I'm a professor at Université Laval. Of course, the university values research in French immensely. It's the oldest francophone university, and it attaches a great deal of importance to that research commitment.
Like at all other universities, there's a lot of pressure to publish in English at Université Laval, and our institution recognizes the importance of impact factors in evaluating scientific careers and faculty promotions. This is a strong trend, despite the university's desire to encourage and value more research in French.