Item - 2021.FA5.4

The Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee recommends that:

1.  The Executive Committee instruct the City Manager to report to the July 8, 2021 meeting of the Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee on the City of Toronto rejoining L'Association française des municipalités de l'Ontario (AFMO).

With the second largest Francophone population in Ontario, the City of Toronto is home to 63,000 members of the Francophone community.
 
Prior to 2018, the City maintained a 28-year membership in the Association française des municipalités de l'Ontario (AFMO). AFMO advocates for improved linguistic support tools and French-language municipal services and programs, within the province's 25 bilingual regions. The Association also provides a forum for sharing, training and professional development, among municipal staff and elected officials. The City of Toronto's AFMO membership fee would be approximately $20,000, annually.
 
In 2018, as a consequence of Provincial Bill 5, Toronto City Council accepted staff's recommendation that the City should relinquish its membership in AFMO, due to a reduction in the number of municipal officials and an attempt to reduce the number of external bodies they serve on. 
 
AFMO has been negatively impacted by the loss of Toronto's membership. To AFMO's own admission, other smaller municipalities question why they should join if a large city like Toronto is no longer a member. Rejoining AFMO would signal the City's commitment to the Francophone community, and would encourage collaboration with other municipalities, to ensure that the unique needs of the Francophone community are incorporated into plans for economic restart and recovery. 
 
Locally, the Francophone community continues to seek out improved access to French healthcare, education and social services throughout our City. While the Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee provides a local forum to take action, renewing the City's membership in AFMO, would help affirm Toronto's commitment as a leader in the ongoing preservation of the French language.