There is a reason for the federal department's lack of involvement in education: in the Constitution, education is a provincial responsibility. The only jurisdiction the federal government can use to get involved is its jurisdiction over official languages. It is actually enshrined in the Constitution that language rights are protected by the federal government.
So, thanks to its investment power, the federal government can decide to invest money to protect language rights and support the vitality of francophones in northern Ontario.
Therefore, strong institutions funded by the federal government must be created, such as post-secondary education institutions. However, the government can only do that through the provinces.