The Ford government, which had refused to provide funding to the University of Sudbury in 2023, finally decided, last summer, to allow the French-speaking post-secondary institution to offer courses again by investing $10.8 million as part of its partnership with the University of Ottawa.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy indicated in his budget, tabled last week, that this investment will be increased to $21.6 million over three years to ensure that the University of Sudbury can continue to offer courses.
The Ontario government contacted Ottawa in June 2025 in a letter asking the federal government to work in partnership to support the arts and culture sectors, including the University of Sudbury.
A portion of the amount announced in the budget, namely $4.1 million, comes from Ottawa, which decided to participate in the investment, confirmed to the Right the federal government.
The money will allow the institution to “see more clearly” and ensure the sustainability of French-speaking post-secondary education in the northern Ontario region, according to the rector, Serge Miville.
“What’s great about this announcement is that I’m seeing this figure written on paper for the first time. It’s a guarantee, it’s clear, and it allows us to approach the next few years with confidence,” he said, in an interview with The Law.
This funding gives confidence “to everyone that we are capable of making gains with good projects,” notes the rector of the University of Sudbury.
“The project aims to re-establish an academic offering entirely in French at the University of Sudbury, with the gradual deployment of 33 programs and options, in collaboration with several partner establishments, including the University of Ottawa, and by integrating a community component structuring,” said a spokesperson for Canadian Heritage, Caroline Czajkowski.
The University of Sudbury offers study programs in the fields of health, management and commerce, social sciences and arts.
The institution offered free education for the year 2025-2026.
Funding
The administration of the University of Sudbury had requested a little more than $6.2 million in funding from the Ford government to launch a post-secondary institution “by and for” Francophones in 2023.
The province then refused, saying that the establishment’s proposal “does not correspond to current demand and enrollment trends, nor to the current capacity of existing post-secondary institutions to offer French-language programming in Greater Sudbury and throughout Ontario.”
The following year, Serge Miville signed a partnership with the University of Ottawa, and submitted a new funding request to the provincial government so that it could become a reality.
The funding announced in the province’s budget reiterates the Ford government’s interest in realizing this partnership, but does not give the University of Sudbury the status of a public post-secondary institution, since the money is sent to the University of Ottawa.
