Press Release
For immediate release
Ottawa and Thunder Bay, ON, June 24, 2025 – On June 19, 2025, the Ontario government announced the creation of the Centre for French Language Health Services Planning and affirmed its intention to strengthen health services for Francophone communities across the province.
The Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario (RMEFNO) and the Réseau de services de santé en français de l’Est de l’Ontario (RSSFE) have been leading this essential mission for over 20 and 25 years, respective, not only as Réseaux affiliated with the national movement led by Société santé en français, but also as Planning Entities endorsed by the Ministry of Health for approximately 15 years. While a review of the Planning Entities’ mandate had been expected for some time, the announcement of a fully formed structure that did not involve the Réseaux in its development came as a surprise.
The idea of bringing together the strengths of regional Entities into a single coordinated organization such as the Centre for French Language Health Services Planning is a good one. We believe that the goal of standardizing relationships with the health system and centralizing planning efforts could be beneficial. In fact, the Entities themselves proposed this same innovative vision five years ago to the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health, and had begun taking steps toward its implementation.
“Supported and guided by the Francophone community, the Northern and Eastern Réseaux have made significant progress in improving access to French language services since their inception, by building long-standing, trusted relationships,” said Isabelle Charbonneau, Chair of the RMEFNO Board. “Combining their federally funded Réseaux teams with their provincially mandated planning roles has greatly contributed to the Réseaux exceptional performance. It would be unfortunate to deprive the community of such synergy,” added Saint-Phard Désir, Chair of the RSSFE Board.
Our experience shows that Francophone realities are often overlooked in the implementation of new policies, which can negatively impact access to care and community vitality. The Montfort Hospital and the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO), co-creators of the Centre, appear to have successfully voiced the needs of the community to key government stakeholders, just as the RMEFNO and RSSFE did during the creation of the Planning Entities. This is why we remain hopeful that, with this renewed collaboration with the government, the Centre will have the ear of decision makers and will be able to influence service planning at the outset to better serve Francophones.
To ensure continuity in French language health services planning, all Entity staff in the South and most of the experienced teams from RMEFNO and RSSFE will be transferred to the new Centre as of September 1, 2025. This dedicated and already-trained personnel will provide a strong foundation for the Centre and continue their prior contributions to French language health care.
It is clear that this transition will result in reduced funding and capacity for the Réseaux and, consequently, will require them to reinvent themselves in order to continue contributing to the improvement of French language health services. However, federal financial support through Société santé en français remains intact, national collaboration with the Réseaux across Canada will continue, and strong ties with Ontario’s Francophone community persist. Moreover, many areas of expertise and tools developed by the Réseaux will remain. Their community based roots and institutional independence continue to be unique strengths.
To ensure the long-term success of this new structure, the Centre’s new leadership, along with its co-creators, l’AFO and Montfort Hospital, will need to remain vigilant, be transparent with the community, and continue working collaboratively with all system stakeholders across every region of Ontario. This must include the Réseaux, which remain relevant, well-connected within their regional communities, and continue to contribute nationally with their respective expertise built over the years.
Isabelle Charbonneau, Chair of the Board,
Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario
Saint-Phard Désir, Chair of the Board,
Réseau de services de santé en français de l’Est de l’Ontario
Source and information:
Émilie Lacroix, Communications Lead, RMEFNO
elacroix@rmefno.ca
Zaynab Idrissi, Head of Communications, RSSFE
zidrissi@rssfe.on.ca