With the introduction of Collège Boréal’s new four-year standalone Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at its campuses in Sudbury and Toronto, the province of Ontario is expanding French-language nursing education as part of its plan to train more health care professionals.
The new program will help ensure that the province’s Francophone communities will be connected to the care they need, when they need it, by providing more opportunities for French-speaking students to learn their primary language closer to home.
Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop stated, “Our government is addressing the urgent need for more nurses in Ontario while also offering more opportunity for French-language postsecondary education by allowing Collège Boréal to offer a new stand-alone degree and expanding the number of practical nursing spaces.” In order for students to pursue rewarding careers and provide Ontarians with the care they deserve, the new degree and additional nursing spaces reduce barriers to French-language education in Sudbury and Toronto and give them more educational options.
Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Francophone Affairs, stated, “By building a new pathway for nursing training through Collège Boréal’s stand-alone four-year Bachelor degree, Ontario’s government strengthens its commitment to establishing a Francophone health care workforce that is resilient and growing.” We will continue to support the government’s efforts to improve Francophones’ access to services and appropriate care in their preferred language.
Without the need for a collaborative nursing partnership, Ontario’s colleges and universities will be able to offer four-year, stand-alone nursing degrees starting in 2020. The ministry has approved 17 stand-alone Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programs as of June 2023.
According to Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, “French-speaking Ontarians in Northern and Southern Ontario will benefit from more health care workers practising in our health system with the launch of College Boréal’s new four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program and the addition of practical nursing spaces.” Our plan to connect people to the care they need closer to home includes this significant expansion.
The Ontario government is providing up to $630,000 to support an additional 70 practical nursing spaces at Collège Boréal for the 2023-2014 academic year, in addition to the brand-new bachelor of nursing program.
Daniel Giroux, President of Collège Boréal, stated, “Collège Boréal is particularly proud of this new Bachelor of Science in Nursing,” which “represents a logical step in expanding the range of French-language post-secondary programs in Northern and Central-Southwestern Ontario.” Our institution is better than ever positioned to help alleviate the shortage of highly qualified healthcare workers capable of meeting the significant needs of French-speaking communities in both official languages because of this new bachelor’s degree.
This milestone is part of a larger initiative supported by Your Health to expand nursing education throughout the province: An Arrangement for Associated and Helpful Consideration. In order to increase enrollment in nursing education programs at publicly assisted colleges and universities across the province, the government of Ontario is providing 500 practical nursing and 1,000 Bachelor of Science in Nursing spaces with an investment of $80 million in 2023-2024. In addition, 1,500 new nursing education spaces will be added in 2022 and 2023.
