As real estate agents who know a whole lot about schools, our clients ask us about French Immersion programs at Catholic schools in Brampton quite frequently. Our clients feel that French Immersion schools provide “better education”, and this is based on EQAO stats through recent years. This is not without merit. At public schools in Oakville and York Region, where you can directly regionally-compare the EQAO pass-rates of French Immersion students vs. English-track students, we found a 17% difference in performance in 2014. Does that mean that FI students perform 17% better than English-track students? Not necessarily, as the program does indeed attract students from (generally) more-concerned parents. But the numbers are certainly intriguing.

Should you put your own child into French Immersion? Perhaps this article and this article and also this article can help you with your decision.

Here is information about the French Immersion programs at Catholic schools in Brampton…

• In Brampton, French Immersion for Catholic schools starts in Grade One, where children spend 90% of their day learning subjects in French and 10% learning in English. In grades 2 and 3, the children learn 70% in French, and 30% in English. And starting Grade 4 all the way to Grade 8, the learning in each language is 50/50 (50% learning in English, 50% learning in French). The program is then continued at select Catholic secondary schools in Peel Region.
• Getting into the French Immersion program at the Grade One level in Brampton is not easy at all. Because of the popularity of the program, there is a lottery after the application period ends to determine who can get in, and who can’t. You are allowed to apply to more than one school to improve your chances, but note the transportation is not provided to those students living outside the school’s regular boundary.
• For a fuller breakdown of the Catholic French Immersion program, please visit the Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board’s FI web-page HERE. Please note that there is a registration deadline for French Immersion (for September placement), and that date is usually in mid-February.
• A list of the Catholic schools in Brampton that offer French Immersion programs is at the bottom of this page. (We have chosen not to rank them, at this time.)

RELATED: The Public French Immersion program in Brampton

Why such a demand for French Immersion? Perhaps a comment from “Willy999” on the cbc.ca forums puts it best… He wrote:
“Some of the demand for French Immersion comes from parents who view the program as a better learning environment for their children as opposed to a program that stresses French. The program is viewed as a “private school” within the public system. The demand for French Immersion could be reduced by offering these parents an alternative English based program.”

It is true that schools with French Immersion programs generally do better in the EQAO tests than schools without. Is this indicative of the level of education given, or is it just that they attract a “smarter” student? We believe it is more of the latter. However, we still recommend these French Immersion schools to our clients as most parents would prefer to have their children be influenced by peers who do well in school.

THERE IS SO MUCH TO KNOW about Catholic French Immersion in Brampton, including the crazy boundaries that may change from year to year! Be very careful when moving to Brampton that you know exactly where your child is going to be attending.

Here is the list of the 4 Catholic elementary schools in Brampton that currently offer the French Immersion program:

CATHOLIC FRENCH IMMERSION SCHOOLS IN BRAMPTON (Sept. 2024)

Here is a list of the Catholic High Schools in Brampton that currently offer the French Immersion program:

• Cardinal Leger SS