French-speaking Ontario College Applicants’ Preferences and Pathways was written by Laura Gallant, Miha Isik, Sarah Brumwell (Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario) and Mark Gaston (OCAS).
For French-speaking college applicants, French-language instruction and program offerings for in-demand labour market areas are key factors in their postsecondary choices.
Ontario is home to 1.5 million people bilingual in French and English, however a 2023 Statistics Canada survey found that 16% of Ontario businesses that offer bilingual services struggle to recruit bilingual workers. Ontario’s colleges play an essential role in helping students transition into the labour market, including French programming in the province’s two French-language colleges (Collège Boréal and Collège La Cité). Understanding French-speaking applicant preferences and decision making is especially important in supporting their access and success as colleges are navigating programming decisions amidst financial constraints.
The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) and OCAS built on HEQCO’s earlier research about postsecondary decision making among French-speaking students in Ontario by examining French-speaking college applicants’ preferences and pathways. Using applicant survey and administrative data from OCAS, HEQCO and OCAS analyzed applicants’ demographic characteristics, college language, field of study, program choices and the motivations behind their college decisions.
The vast majority of French-speaking college applicants attended high schools in French school boards and tended to be older (27 years) than the average age of an Ontario college applicant (25 years). In fact, between 2019 and 2023, the number of French-speaking applicants aged 25–34 increased by 66%, and those aged 35 and older increased by 43%.
The most influential factors in college decision making for the French-speaking applicants studied were program offerings and French-language instruction, followed by college reputation and employment prospects. While most French-speaking applicants preferred French colleges for their postsecondary studies, their interest in English colleges has increased. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of French-speaking applicants who confirmed at English colleges increased by 75%. Among all French-speaking applicants, the majority selected BHASE programs. The top confirmed programs corresponded with in-demand labour market sectors, such as early childhood education, social services and healthcare.
French-speaking graduates of Ontario colleges play important roles in supporting and improving Ontarians’ economic and social wellbeing, and they have strong employment and earnings outcomes. As Ontario colleges are managing critical programming decisions and program offerings, French-language instruction and employment prospects are important considerations in supporting French-speaking learners and their successful pathways through the college system and into the labour market.