Laurentian offering more bilingual programming in Fall 2016: the school is introducing 10 new programs with French classes that they hope will meet local students' needs and attract international students.

• Author: Myers, Ella
• Position: Sudbury

Laurentian University students in Sudbury are looking forward to new programming in the fall of 2016 that will allow them to take a range of professional programming in both French and English.

"It encourages students to put as many tools in their toolbox to be successful in their career and to be great citizens," said Laurentian president Dominic Giroux.

Giroux said there was an impetus to "meet a demand identified locally but also make the Bharti School (of Engineering) more attractive to francophone international students looking for that unique opportunity to study in both languages."

French-born Vincent Llorca moved to Canada in 2011 to play hockey for Ottawa's Nepean Raiders, a Junior A hockey team.

The 23-year-old took mechanical engineering at the University of Ottawa for one year, then was recruited to play for Laurentian's interuniversity team in 2013 and moved north.

Llorca was happy to find a mechanical engineering program to continue his studies, and said he's appreciated the small class sizes and intimacy of the Laurentian campus.

While Llorca was able to take electives and basic courses like math and physics in French, his engineering classes were all in English.

Laurentian conducted a feasibility study that Llorca took part in to determine which degrees would benefit most from bilingual programming, and mechanical engineering qualified.

Next year, Llorca could be taking some courses in French, although new students will benefit the most by being able to complete their entire degree bilingually.

The other engineering programs that qualified are chemical and mining engineering. At least 50 per cent of the classes in these degrees will be offered in French.

Giroux...