Fonce.ca: A New Digital Resource for Francophone Adults in the Context of Ontario’s Economic Recovery

FONCE.CA:

A NEW DIGITAL RESOURCE FOR FRANCOPHONE ADULTS

IN THE CONTEXT OF ONTARIO’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

By Guy Levesque // Project Coordinator, COFA

2017 – AT A CROSSROADS

The Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA) is at a crossroads with respect to Frenchlanguage adult education and training in Ontario. As the flagship in this area in cooperation with colleges, school boards and community skills centres, the COFA serves as a beacon of knowledge for adults and meets their needs by implementing training services for adults in Ontario, in line with the objectives of Employment Ontario’s Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) program. In particular, the F@D online training program, implemented in 2011, addresses the call for digital innovation to support the demand from its members, the community skills centres. You will see that the choice was strategic and beneficial given the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 and the lockdown, which required a digital infrastructure to sustain the need for training and, especially, course delivery.

In October 2017, another digital pilot project for assessments and referrals was introduced and a portal was created to enhance accessibility for various Frenchspeaking adult learners. This multiservice portal is intended for communities in Northern Ontario and represents the culmination of research conducted over a period of three years (20142017) on the development of a model for a centre that provides information, assessment and referral, called Centre d’information, d’évaluation et d’aiguillage (CIÉA). This model was developed in response to a desire to align the strategies, priorities and objectives sought by all government authorities dedicated to Frenchlanguage adult education and training in Ontario.

The COFA uses this aligned approach to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of its activities with learners. Aligning and coordinating services are paramount to develop the Frenchlanguage education and training continuum with enhanced access to education and training for all Francophone adults in Ontario. Moreover, this alignment will help reduce duplication, promote complementarity of services, and optimize resources.

Phase 1 — Implementation

Phase 2 — Operational Analysis

Established in November 2017 and rolled out in May 2019, the CIÉA became essentially a virtual centre for Northern Ontario called FONCE.ca. Its goal is to coordinate the assessment and referral of adult learners to three networks of program and service providers (community skills centres, college centres and education centres).

What is FONCE.ca? It is a COFAled pilot project aimed at ensuring that learners have the most successful experience possible as they move through the following five key steps:

› Introduction: approximately 10 short and simple questions for orientation purposes; › Research: access to lists of resources and services; › Contact: followup call within 24 hours of site visit; › Assessment: conversation and diagnostic assessment to establish the person’s profile; › Referral: neutral and objective referral towards appropriate training or services.

The COFA began leading this project in October 2017. A management committee composed of representatives from all three levels of services (colleges, school boards and community adult education centres) has been established and is responsible for the interim governance of the Centre. Phase, in which the question, “Who can use this digital tool locally, regionally and provincially?” is addressed.

“The CIÉA and the FONCE.ca website provide French-speaking adults with a point of access to reliable information and personalized support to help them pursue their continuing education goals. For LBS and adult education service providers, this resource serves as an alternative way to identify potential clients at an early stage and offers online tools to simplify and accelerate the assessment process. For provincial departments, it allows for client follow-ups beyond specific program limits and serves as a relationship-building tool with adult learners throughout their continuing education journey.”

This new resource in support of the provincial government’s first Digital Plan needs to be at the forefront of technology and continuously reviewed to improve its operating structure (platform) with regular upgrades and maintenance.

After six months of operation, a major finding was made, namely that the promotional value of the portal requires daily attention. Given that the pilot project is new, the portal cannot be promoted through traditional media to recruit new clients. This is a key issue for the continuation and recognition of the project in its next critical phase.

An evaluation of this phase was undertaken and completed in December 2019. Below is an excerpt from the Final Developmental Report on the Pilot Project Implementation

The current status of COVID19, combined with the transformation of Employment Ontario, is changing the practices of at least six networks of adult education and training service providers, including:

› Community skills centres; › Education centres within school boards; › College service centres; › Employment services centres; › Municipal Ontario Works centres; › Settlement and immigration service centres.

Online services, including the FONCE.ca project, will be increasingly in demand and accessible to more adult learners, enabling the provincial government to meet its digital services policy objectives.

To carry out this operational analysis, the COFA has hired a consulting firm to not only define how the evaluation framework will be developed, but also to conduct a 12month operational analysis of the FONCE.ca project for Northern Ontario. From this analysis, the consulting firm will identify lessons learned and operational improvements, and validate, as appropriate, this initiative across all of its components.

The evaluation report of the second phase must be submitted by the end of March 2022. At that time, the COFA will know whether the FONCE.ca for Northern Ontario will continue serving as a governmentrecognized regional service provider.

MOVING FORWARD

2Implementing and launching FONCE.ca in Northern Ontario is the first step in achieving the COFA’s vision to open a centre in Eastern Ontario and a third centre in Central Southwestern Ontario. In the next few years, we envision that there could be three regional centres and a provincial virtual referral site (FONCE.ca) for Frenchspeaking communities in Ontario, which could lead to a provincial Table of regional centres. This Table could become the expertise hub to meet the needs of adult learners, a Francophone resource comprised of the six networks of service providers related to education, training and employability, in close cooperation with government authorities. t PROJECT BACKGROUND First activities of three A Regional PFEAT/PEFA, comprised of The first meeting of the provincial Regional Partnerships for Frenchlanguage school boards and round table with three Regional Francophone Adult Education colleges, community skills centres PFEAT/PEFAs to develop a and Training (PFEAT/PEFA)* dedicated to Francophone adult educa common vision was held. [translation] were completed. tion and the COFA, was established. October 2011

March 2011 March 2011 15 regional forums were held to The first Symposium ontarien de l’éducation inform stakeholders on the concept et de la formation des adultes francophones of multiservice access brought (Ontario seminar on French adult education forward by Regional PFEAT/PEFAs. and training [translation]) took place. October 2014 to March 2018 March 2013 First phase for developing the The Centre FONCE The final developmental evaluation Centre d’information/accueil, opened on May 1, 2019 report on the implementation of the CIÉA d’évaluation et d’aiguillage des (March to November 2019). du Nord (governance structure, adultes apprenants du Nord de management, portal, sustainability), l’Ontario (CIEA du Nord). May 2019 which became FONCE.ca, was submitted. October 2017 December 2019 Positive response Beginning of the Basic centre operations and portal to begin phase 2. pandemic and lockdown. enhancements took place, pending funding for phase 2 of the project. October 2020 March 2020 January to September 2020 Preparation of the FONCE.ca Operations Evaluation report on the level of efficiency management team. at FONCE.ce and sustainability of FONCE.ca for December 2020 to February 2021 to resume. Northern Ontario to be submitted. April 2021 March 2022

Creation Progress Implementation Functions and Operations *Regional PFEAT/PEFAs: Central Southwestern, Eastern and Northern regions.