Recent work by our colleagues Vincent Larrivière and Éric Forgues, notably Portrait et défis de la recherche en français en contexte minoritaire au Canada (in French only), has shown that research in French has reached a critical turning point. It has to contend with lack of recognition, struggles to fund certain research projects, limited access to graduate studies, and difficulties in establishing synergies and collaborations. The very future of Francophone research is at risk if these issues go unaddressed, and that is precisely why the University of Ottawa’s Collège des chaires de recherche sur le monde francophone (CCRMF) and Chaires de recherche sur le monde francophone (CRMF) program were created.
The CCRMF brings together top researchers working on a range of critical subjects: Francophone immigration to Canada, religions and cultural transformations in Canada, the history of French-language institutions, education in minority settings, language rights, art restitution in Francophone African countries, telemedicine, access to health care in French, and the health of Francophone populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The CCRMF’s many activities reflect the excellence and commitment of all the chairholders, who help to ensure that French-language scholarship and research on the Francophonie continue to flourish at the University of Ottawa.