Ontario wants French schools to be more "welcoming"

The Ontario government is loosening the rules for students to be eligible to attend French schools.

The province has instructed French school boards to make their classes more "welcoming" to children whose grandparents’ first language is French and to French-speaking new Canadians. The provision would also allow newcomers who speak neither of Canada’s official languages to apply to French schools in the province.

A spokeswoman for the education ministry says the move will streamline admission guidelines in Ontario’s 12 French school boards.

At some schools, students are only admitted if they have a native Francophone parent.

Children without French birthrights will be required to go through an admission process - something that varies by school board.

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The education ministry says the revised admission policies will be in place by Jan. 15, 2010.

About 90,000 students across Ontario attend French-language public and Catholic schools.

- The Canadian Press