The Government of Ontario will allocate $20 million to Glendon College – Canada’s only bilingual liberal arts university faculty – in the first phase of the project, which will expand existing facilities to sustain the rapid growth of its undergraduate and graduate French-language and bilingual programs. Since 2001, enrolment at Glendon has risen from 1,700 to 2,500 students – the largest enrolment in Glendon’s history.

The funds will address the need to refurbish and modernize existing facilities, and enable Glendon to broaden its range of programs, with initiatives including a Bachelor of Education program for future French immersion teachers and a bilingual international BA.

"This announcement is great news for York and great news for French-language and bilingual post-secondary education in Ontario," said Mamdouh Shoukri, President and Vice-Chancellor of York University. "Building this Centre of Excellence will help us educate Canada's future leaders. As our world becomes more globalized, language skills are an increasingly important tool for university graduates, and York is committed to helping our students develop that advantage."

At the graduate level, Glendon plans to introduce PhD programs in Études Francophones and in Translation & Transcultural Studies, a Master’s degree in ‘Culture et Société’, and a Bilingual Master’s in Public & International Affairs. The latter program will become the centrepiece of the Glendon School of Public Affairs, Canada’s first fully bilingual graduate school of public affairs.

The announcement is part of the Ontario government’s Access to Opportunities strategy for French-language postsecondary learners and its Politique d’aménagement linguistique, which aims to increase retention in French-language schools and ensure the sustainable development of the Franco-Ontarian community.

The Glendon Campus of York University is located in mid-town Toronto at the intersection of Bayview & Lawrence Avenues.

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 24 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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Media contact:
Keith Marnoch
York University Media Relations
(416) 455-4710