Project Overview

Project status

Project manager or
resource person

Partner organization(s)

TNFLS-organisations-partenaires

Association canadienne des professionnels de l’immersion (ACPI)

Snapshot of French Immersion

The Association canadienne des professionels en immersion / Canadian Association of Immersion Professionals (ACPI/CAIP) conducted a study to document and quantify the status of the French Immersion teacher shortage across Canada in follow-up to its 2017 Canada-wide consultation with 900 respondents who identified the shortage of qualified French Immersion (FI) teachers as a major national issue. Approximately 70% of respondents indicated that they were experiencing a shortage. The same finding was reported about other French as a Second Language (FSL) programs by the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) and the National Table on French as a Second Language (NTFSL) / Table nationale du français langue seconde (TNFLS).

The study, conducted between December 2020 and August 2021, was based on a literature review, interviews and an online questionnaire survey administered to school boards and principals offering FI and FSL programs. The survey received responses from 934 schools in every Canadian province and territory. This sample represents about 26% of schools offering FI, which is considerable, but only about 5% of schools offering other types of FSL programs in Canada. The survey collected data on the full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers who are in place in programs but are not qualified and the FTEs who would have been required to give the classes that were requested but not offered.
A report of the study was released in October 2021.

Targeted Results

The number of French immersion and FSL classes
The number of qualified teachers
The number of temporary teachers
The number of missing teachers
The number of FSL and immersion classes, immersion programs, or enrollments that have been cancelled or withdrawn in the past five years.
A report analyzing the results of the research is used to target initiatives.
The community has a good understanding of the causes of the shortage (program growth, school location, teacher challenges, administrative challenges, etc.).

Main takeaways (learnings)

  • The shortage exists.
  • In FSL, there is a shortfall of between 7,000 and 8,000 full-time equivalents (FTEs).
  • In immersion, there is a shortfall of between 1,000 and 1,400 FTEs (see infographic for information on the current situation and key findings).
  • In Canada, data collection is not systematically carried out by the provinces.
  • There is no national data and shortage tracking system - data collection is highly uneven from one province to the next.

Potential/desired collaborations

Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA), Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones (FNCSF), University of Calgary
  • To provide them with provincial data.
  • To make them aware of the data so they can make informed decisions about funding educational training.
Faculties of education
  • To adjust the number of places in faculties of education.
Departments and Ministries of Education
  • To provide them with provincial data.
  • To make them aware of the data so they can make informed decisions about funding educational training.

Digital platforms and documents for consultation or sharing

Digital platforms and documents for consultation or sharing

Canadian Association of Immersion Professionals (ACPI) and Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) (October 15, 2021). The Shortage of French Immersion and French as a Second Language Teachers: Study Report.
Study summary (infographic)