Services - British Columbia

Action Plan

2006-2009 British Columbia Strategic Plan on Francophone affairs

A Collaboration Agreement on Francophone Affairs between the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia

1. General Orientation, Objectives, and Priorities of British Columbia

The Government of British Columbia wishes to continue its cooperation with the Government of Canada to both support and further develop British Columbia’s official language minority community. The Government of British Columbia has put together the 2006-2009 Strategic Plan on Francophone Affairs to meet this objective. This Strategic Plan is an extension to the previous 2005-2006 Strategic Plan on Francophone Affairs.

The 2006-2009 Strategic Plan on Francophone Affairs continues to promote a coordinated approach to maximize the effectiveness of the initiatives undertaken to enhance the vitality and further support the development of British Columbia’s French language community.  The 2006-2009 Strategic Plan on Francophone Affairs will also be instrumental for the development of partnerships in support of the general direction and objective.

In 2001, following the signing of the first Canada-British Columbia General Agreement on the Promotion of Official Languages, the BC government consulted the community on its needs and priorities. During the life of the first agreement, the Francophone Affairs Program, the MLA Responsible for Francophone Affairs and several government officials have met and consulted community groups numerous times to keep abreast of their needs and receive feedback on accomplishments. Since 2001, the Francophone community has expressed the need for increased availability of services in French in priority sectors such as health, economic development, justice, social services, early childhood and immigration. The British Columbia francophone community's 2004-2009 Plan de Développement Global (Strategic Development Plan) reflects these same needs and priorities. In 2005, the BC Francophone Affairs Program conducted a consultation of community groups to determine current and future priorities and needs.

The 2006-2009 Strategic Plan on Francophone Affairs also focuses on the needs and priorities identified by the francophone community as a result of the 2005 consultation.

2. Strategic Objective

The 2006-2009 British Columbia Strategic Plan on Francophone Affairs will enable British Columbia to increase its capacity to support the BC Francophone community by continuing to promote the start-up and development of a basic service infrastructure in priority areas.  By enhancing the BC Francophone Affairs Program, and strengthening collaboration with ministries and agencies, the strategic plan strives to increase the availability of services to the Francophone community in the following priority areas: Health, Economic Development, Social Services, and Justice. One priority also expressed by the Francophone community during the 2005 consultation is the need to increase the capacity of its arts and cultural sector to realize its social and economical potential. 

This Strategic Plan is consistent with the general purpose of the 2006-2009 Agreement which is to provide funding through a mechanism for coordination and joint planning of initiatives and activities aimed at contributing to the development of British Columbia's Francophone community.  

In developing this Strategic Plan, the needs of the community, the priorities of the BC Government and the priorities of the Federal Government Action Plan for Official Languages were taken into consideration. The strategic plan describes the initiatives and activities that British Columbia intends to pursue over the life of the Cooperation Agreement on Official Languages and indicates the expected results of these undertakings. British Columbia will survey and evaluate the outcomes of these initiatives. The Strategic Plan serves as a roadmap for the planning, implementation and assessment of various initiatives and activities.

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