Western ends French immersion program to Trois-Pistoles | News

Western announced it will permanently discontinue the French immersion program to Trois-Pistoles, Que. after it was paused earlier this year due to a decline in homestay families. 

The language exchange program — the oldest of its kind in Canada — had around 30,000 student participants since its establishment in 1932. 

As a part of the exchange program, Western University students lived with families in Trois-Pistoles for five weeks while they studied French in an immersive learning environment. The program was a part of Explore, the Government of Canada’s second language learning program. 

Trois-Pistoles is a small town about 250 kilometres from Quebec City, with a population of about 3,000.

In September 2023, CBC reported host families were pulling out of the program after the COVID-19 pandemic due to inadequate compensation to feed and house the students.

Western Continuing Studies executive director Amrit Ahluwalia said an external review determined that “the programming is becoming misaligned with Western’s strategic priorities,” in a statement to the Gazette. 

Ahluwalia acknowledged the importance of this exchange program to the city and added that Western is exploring alternative schools that can continue the program with Trois-Pistoles. 

“We are pleased to have facilitated an introduction with an institution that is interested in exploring collaboration with the Trois-Pistoles community,” said Ahluwalia.

Philippe Guilbert, the mayor of Trois-Pistoles, expressed his disappointment at Western’s decision in a statement to his Facebook page in French on Oct. 3 and urged his community to seize the opportunity for a partnership with the other university.

The identity of the alternative university has not been revealed as no formal agreement has been made, according to Guilbert. 

In the post, Guilbert said the immersion program has contributed significantly to the social and economic activities of the city and that he hopes to relaunch the program in the future. 

In a Senate meeting earlier this month, Jacques Lamarche, a French studies professor and Arts and Humanities senator, asked university leadership why the program was being terminated, describing it as “relatively important.”

Western’s provost Florentine Strzelczyk explained the university had issues with finding both participants for the program and student accommodations in the small town.

“After COVID, I would say we’ve experienced a lot of difficulties getting students into the program and that doesn’t have to do necessarily with us or the reputation the program had in the past,” said Strzelczyk.

Strzelczyk said the university conducted a review and external review and found French immersion tends to draw less interest from adults who can afford the six-week experience. Instead, she explained, there is a rise in learning French as a second language among students enrolled in kindergarten through Grade 12.

Genevieve Langille, a fourth-year philosophy student who participated in the program in summer 2023, said she had an “amazing time.” 

“I was with a host family that was really wonderful, they were super kind people and very hospitable,” said Langille.  

Langille has participated in other French immersion exchange programs, but she said the one hosted by Trois-Pistoles was the best and was sad to learn the program has been discontinued. 

“When I heard that they were going to stop doing it, I thought it was just for a year, I didn’t realize it was going to permanently end,” said Langille. “It’s a shame because I think it was such a valuable experience.” 

Riley Fidler, a microbiology and immunology master’s student at Western who also went to Trois-Pistoles in 2023, echoed Langille’s sentiments and said the other residents were very welcoming. 

“It’s such a small town, everyone is super excited to meet you. So anytime you go outside, everyone would want to start a conversation with you,” said Fidler.

“I honestly left the program completely certain that that was the best five weeks of my life.”