OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 13, 2021 — The Ontario government just announced that it is investing more than $400,000 towards innovative training and hands-on learning opportunities for French-language nursing students in Ottawa so they can continue to receive world-class education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Details were shared today by Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities, who was joined by Goldie Ghamari, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities at Collège La Cité.
This investment is supporting the University of Ottawa, La Cité and Montfort Hospital to offer approximately 350 nursing students the tools and clinical experience they need to bolster Ontario’s health care and long-term care sectors.
“Ontario has listened to the needs of the health care community and is taking action to provide the resources and training that will help prepare nurses to deliver care in an environment that has been altered by COVID-19,” said Minister Dunlop. “We also recognize the importance of offering French-language training for nurses to prepare for work in Francophone and bilingual health settings.”
The University of Ottawa, La Cité and Montfort Hospital are pairing patient care with simulation exercises which enables Francophone students to develop their clinical competency skills. The approach ensures that hospital health and safety regulations enhanced by COVID-19 are respected while allowing currently non-accessible clinical activities to take place through simulation activities.
“This COVID-19 funding will provide a concrete and innovative response to the critical need for online learning tools in French for our students in health programs. By partnering with the University of Ottawa and Montfort Hospital, the tools created will not only be used for distance learning at the college and university levels, but they can eventually be adapted for other health programs, in support of our students’ success.”
Lise Bourgeois
President and CEO, Collège La Cité
The University of Ottawa and La Cité will also jointly develop virtual modules in French so students can learn certain skills in a safe, virtual environment, dealing particularly with essential competencies such as ethics, infections and immunity.
“This funding announcement is an excellent opportunity to provide the younger generation of Franco-Ontarians the avenue to pursue quality French education. This is the kind of innovative, responsive training program that will give Francophone nurses the training they need to succeed,” said Goldie Ghamari, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities and MPP for Carleton.
“Programs such as these help to ease the shortage of health professionals in Ontario and fill in the gap where Francophone nurses are in demand,” said Ghamari.
This initiative is supported through labour market transfers between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.
“Our government is firmly committed to providing quality health care services in French and I’m delighted that we are partnering with such well-respected institutions that will ensure first-rate training thus enhancing French-language nursing services throughout the province,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Francophone Affairs. “This investment in innovative training programs for bilingual practitioners is one more step the government is taking to ensure the well-being of Francophones,” added Mulroney.
Quick Facts
- Investing in nursing education supports the government’s Long-Term Care Staffing Plan that was launched last year. At the centre of this plan, the hours of direct care for residents in long-term care will be increasing to an average of four hours per day over four years. To implement this initiative, the government will be making overall investments of $1.9 billion annually by 2024-2025.
- La Cité is the first and largest French-language College of Applied Arts and Technology in Ontario and helps to ensure that the province’s Francophone community has access to quality college programs and services in French.
- The University of Ottawa is the largest French-English bilingual university in the world, offering more than 450 programs in 10 faculties, including a medical school.
- Montfort Hospital is Ontario’s Francophone academic hospital, with a mission to improve access to health care in French by training future generations of physicians and health care professionals.
- This year, the Government of Canada is providing over $1.1B for training and employment supports to Ontarian workers and employers under the labour market transfers. Each year, more than 200,000 Ontarians receive supports funded by the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement and the Canada-Ontario Workforce Development Agreement.
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