Ottawa, January 27, 2023—Today, on Family Literacy Day, Canadian Parents for French begins a series of bilingual family story and learning time sessions across Ottawa in partnership with local Ottawa library branches, family resource centres and community hubs within local schools.

The CPF “Finding French Story and Learning Time” project aims to encourage reading and engagement in other bilingual literacy-related activities as a family. The project introduces French in a positive way, as a part of the families’ integration to Ottawa, helping increase dialogue between anglophone families, the local francophone community and French service providers while discovering French cultural events and services.

This initiative is possible due to a Bilingual Ottawa microgrant of $18,000 from the Association of francophone communities of Ottawa (ACFO Ottawa) to support French language learning among English-speaking families with children in the transition stage to kindergarten.

As part of their mission to support Ottawa’s communities in the creation of bilingual projects, ACFO Ottawa awards micro-grants to non-profit organizations and businesses to support projects that will enhance bilingualism in Ottawa. One of the priorities in the Government of Canada’s Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023, is to support initiatives that enhance the bilingual character of Canada’s capital. The ‘Bilingual Ottawa’ grants are funded by the Canadian Government through the Department of Canadian Heritage. The microgrant will help support CPF’s ongoing actions of promoting and creating opportunities to learn French at the local Ottawa level.

This year’s Family Literacy Day theme is “Celebrate your Heritage,” CPF also wants to encourage English-speaking families to discover the prevalence of French in our bilingual national capital. CPF strongly supports the idea that learning as a family not only helps to build strong literacy skills for both adults and children, but it also strengthens family bonds and ties.

“Our mandate is to promote both official languages and to feature the bilingual opportunities the city of Ottawa has to offer. Each story time activity leads to creating a sense of a more welcoming and inclusive Ottawa francophone community, sharing new places to explore and learn about the bilingual nature of our city—spaces where one can find French and open to French learners of all abilities and from all parts of the world engaging in their second or additional language,” stated Nicole Thibault, CPF Network CEO.

The CPF Finding French Story and Learning Time is a great family activity, involving kids and parents in learning new words together and about new places in their neighbourhood and across the city. It targets families with children aged 2 to 5 years old, helping build awareness to encourage the children’s enrolment into a French immersion program upon transition to kindergarten. The five booklets will be available via free downloads on the CPF website, cpf.ca, and the virtual and in-person storytelling will feature readers with a variety of francophone accents helping to create a lifelong love of reading while also building linguistic confidence in French, from a very early age. This project stems from a 2022 CPF publication called “Learning French in the Early Years,” aiming to increase the dialogue between anglophone families, language learners and early childhood educators on the importance of introducing French at an early age.

Family Literacy Day was started in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada. Each year it is celebrated across the country by groups who host events that include fun-filled literacy-focused learning activities for families.

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Canadian Parents for French is a nationwide, research-informed, volunteer organization that represents 35,000 members across Canada and champions the opportunity to learn and use French for all those who call Canada home.

 

For more information, please contact:

Marcos Salaiza, Communications & Government Relations Manager

Tel: 613.235.1481 x222 Email: msalaiza@cpf.ca