Released: January 18th, 2012

Vancouver, BC — Parents in Chilliwack, BC, are taking to social media to drum-up community support for the creation of a new Early French immersion program which would open September 2012. It is the first time in the 43 years that French immersion has been offered in BC that parents have lead a social media-based campaign to engage other parents and to lobby school trustees.

Currently, the absence of an Early French immersion (EFI) program in Chilliwack means that students who wish to enroll in French immersion must travel outside of their school district to attend school in Abbotsford, where EFI is offered.

“Using the connective power of Facebook and Twitter, parents in Chilliwack are taking it upon themselves to drum-up support for the creation of a new French immersion program in their community,” said Glyn Lewis, Executive Director of Canadian Parents for French – BC & Yukon.

“For 33 years, French immersion parents have used telephone trees, newsletters, and good ol’ fashioned living room meetings to spread the word and to organize the parent community. This group of social media-savvy parents in Chilliwack is ushering in a new and exciting age of parent engagement and involvement,” concluded Lewis.

There are over 275,000 students enrolled in French immersion, Intensive French or French as a subject in BC and the Yukon. When broken down further, 44,800 students (or 7.7% of the entire student population) in BC is enrolled in a French immersion program1.

Canadian Parents for French (CPF) is a national network of parent volunteers who work to promote and ensure quality and equitable access to French second language opportunities for all youth. The CPF BC & Yukon branch is by far the largest in Canada with over 8,100 members.