Feds, Ontario sign funding deal for French-language university in Toronto

OTTAWA — The federal and Ontario governments have reached a deal on funding a new French-language university in Toronto.

An agreement signed today says the two will spend $126 million on the project over eight years.

The federal government is kicking in $63 million over five years, and then Ontario is to fund at least the same amount, starting in 2023.

Federal Official Languages Minister Melanie Joly calls it a historic day for Canadian francophones.

Her Ontario counterpart Caroline Mulroney says the project is an excellent example of Ontario’s commitment to the francophone community.

Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government cancelled the plans for a French-language university shortly after winning power in 2018, but backtracked after an uproar among Ontario’s francophones.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2020.

Catherine Lévesque, The Canadian Press