pan-Canadian sense, or internationally – Part 1 of 2 (#222)
- ENG – Why Franco-Ontarians are not better recognized in a pan-Canadian sense, or internationally – Part 2 of 2 (#223)
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