Francophone community 'blindsided' by province's plans for the University of Sudbury

The announcement came late on a Friday, just before the long Canada Day weekend. 

Ontario's Ministry of Colleges and Universities sent a press release, quietly announcing the University of Sudbury would receive no funding from the province.

The decision effectively put a stop to the French community's push for a standalone school in northern Ontario. The need arose when Laurentian University, mired in insolvency proceedings, slashed hundreds of programs and terminated its agreement with affiliated universities University of Sudbury, Thornloe and Huntington in 2021.

The University of Sudbury, which offered French-language courses and several courses in Indigenous Studies, was no more.

Serge Miville, president of the University of Sudbury, said his groups was entirely "confused" by the announcement.

"What's really unusual is when we we were speaking with ministry officials over the past six months, everything was fine, everything was great," Miville said.

"They commented favourably on the quality of the business plan, which really does indicate there is a need for a French-language university in the region."

At the request of the ministry, the group also produced data based on population numbers and trends in students interests. All of which was received optimistically from the government, Miville said.

"When the decision came, considering that we had no negative feedback, it was unusual."

"Right now we fell like we got blindsided last Friday," Miville said. "Right now we have more questions than we have answers."

Denis Constantineau, spokesperson for advocacy group Northern Ontario Coalition for a French-Language University and one of the key voices in Sudbury's large French-speaking community, said the ministry's decision, not to mention its timing, was suspicious. 

"Shock and disbelief," he said, when he heard the news.

"Up until recently, talks with the province about the school were "positive," Constantineau said.

"Something changed over the course of the last two weeks. All of a sudden there's market research that shows that [a university] is not a viable option. All of a sudden there are fewer students on the market."