I am the president of my school board, in Toronto, and this is something we are experiencing on a daily basis.
The major obstacle for francophones is that we have no visibility when it comes to promoting the language.
There are a number of multicultural associations in our regions, but we are not part of the group that welcomes newcomers. Some of them go through Buffalo, for example, to get to Fort Erie, where there is a multicultural centre. Only the anglophone public school board is part of that team.
We have community agents in the province. However, there should be more workers in establishments to provide a better welcome and to be available during meetings with newcomers. For example, at the Niagara multicultural centre, no services in French are provided.
We have been working on this for five to 10 years. Ottawa also has a large number of centres. It is important to maintain those relations between workers in establishments and francophone school boards that are working with various immigrant cultural groups.