Official Languages in Education Programs – Funded activities

Regular OLEP funding

Alberta’s portion of the regular funding is divided between minority-language francophone education and French second-language instruction, and each of those respective portions is divided between Education and Advanced Education. The resources below provide more information about Education’s portion of regular OLEP funding in Alberta.

This Overview of how Alberta distributes regular OLEP funding for 2021-2022 (PDF, 121 KB) explains the flow of dollars from the federal government to school authorities.
For more information about how Alberta distributes FTE Student Funding, see the Funding manual for school authorities.
This recording of the May 21, 2020 OLEP Overview and Update Webinar provides an overview of OLEP in Alberta and upcoming changes.
OLEP Overview and Update webinar fact sheet (PDF, 345 KB) provides a summary of information based on questions from the OLEP Overview and Update webinar on May 21, 2020.

Minority-language (francophone) projects

The 4 French minority-language school authorities in Alberta (Northwest Francophone Education Region, East Central Francophone Education Region, Greater North Central Francophone Education Region and Southern Francophone Education Region) collaborate with the Federation of Francophone School Authorities of Alberta (Fédération des conseils scolaires francophones de l’Alberta or FCSFA) in designing and implementing the initiatives included in the Alberta action plan.

The OLEP funded activities include:

full-time kindergarten, including the provision of necessary resources and support
initiatives to support the academic achievement of learners, including:
- language development in the Grade 12 Français course
- access to specialized services and support for the students
- the development of an assessment approach in order to guide teaching practices focused on concept-based learning in relation to curriculum redesign
mental health activities
promotion and advertising in order to recruit a growing number of children entitled to francophone education
development of strategies to recruit teachers and French language education specialists such as speech and language therapists and psychologists
development of interactive learning items, in partnership with the Centre d’éducation francophone à distance (CFED) – French distance education centre, to better meet the needs of online teaching
professional development opportunities in French for teaching staff offered in collaboration with the Consortium provincial francophone pour le perfectionnement professionnel (CPFPP) – Francophone Provincial Consortium for Professional Development
cultural and leadership activities offered in partnership with:
- FJA (Francophonie Jeunesse Alberta – Alberta Francophone Youth Association)
- FSFA (Fédération des sports francophones de l’Alberta – Federation of Francophone Sports of Alberta)
- ACFA (Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta – French-Canadian Association of Alberta)
- the youth component of ACELF (Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française – Canadian Association of French Education) and many more

Get more information on FCSFA and the francophone school authorities

French second-language projects

The aim of funding for French second-language projects is to increase collaboration between school authorities and ensure knowledge and resources across the province are shared and benefit as many students as possible.

Note: Alberta Education is not accepting applications for projects at this time. If you are interested in accessing OLEP project funding, contact the OLEP office at [email protected] or 780-427-2940.

Organizations

Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPDC)
Description

The ARPDC consists of a collective of seven consortium offices across the province:
- Northwest Regional Learning Consortium (NRLC)
- Learning Network Educational Services (LNES)
- Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium (ERLC)
- Central Alberta Regional Consortium (CARC)
- Calgary Regional Consortium (CRC)
- Southern Alberta Professional Development Consortium (SAPDC)
- Consortium provincial francophone (CPFPP) which serves the Francophone school authorities across the province and provides targeted support to the six regional offices in French Language services and professional learning support.
The individual and collective consortia work to provide professional learning opportunities for teachers, administrators and educational assistants.

