Our Mission

Our mission is to promote the right of francophone and francophile students to study in French in the program and region of their choice and to promote francophone students’ involvement in decision making that affects them.

Our Goals

Building an equitable French-language education system in Ontario

RÉFO advocates for accessible, quality and reputable French-language postsecondary programs in Ontario.

Strengthening the francophone student community

RÉFO works towards strengthening the francophone student community so that members from across the province feel a sense of belonging to a larger Franco-Ontarian community that is dynamic, critical and open to the world.

Our Approach

We encourage regular dialog between francophone students from all regions of Ontario and offer students the opportuny to reflect on current events and policies that can address the many challenges they face.

Our Priorities

To create a better access to French-language postsecondary education in Ontario:

• In priority regions such as Central, South-Western and North-Western Ontario, as well as in fields where little to no programs are offered in French (Sciences, Engineering, Business and Technology sectors);
• To complete programs that are currently only partially offered in French by bilingual institutions;
• To increase financial aid allotted to students who wish to study in French;

To develop a strategy to better retain francophone students between the secondary and postsecondary levels:

• As many as 40 to 50 % of francophone students will not pursue their education in French after high school because of poor access to postsecondary programs in their language and region, as well as the high costs of relocating to another region;
• There is also a need to create a better understanding of existing French-language postsecondary programs amonst teachers, parents and students at the primary and secondary levels;
• Complete French-language programs, where all courses are offered in French, will also help achieve this goal. 

Achieving Francophone governance at the university level

• Franco-Ontarians have access to a networck of over 450 schools, 12 French-language school boards and 2 French-language colleges which they govern. The principal reason for creating these autonomous institutions has been that bilingual establishments have often led to the assimilation of Francophones. It is in their effort of linguistic and cultural preservation that Franco-Ontarians wish to govern their own French-language university and control its funding and programs, a wish that has been expressed for decades, but has yet to be achieved.
• Bilingual universities, in which francophones represent between 18 and 27 % of students, often prioritize the needs of their majority population over their minority population. Access to programs, services and student life in French is therefore difficult in many instances.
• French-language schools and colleges have among the best success rates in the province. Francophones know their needs best. With 100 000 students enrolled in our primary and secondary schools and new schools being built in southern and eastern Ontario, the future need for postsecondary programs in French is already being felt and will increase in the coming years.
• If Anglophones in Quebec have access to three English-language universities for about the same population as Franco-Ontarians (about 600 000 people) and Francophones in New Brunswick, Novia Scotia and Manitoba each have access to independent francophone universities, with much smaller populations, it is normal for Franco-Ontarians to aspire to the same governance as other national minority populations.
• During a press conference in February 2015, the RÉFO and its community partners recommended that the government of Ontario establish a transitional board of governors to assess both the feasibility of creating a French-language university and to recommend a model to the government in the next three years.