Launch of a study on the systemic barriers that restrict access to the teaching profession for French-speaking immigrants from visible minorities in Alberta.

Faculté Saint-Jean, the Francophone faculty of the University of Alberta, will soon launch a study on the systemic barriers that restrict access to the teaching profession for Francophone immigrants from visible minorities in Alberta.

This issue is at the heart of the issue of Francophone education in a minority context. The research carried out will explore the impact of intersectionality factors on the access to the teaching profession of Francophone international students from visible minorities. It will thus make it possible to identify the systemic and structural obstacles that these immigrants must overcome and will provide evidence-based data to improve policies and practices related to their access to permanent residence and their retention in Alberta communities.

The Programme d'appui en immigration francophone (PAIF) of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will fund this study to the tune of $210,255.

For Professor Samira ElAtia, Vice-Dean, Research and Internationalization, “this study will benefit from the fact that the Faculté Saint-Jean is at the heart of the training of French-speaking teachers in Alberta, and will be able to use its many networks to obtain important information in order to provide the best recommendations to school boards, governments and other organizations involved in French-language education in Alberta. We would like to thank the Francophone Immigration Support Program (PAIF) of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) as well as the various levels of provincial and federal government that have enabled us to obtain this funding."

For Komla Essiomle, research development officer, “the award of this grant attests to the credibility of the Faculté Saint-Jean in interdisciplinary and applied research. It demonstrates that Francophone perspectives and community expectations are always embedded in our research programs and knowledge mobilization activities. The study that will be conducted responds to a vital need identified by community organizations responsible for services to welcome, settle and integrate immigrant populations, as well as by other actors involved in maintaining the continuum in Francophone immigration.”