November 13, 2015 – Starting in September 2016, Laurentian University will expand its French-language programming. The Bharti School of Engineering will launch three bilingual bachelor’s degree programs – in Chemical, Mechanical and Mining Engineering – with at least 50% of courses to be offered in French. In addition, the Faculty of Management will initiate a Bachelor of Business Administration offered entirely in French, along with seven specializations also offered in French in the areas of accounting, business, entrepreneurship, finance, international management, marketing and human resources.
“No Canadian university has won the Canadian Mining Games more often than Laurentian University. Last year, our students in the Bharti School of Engineering took first place at both the provincial and national engineering competitions; in 2011, they won NASA’s Lunabotics competition,” said president and vice-chancellor Dominic Giroux. “As for our Faculty of Management, it is working towards several international accreditations. It was an obvious choice to include these disciplines in the expansion of our French-language programming at Laurentian University.”
“More than 80 Francophone students are already enrolled in the Bharti School of Engineering and at least as many are registered in the Faculty of Management,” added associate vice-president, Academic and Francophone Affairs, Denis Hurtubise. “These 10 programs in engineering and management will help us meet the expectations of future Francophone and Francophile students from Canada and abroad in these high demand academic disciplines.”
Highlights of Laurentian University
- The Bharti School of Engineering is ranked first in Ontario and is among the top four Canadian universities in terms of mining engineering research. It will be the first in Canada outside of Quebec to offer French-language courses in mining engineering.
- A feasibility study revealed that Francophone students in the City of Greater Sudbury who are interested in engineering recognize the importance of completing their undergraduate degree in both official languages, giving them an added competitive advantage when entering the job market.
- Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering serves 695 students from the bachelor’s degree to the Ph.D., and its Faculty of Management serves more than 1,400 students in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.
- Year after year, Laurentian University earns the highest post-graduation employment rates among Ontario universities.
- Laurentian University received more than 100 million dollars in research funding over the last five years.
- Each year, Laurentian University offers more than 700 French-language courses from the undergraduate to the doctoral level. Since 2013, it has launched two full French-language master’s programs in speech-language pathology and nursing. It was also the first bilingual university to be designated under Ontario’s French-Language Services Act.
- Laurentian University is investing 63 million dollars in the modernization of its Sudbury campus, which is expected to be completed in late 2016. Projects include significant improvements to 60 classrooms and laboratories, student residences and food services, new student gathering spaces, a one-stop area for student services, a dynamic welcome centre, an executive learning centre and the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre.