PEIThe federal and provincial governments are investing around $32 million to support French language education on Prince Edward Island.Funding will focus on recruitment and retention of French educatorsJenna Banfield · CBC News · Posted: Oct 17, 2025 8:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoThe federal and provincial governments announced they would each invest $16 million over the next four years to support French education across P.E.I. (Delaney Kelly/CBC)The federal and provincial governments are dishing out millions of dollars to invest in French education on Prince Edward Island.The two governments will each provide $16 million over the next four years to support Island schools.Robin Croucher, the minister of education and early years for P.E.I., said the funding will focus on recruitment and retention of staff. “What’s more exciting than the actual dollar figure is the stability that this is going to provide the system… for the foreseeable future,” he said.Croucher said the hope is the money will help the French language grow across the province, and improve the French education students get.“It’s a big part of who we are, it’s a big part of our culture. French language opens up so many doors to so many things in life.”Croucher says the funding supports French language in the province now and into the future. (Rob LeClair/CBC)Charlottetown MP Sean Casey echoed that statement, saying the investment ensures continued vitality and growth of the language in the province. “Canada is a bilingual country and this is an investment into who we are,” Casey said. “It’s a vote of confidence in the communities that do so much to promote the French language, and to allow them to live in the community and to live in the language of their choice.”Delphine Corney is a grade 12 student at Carrefour de L’Isle-Saint-Jean and has family that speaks French. She said the language is important to learn not just so she can communicate with them, but with anyone who speaks French.Corney says speaking French gives her the ability to communicate with more people, and brings her a sense of community. (Rob LeClair/CBC)“Obviously the province is a small community, but the French community is even smaller,” she said. “Lots of people from the French community recognize them around the island.” École François-Buote student Ariane Arsenault grew up in a French-speaking family. She said having French education is “a great value.””On P.E.I. you don’t get to talk French a lot outside of school and home,” she said. “When you’re in store, no one really speaks French whenever you’re checking out or buying stuff. So it’s really the only way for me to speak French other than at home.”“It’s the only language that I speak with my mom, my dad and my grandparents. We never speak English. We never speak any other language,” Arsenault said.ABOUT THE AUTHORJenna Banfield is an associate producer for CBC Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at jenna.banfield@cbc.caWith files from Delaney Kelly
Provincial and federal governments investing $32 million to support French education on P.E.I.
