Santé en français rolled out the Café de Paris Manitoba pilot project over three years, i.e., from 2020 to 2023. Two organizations participated in the initiative: St.Amant and the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.
By the end of the three-year pilot, over 548 hours of learning had been delivered in ten sessions offered in the fall, winter and spring, for a total of 902 individual and group sessions and 189 learners. Several participants became repeat learners over the course of the sessions, improving their ability to express themselves in French. The initiative also reached a number of professionals whose positions were not designated bilingual. This seems to have strengthened the participants’ respective organizational cultures with regard to French-language services and the ability of several teams to actively offer services in French and improve services to francophone clients and family members.
The overall assessment of the pilot project is, therefore, positive. The feedback, participation and results observed support the idea of continuing the Café de Paris Manitoba initiative. It had a significant impact on the acquisition and reinforcement of language skills. It appears to complement and be relevant to other active-offer measures, as well as formal language training currently being offered to employees working in designated bilingual facilities. The initiative was greatly appreciated both by learners and the participating facilities. Learners also emphasized that Café de Paris services helped them improve their language comprehension skills and their confidence when communicating in French. The pilot seems to have reduced language barriers and improved understanding of linguistic differences. All these factors help to build an organizational culture that supports the provision of French-language services in designated francophone and bilingual facilities.
