TIMMINS -- A week to show support for the immigration of French-speakers outside of Quebec has Timmins officials talking about how the city can take steps to further integrate French culture and bilingual services in the community.

The Timmins Multicultural Centre and Sudbury's Reseau du Nord Francophone immigration centre collaborated on a French version of its "Welcome to Timmins Live" virtual event set for Wednesday to coincide with the National Francophone Immigration Week.

Mike Scott, the multicultural centre's immigration partnership coordinator, said it's a special opportunity to introduce French-speaking newcomers to available services and show them how Timmins can be a welcoming home.

"Bilingualism in our city has always been very present," said Scott, noting that French-speakers make up about half of the Timmins population. "Folks that are purely Francophone, that speak mostly just French [...] we want to support them as best we can. Whether it's with finding employment or language courses, we want to make sure that they have an accessible path."

Making the city more bilingual

City councillor Michelle Boileau said that the city has further to go in making the area more French-friendly.

President of the local Francophone liaison committee, that looks for opportunities to make the city more bilingual, Boileau said while much of daily life can be done in French, there are still language barriers.

"Some of the basic core services are available in French, but it's really once you get down to things like forms being available in French," Boileau said. "Anything related to business and economic development in the city, we want to make sure that it's doable in both French and English."

While the municipality can offer or translate its services and documents if asked, as per Canada's Official Languages Act, Boileau's committee is looking for the city to eventually enact a bylaw and make certain adjustments to officially designate Timmins as a bilingual city.

She said that would only benefit the area economically, particularly while it faces a labour shortage, since it would encourage French-speakers from across the world to work and live here.

Attracting more French-speakers to live in Canada

This falls in line with the federal government's goal of bumping the country's French-speaking population outside of Quebec to over four per cent by 2023.

Canada's Immigration Minister, Marco Mendocino, marked this week by restating the government's commitment to that goal.

"National Francophone Immigration Week is an opportunity to recognize the contributions of French-speaking newcomers and dynamism of Francophone communities outside Quebec," said Mendocino in a statement. "When we create welcoming and inclusive communities and provide French-speaking newcomers with support to settle in and connect to these communities, all of Canada benefits."

Showcasing a 'strong and vibrant community'

As for French culture in Timmins, Centre Culturel La Ronde's Director Lisa Bertrand said the organization has been growing stronger in the community each year, especially with more involvement from the younger generation.

Bertrand said with a recently launched French dance program and resuming of childcare services, she's excited to showcase the cultural centre's services at the virtual event.

"It's all about creating partnerships and trying to, during this hard time, still promote our French culture and still have activities where the community can stay safe," Bertrand said.

This edition of Welcome to Timmins Live will work the same way as its September event, with video presentations from local organizations, services and schools, as well as a live question and answer session.

First, it will be broadcast over Zoom and then will be available to watch anytime afterwards through the multicultural centre's Facebook or YouTube pages.

"We have a strong and vibrant community here and we want to showcase that as best we can," said Scott.