Released: April 28, 2009

Vancouver – Marking the end of the 30th anniversary celebrations of Canadian Parents for French - BC & Yukon Branch, annual BC finals of the Concours d’art oratoire (Concours) take place on May 2nd at Simon Fraser University Surrey. This national French language public speaking competition is open to all students of French as a first of second language in Canada. In BC alone, an estimated 10,000 children take part in Concours.

In BC alone, there are now almost 42,500 students enrolled in French Immersion, which has just posted an eleventh consecutive of growth; the Conseil scolaire francophone operates forty schools for 4,200 students; and over 240,000 students take Core French. Meanwhile, the Yukon has seen an explosion in French Immersion enrolment at the elementary level.

This spectacular growth in French language programs parallels that of our Branch. In 2002, we had 5,000 members. Seven years later, we are very near to having doubled that number, with 1,600 new members this year alone. BC & Yukon now accounts for well over a third of the national CPF membership, establishing our grassroots as the most dynamic in the country.

Concours is a signature event for French language education in our part of the world on so many levels. Firstly, it affords thousands of students an opportunity to develop their public speaking skills, even if they stop after the first round of competition. Secondly, it engages entire school communities across the province and territory: Students who chose and research a topic; family members who get to hear Concours speeches probably more often than anyone else on earth; teachers and administrators who support Concours in their schools and districts; and volunteers who make sure that Concours happens in our communities both large and small. Finally, Concours provides a snapshot of the state of the French language in our schools, not only collectively, but individually as well. A student can take part in several Concours, and many do.

French Immersion students now account for 7.3% of the total public school enrolment, a .3% increase over last year. Other data of note: French Immersion students represent 14% of district students in Victoria, the highest percentage in the province. Bulkley Valley French Immersion students had the greatest percentage increase over last year at 15.79%. Richmond posted the greatest absolute increase with 279 students or 1.2% 

 Table 1 - French Immersion- Enrolment Statistics 2008/2009 - BC Public Schools

"We’re thrilled that French Immersion keeps on going from strength to strength, and that more parents are choosing to give their children the life long benefits of learning a second Official Language,” declares CPF BC & Yukon President Debra Pool, “these numbers confirm British Columbia’s leadership position in French Second Language education in Canada.”

"The continued growth and success of French Immersion and other FSL programs means that CPF will continue to work closely with its partners to maintain the quality of these programs while trying to meet increased demand,” says Pool. “In a global economy, learning a second language like French, which is spoken by over 5,500,000 Canadians and 200,000,000 people worldwide, is becoming more crucial to our future,” continues Pool. “That’s part of the reason why CPF would like to see legislated guaranteed access to FSL programs here in BC.”

Canadian Parents for French-BC & Yukon is a non-governmental, parent-led organization promoting French-second-language educational and cultural learning opportunities for youth.  With almost 10,000 members, the BC & Yukon branch is by far the largest in Canada.

The summary of key information for 2008/2009 may be downloaded from the British Columbia Ministry of Education website (http://www.gov.bc.ca/bced/). For more information, please contact:

Robert Rothon
Executive Director
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Toll free: 1-866-257-7970 BC & Yukon