Expansion covers Essex, Hamilton, Chatham-Kent, Thunder Bay, Renfrew, other counties
The Ontario government has announced an expansion to six additional areas across the province designated under Ontario’s French Language Services Act (FLSA), with provincial agencies and partner organizations in these regions required to offer services in French to local residents.
According to the provincial government, the FLSA’s current version received royal assent on Dec. 9, 2021, representing the first major update to the legislation in over 35 years. Ontario noted that the expansion coincides with the fourth anniversary of the modernization.
“Marking the anniversary of the modernization of the French Language Services Act with this new milestone reflects the progress we have achieved to strengthen our Francophone communities now and into the future,” said Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s minister of Francophone affairs, in a news release.
“For more than three decades, Francophone communities have worked to strengthen the French Language Services Act, and today we are seeing the concrete results of this modernization, particularly with the expansion of designated areas and the continued progress of its implementation,” added Fabien Hébert, president of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario.
Through the expansion, the provincial government said it seeks to advance its plan to strengthen the Ontarian Francophone community and help thousands more Francophone residents access necessary provincial services, including some justice and social services and business resources.
According to Ontario’s news release, under the FLSA, the provincial government should provide public services in French in designated areas, where most of the Ontarian Francophone population resides.
After a period of implementing the recently announced expansion, local residents can avail of French-language government services across an additional 6,300 square kilometres, reflecting the current municipal boundaries in the:
During the transition, ministries, agencies, and third-party service providers will work to enhance their capacity to deliver French-language services of equivalent quality to those offered in English.
“The AFO welcomes this new milestone with appreciation and recognizes the ongoing collaboration of the Ontario government,” Hébert said in the news release. “Together, we have built on the progress made in recent years, and together we will continue to bring the spirit of the Act to life in the daily lives of Francophone Ontarians.”
Ontario noted that the designation of the City of Sarnia took effect on Nov. 1, 2024.
Carl Bouchard, Ontario’s French language services commissioner, welcomed the integration of his office’s recommendations in its 2019–20 annual report on French-language services in the provincial government’s update to the map of Ontario’s designated areas under the FLSA.
“The changes made by the ministry of Francophone Affairs also take into account the proposals we made in January 2025 during the public consultations conducted by the Ministry on this important project,” Bouchard said in a statement.
Bouchard explained that the expansion clarifies the application of language rights in the designated areas and allows his office to oversee the FLSA’s application to a larger area of the province.
“It means that thousands more Francophones can now contact us if they experience a lack of services in French in their region,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard recently released his office’s 2024–25 annual report.
