Led by a dean, it must consolidate the program which is currently driving the growth of the university.
“This is the very first faculty created at the UOF,” confirms rector Normand Labrie, in an interview with The Law.
The board of governors, the university’s highest body, gave the green light to the project in the summer of 2025.
“We are currently looking for a dean who will take office in the summer of 2026. This person will be responsible for managing existing education programs while developing the Faculty’s statutes over the next year. The Faculty will be fully operational once the statutes are adopted. We are aiming for 2027 to achieve this.”
For Mr. Labrie, this new step for the UOF represents above all a guarantee of credibility.
“The vast majority of universities in Ontario have a faculty of education. This allows us to be invited to the table of the Ontario Deans’ Association. It’s also a question of credibility, especially for professors when they include it on their CV.”
According to data provided by the French-speaking university, the baccalaureate in education launched at the start of the 2023 school year has continued to grow, which supports the creation of a Faculty of Education.
It represented 35% of enrollments in 2023-2024 (88 out of 252), 54% in 2024-2025 (201 out of 374) and reached 69% in 2025-2026 (423 out of 611), confirming its central role in the growth of the university.
The Faculty of Education would integrate this same Bachelor of Education, but also the double Bachelor of Education, the accelerated BA and B.Ed. program, which will be launched in September 2026, and will therefore become the eighth program of the university.
The demands for education programs would also be exponential, according to Mr. Labrie.
“The bachelor’s degree in education truly meets a workforce need. It allowed us to stabilize and accelerate our growth. This is the type of training that gives quick access to employment.”
— Normand Labrie, rector of the UOF.
“For September, we received approximately 1,800 applications for all programs, including approximately 1,400 in education, which remains by far the most popular,” says Mr. Labrie.
The University also wants to increase the number of places available for the baccalaureate in education, particularly for students coming directly from secondary schools, by increasing the capacity from 80 to 160 places.
The UOF remains dependent on the Ontario government to approve this request.
Focus on domestic recruitment
Espoir Masiala, president of the UOF Student Association and ambassador for the campus, confirms that the university is redoubling its efforts to publicize its education programs.
“The baccalaureate in education is our “motor baccalaureate”. To highlight it, we rely on written communication and presentations in secondary schools. We also participate in community activities and we go to meet communities,” he explains.
However, he emphasizes that the current context complicates recruitment abroad.
“At the moment, international recruitment is affected by the quota measures on foreign students imposed by IRCC. But domestic recruitment is our strong point. Today, the vast majority of the UOF student population are domestic students.”
Out of approximately 611 students, only 23% are foreign students
Still limited impact on the shortage, says AEFO
For the president of the Association of Franco-Ontarian Teachers (AEFO), Gabrielle Lemieux, the creation of this faculty constitutes “encouraging progress”. But she warns that the effects on the shortage of French-speaking teachers will not be immediate.
“The shortage is very real, especially among substitutes,” she said, recalling that the target is around 940 new people per year, while 450 would be certified annually.
“With the new places announced last summer by the government, we are getting closer to the target, but it has not yet been reached.”
date: 2026-02-13 09:12:00
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