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A constitutional right to a French-language education
In Ontario, the rights to a French-language education are defined in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Furthermore, in Ontario, as stated in the preamble of the French Language Services Act, French is recognized as an official language in education.
Admission to elementary and secondary French-language schools
To be eligible to attend French-language elementary or secondary schools, you must meet certain conditions. A person satisfying these requirements will be recognized as a French-language rights-holder, and thus be entitled to have his or her children educated in French-language schools.
“Rights-holder”
The rights-holder is a Canadian citizen:
- whose first language learned and still understood is French; OR
- who has received his or her education at the elementary level in French in Canada; OR
- who has a child who has received or who is receiving his or her education at the elementary or secondary level in French in Canada.
If a rights-holder chooses not to send his or her child to a French-language school, the automatic right to FLE for the next generation is lost, and FLE must subsequently be requested as a non-rights-holder.
“Non-rights-holder”
The Ontario Education Act allows individuals who do not meet the rights-holder criteria to submit an application for admission to a French-language school. This request will be reviewed by an admissions committee according to a process determined by the school board. Once the admissions committee accepts the student’s admission to a French-language school, the parent becomes a rights-holder, and his or her other children are also entitled to a French-language education in Ontario, as elsewhere in Canada. In addition, because these children are now rights-holders, they will be able to register their own children at a French-language school.
Admission to post-secondary institutions
For post-secondary institutions and training agencies, access to higher education is open to everyone who wants to further his or her education in French.
For further information on the admission of students in Ontario seeking French-language education, contact your local school board.