About the forum

The vitality of a language community allows it to “survive and thrive as a collective entity in [a] given intergroup context” (Bourhis & Landry, 2012).

For Quebec’s English-language education system, public health and political events of the last year have presented new issues and highlighted pre-existing vitality challenges. Issues include enrolment decline, the need to serve many remote communities, a complex political environment, and the new requirement to transition to online and restricted environments.

The Education and Vitality Forum will respond to these issues. 

Researchers, practitioners, community stakeholders and policy-makers will share and discuss best practices and initiatives that support our diverse communities in these challenging times.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Identify strategies for an inclusive and quality English-language educational offer
• Present findings on the impact of the global health pandemic on education
• Share experiences of current educational challenges

This is the second Forum on community vitality and education. Originally, the full version of this event was scheduled for 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A first part of the event, the Forum for Youth Insights, was nevertheless held virtually over one day in October 2020. 

The Education and Vitality Forum is organized by the Inter-Level Educational Table (ILET). ILET brings together representatives of Quebec’s English-language educational institutions and associations, along with community groups and the public sector. It is a key initiative of the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), a collaborative network of researchers, stakeholders, and educational and other institutions.