The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia Announce the Signing of Two Agreements on Official Language Education
OTTAWA, June 20, 2001 -- Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps and Nova Scotia Minister of Education Jane Purves today announced the signing of two agreements that will fund education in French and French second-language education in the province.The agreements continue the partnership of the federal and provincial governments in promoting minority and second official language education through the Official Languages in Education Program. The three and four-year agreements include detailed action plans for building on existing French programs and introducing new ones.
The multi-year action plans are a part of a new approach to official language education. Previous agreements were negotiated from year to year. The new approach enables both levels of government to make longer term plans and involves community and education partners in the planning process. All interested individuals or community groups are invited to consult these plans and follow their implementation.
"The linguistic duality that characterizes us is profoundly rooted in the heart and soul of this country," said Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps. "This new investment demonstrates the Government of Canada's commitment to promoting the growth of both linguistic communities. Our partnership with the government of Nova Scotia today marks a new step in this direction. The development of multi-year action plans will provide greater transparency in the management of funds from the Official Languages in Education Program."
"Our partnership with the federal government has helped us to develop strong, quality French education programs for both Francophone and Anglophone Nova Scotians," said Education Minister Jane Purves. "Securing federal funding for several years will further our ability to build on these programs and encourage knowledge of both official languages among our students."
The Canada-Nova Scotia Agreement for Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction provides $11,661,000 in federal funding and $23 million in provincial funding over three years for French programs in the public school and post-secondary education systems. This agreement replaces a similar 1999-2000 agreement and runs from 2000-01 to 2002-03.
Funding from this agreement supports French first-language and second-language teacher training as well as programs such as immersion at all school boards, Université Sainte-Anne and Collège de l'Acadie. It also funds summer camps and bursary programs for students and teachers, and a provincial centre for French-language education resources.
Also announced under the same agreement was a funding commitment to build a new learning centre at the Collège de l'Acadie. Scheduled to open in September 2002, the new building will be located next to the Carrefour and École Bois-Joli. It will replace the current learning centre on Tacoma Drive in Dartmouth.
In addition, $699,500 from the Government of Canada is being matched with funds from the government of Nova Scotia through this agreement for special projects, such as early literacy development, upgrades of learning resources and updating curriculum.
A further $5.2 million over four years from each of the federal and provincial governments funds the Canada-Nova Scotia Special Agreement on Investment Measures for Quality Education in the Language of the Minority. This agreement is designed to address the fact that it costs more per student to operate French first-language programs in an English majority setting. It also replaces a similar agreement which expired in March 1998 and runs from 2000-01 to 2003-04.
This agreement specifically funds French first-language initiatives and provides additional resources for libraries, reading recovery, professional development for teachers, and continuing and distance education for the Conseil scolaire acadien. It also provides curriculum development support for the Université Sainte-Anne, as well as programming and technology upgrades for the Collège de l'Acadie.
These agreements support more than 4,000 young people from French minority communities throughout Nova Scotia who study in their first language at 20 elementary and secondary schools each year. The agreements also support more than 87,000 students learning a second language, including approximately 10,000 students in immersion classes.
Federal funding for these agreements was provided for in the 2000 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. The provincial portion of the agreements was included in Nova Scotia's 2001-02 budget.
Nova Scotia's action plans for delivering French language programs are available at
http://doc-depot.ednet.ns.ca/olep.html.
Information:
Krista Pawley
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
(819) 977-7788
Adèle Poirier
Communications Advisor
Nova Scotia Department of Education
(902) 424-8307
E-mail: poiriea@gov.ns.ca
BACKGROUNDER
SUPPORT FOR MINORITY-LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND SECOND-LANGUAGE EDUCATION
On March 2, 1999, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced an increase of $70 million in the budget of the official languages support programs. Of this amount, $30 million was added to the Official Languages in Education Program (OLEP), thereby boosting funding for the program from $152 million to $182 million per year.
OLEP was created in 1970. It allows the Government of Canada to help provincial and territorial governments cover part of the supplemental costs incurred for minority-language education (English in Quebec and French elsewhere in the country) and for English and French second-language education.
OLEP is controlled by a multilateral protocol concluded in February 2000 between the Government of Canada and the Council of Minister of Education (Canada) (CMEC) and by bilateral agreements with each province and territory. The Protocol of Agreement for Minority-language Education and Second-language Instruction is for five years, from 1998-1999 to 2002-2003. Since the renewal of the Protocol, provisional agreements have ensured financial aid for the fiscal years 1998-1999 and 1999-2000.
The signing of the present agreement opens the way to a new form of collaboration between the Canadian government and the provincial and territorial governments. For the first time, the agreements include three-year action plans specifying the objectives of the provincial or territorial government in matters of official-language education, the activities that will be implemented and the expected results.
The action plans developed by the provincial and territorial governments are made public the moment a bilateral agreement is signed. The governments will publish an annual activity report, which will also be made public. This planning will make it possible to ensure the public is better informed and facilitate a greater participation by education stakeholders in debates regarding the future of official-language education in Canada.
Collaboration between both levels of government, within the framework of OLEP, allows more than 260,000 young people from official minority-language communities to study in their language in more than 1,000 elementary and secondary schools in all regions of the country. OLEP contributes in the financing of a network of 19 Francophone colleges and universities outside Quebec and 8 Anglophone public colleges and universities in Quebec. It is also in part due to this support that 2.7 million young Canadians are learning a second official language, including more than 300,000 in immersion classes.
Support from the Canadian government has helped make our young generation the most bilingual in the country's history. Canada is now recognized as a world leader in the area of language education.
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