Additionally, ARPDC works with parents in consultation and session support where appropriate. Each of the consortia maintain a French Language Advisory group with representation from each of the school divisions in the region. Through the work of the advisory committees and in alignment with government priorities, ARPDC works to support Francophone and French second language teachers with a specific focus on:
- improved teacher efficacy
- improved practice in the classroom in all aspects of instruction and assessment
- efforts that support the retention and sense of a community of learning
Administrative and Financial Agent

The organization that administers the project operations and its finances in collaboration with the respective partners:

College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS)

Partners

ARPDC work with all School Divisions and Independent schools as well as with regional teacher convention boards and where appropriate regional Mental Health and/or Alberta Health committees.
Metropolitan Edmonton Regional French Immersion Programs (MERFIP)
Description

MERFIP is a collaborative group made up of nine school boards that has been in existence since 1997 that works to:
- support French immersion teachers and leaders of member divisions
- promote and enhance French as a target language
- develop and expand leadership in French Immersion programming
- collaborate and share expertise based on current research and pedagogy in second language learning
- facilitate professional learning activities in response to emerging needs
- procure and develop resources to respond to local needs
- liaise with Alberta Education and other second language learning stakeholders and support schools in the implementation of new curricula
Administrative and Financial Agent

The school division that administers the project operations and its finances in collaboration with the respective partners

Black Gold

School Division Partners
- Black Gold
- Edmonton Catholic Separate
- Edmonton
- Elk Island Catholic Separate
- Elk Island School
- Greater St. Albert Roman Catholic Separate
- Parkland
- St. Albert
- St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic
Grande Prairie French Language Resource Centre
Description

The Grande Prairie French Language Resource Centre’s mission is to enhance the delivery of French education in Northwestern Alberta by providing a variety of exciting services and educational materials for teachers:
- Professional Development - Conferences and Workshops
- Access to Professional Development
- Travel bursaries
- Official examination centre for the DELF, DALF and DELF for Schools
- Cultural Events Partnership with France (virtual partnerships, job-shadow opportunities, student exchanges)
- Exchanges
- An up-to-date collection of over 9000 quality support resources for French as a Second Language, French Immersion and Francophone programs. All resources are housed at the French Language Resource Centre at the Grande Prairie Public Library.
Administrative and Financial Agent

The school division that administers the project operations and its finances in collaboration with the respective partners

Peace Wapiti

School Division Partners
- Peace Wapiti
- Grande Prairie Public
- Grande Prairie Catholic
- High Prairie
- Peace River
- Holy Family Catholic Regional
- Northwest Francophone Education Region
Other Partners
- Association canadienne française de l’Alberta, Grande Prairie Chapter
- Canadian Parents for French, Grande Prairie Chapter
- Grande Prairie Regional College
- Northwest Regional Learning Consortium
- Peace Library System
- Grande Prairie Public Library
Institute for Innovation in Second Language Education (IISLE)
Description

Edmonton School Division, with its IISLE, uses local and federal project funding for a wide range of purposes to support its own students, families and staff as well as those of other school divisions. IISLE supports the teaching and learning of French, both French Immersion and French as a Second Language, in Alberta and across Canada. The supports provided include:
- development of key teaching, learning and leadership resources (especially for literacy, numeracy, and quality programming) including those publicly made available through the languages section of The Resource Hub at Edmonton Public Schools
- provision of a French Resource Centre, which houses a collection of over 23,000 resources
- provision of support for teacher and leadership professional learning (institutes, conferences, online and face-to face in-services, asynchronous online learning modules, coaching, consultations, etc.) for Division and external teachers and leaders.
- provision of the DELF exam and preparation/training to hundreds of students and teachers
- support for cultural events and activities, school and student twinnings and exchanges, and other local, national and international interactions to build second language proficiency, global citizenship skills and cultural understanding
- support for program expansion, especially for French Immersion, including new teacher supports, resource support, etc.
Administrative and Financial Agent

The school division that administers the project operations and its finances in collaboration with the respective partners

Edmonton

School Division Partners

IISLE at EPSB regularly collaborates with other school divisions in Alberta through various means including:
- Alberta French Language Education Consortium (AFLEC)
- Multi-District Assessment Think Tank—collaborating school divisions for 2020-21 include:
  - Edmonton
  - Foothills
  - Horizon
  - Aspen View
  - Calgary Roman Catholic Separate
  - Wild Rose
  - Medicine Hat
  - New Horizons
  - Calgary
  - Elk Island
  - Elk Island Catholic Separate
  - Prairie Rose
  - Greater North Central Francophone Education Region
  - Battle River
  - Evergreen Catholic Separate
  - Grande Yellowhead
Other Partners

