On June 1, 2023, Professor Jonathan Paquette took over as Director of the Collège des chaires de recherche sur le monde francophone. Jonathan Paquette teaches in the public administration programs of the École d'études politiques. He holds the Chaire de recherche en francophonie internationale sur les politiques du patrimoine culturel, which aims to contribute to a better understanding of the institutional changes and ethical challenges facing professionals working in cultural organizations in French-speaking countries.

At the helm of the Collège, Professor Paquette intends to continue the development begun by his predecessor, building on his mission to promote and disseminate knowledge in French within the University, but also throughout the Canadian and international Francophonie. He intends to make the Collège a meeting place for chairholders and young francophone researchers alike.

The director’s role is to call upon researchers within the network of Francophone chairholders and others who work on the Francophonie here and elsewhere. The director also strives to make the CCRMF a dynamic force within the University, and together with the chairholders, to actively foster the excellence of Francophone research and the dissemination of scholarship in French. CCRMF leadership is also involved in several University projects and committees; it defends the need for research in French and promotes its development wherever and whenever possible.

In June 2023, the University of Ottawa appointed Professor Jonathan Paquette as director of the CCRMF. As a professor at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences and a chairholder himself, Professor Paquette is responsible for overseeing the development of synergies between the researchers in this network and other researchers studying the French-speaking world.

The CCRMF and the research chairs are funded by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation and are also supported by the Office of the Vice-President, International and Francophonie.

The CCRMF works in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Canadian Francophonies (CRCCF) (Website in French only), the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Citizenship and Minorities (CIRCEM) and the Centre on Governance (COG). The Observatory on education in minority language contexts is an initiative directed by Professor Nathalie Bélanger of the Faculty of Education. The goal of the Observatory is to mobilize knowledge and share emerging research with teachers to improve educational practices in schools.

The CCRMF collaborates with many organizations that share the same interests in and concerns for the Francophonie, scholarship in French, and the development of Francophone cultures and societies. These include the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities, Acfas and the Chaire pour le développement de la recherche sur la culture d’expression française en Amérique du Nord (CEFAN) (Website in French only).

The CCRMF extends its international commitment to science in French by establishing collaborations and carrying out projects with the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the Réseau International des Chaires Senghor de la Francophonie (RICSF, in French) and the Institut international pour la Francophonie (2iF, in French).