IISLE at Edmonton School Division also maintains formal ongoing partnership agreements and collaboration with organizations such as:
- Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT)
- Alliance française of Edmonton
- Language Research Centre at the University of Calgary
- Académie de Grenoble
- French Embassy in Canada
Southern Alberta French Resource Centre (SAFRC)
Description

Accessing quality resources can be a challenge for French language teachers and the SARFRC assists to alleviate this barrier. The geographic region of their partnering school divisions spans hundreds of kilometers and the SARFRC facilitates the delivery of resources to remote locations. The SARFRC Resource Director is responsible for familiarity with materials to assist teachers in finding and supplying desired resources.

The Vera Bracken Library at the Medicine Hat College houses the French resource collection. The college is centrally located and easily accessible to teachers, students and the public requiring access to French resources. The college also has an education department and student teachers have easy access to resources at the SAFRC during their studies and beyond.

In addition to supplying a significant resource base to support French language instruction, the SAFRC supports cultural resources and provides information services.

Administrative and Financial Agent

The school division that administers the project operations and its finances in collaboration with the respective partners

Medicine Hat

Partner School Divisions
- Medicine Hat
- Medicine Hat Roman Catholic Separate
- Prairie Rose
Other Partners
- Medicine Hat College

Additional OLEP Funding

Provinces and territories have an opportunity each year to apply for additional funding from the federal government for complementary projects. The projects below have been approved for additional funding by the federal government.

Table 1. Additional OLEP funding

Application category	Federal decision	Federal funding amount	Project duration
Capital projects for minority-language education	2018/19 school year:
	École à la Découverte, Community Spaces (Greater North Central Francophone Education Region)	$1,129,589	2018 to 2022
	École Joseph-Moreau, Community Centre (Greater North Central Francophone Education Region)	$1,533,875	2018 to 2022
	École les Cyprès, Expansion of Les Joyeux Colibris(Southern Francophone Education Region)	$1,092,194	2018 to 2020
Francophone and French-language teacher recruitment and retention projects	2019/20 school year:
	Homegrown Teachers: Teaching as a Career Pathway Toolkit (Edmonton School Division)	$189,234	2020 to 2021
	Increased Training Spaces: Growing Capacity to Meet Teacher Demand (Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta	$1,870,480	2020 to 2023
	Enhancing the Education Program at Campus Saint Jean (Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta)	$150,000	2020 to 2021
Complementary projects	2018/19 school year:
	Campus Saint-Jean Learner Access, Pathways and Transitions (Campus Saint Jean, University of Alberta)	$500,000	2018 to 2019
	A Peek at the Profession – Enhancement of French Online Courses (Lakeland College)	$102,000	2018 to 2020
	Support Rural Placements (Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta)	$25,000	2018 to 2019
	2019/20 school year:
	Meeting the Language Needs of Francophone Minority Students – A Tailor-Made Approach for Alberta (Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord)	$70,000	2019 to 2020

Programs and bursaries

Pan-Canadian official languages programs (Odyssey, Explore and Destination Clic) help young people improve their language skills in English and French.
The Individual Teacher Bursary Program helps eligible teachers get funding for French language education training and professional development.
The Quebec Student Exchange Program pairs high school students from Alberta with students in Quebec to attend school together for 12 weeks in Alberta and 12 weeks in Quebec.

The Language Teacher Bursary Program helps eligible French and international language teachers get provincial funding to complete a language, culture or teaching development course or program. The federal government does not fund this bursary.

Contact

Connect with the Alberta Official Languages in Education Programs (OLEP) office:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-2940
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

French language education in Alberta

Student population statistics

Francophone heritage in Alberta

Francophone Secretariat