Activities & Achievements
Activities
- Festival du Voyageur
- Mois de la francophonie (launching soon)
Achievements
- FLS Annual Report (see Summary of 2023-2024 below)
- FLS Strategic Plan
Summary of 2023-2024
Active Offer: An invitation to a Positive Client Experience
New look – same concept! Southern Health-Santé Sud’s French Language Services (FLS) team introduced new marketing of Active Offer and rebranding of all FLS resources and tools. Recognizable and attractive bilingual signage for our designated sites/programs/services as well as bilingual identifiers for our workforce – who play a critical role in improving bilingual services – are essential and highlights the concept of active offer to ensure that French-speaking customers have a positive experience.

These illustrations visually identify where French language services may be available and invites the public to request services in the official language of their choice.
Recruitment & Retention for a thriving bilingual workforce
Southern Health-Santé Sud continues to work in collaboration with various local municipalities who are instrumental in our recruitment efforts, supporting us to reach the public and promoting employment opportunities in Southern Health-Santé Sud.
A bilingual presence on social media through various platforms as a means to recruit, contributes to building our network, enhancing recruitment and engagement efforts with the public, educational institutions, students currently enrolled in health studies, community partners and clients as well as stakeholder groups. In Fall 2023, the Recruitment & Retention team launched a new LinkedIn account for Southern Health-Santé Sud to increase awareness of our organization to a new demographic – the business and employment sector. Through this platform, and in partnership with Shared Health, Southern Health-Santé Sud has been able to highlight position advertisements, occupations, as well as work locations.
Our new social media presence allowed for advertising bilingual events such as the “Kitchen Party d’cuisine” at Hôpital Ste-Anne Hospital, “la semaine de la francophonie”, and boosting cross promotion, and information sharing of various stakeholders.
The Recruitment and Retention team participated in several career fairs to highlight various positions and bilingual opportunities in the region and to promote health career choices.
In addition, and in partnership with Santé en français, immersion/francophone schools within Southern Health-Santé Sud received the “Ma carrière en santé” presentation, highlighting health careers within our region.
Connecting with the Community
Southern Health-Santé Sud’s FLS team is dedicated to community engagement efforts pertaining to the vitality of French language services.
The FLS team marked the end of its fiscal year with the introduction of a new tool aimed at raising awareness and education about Manitoba’s Francophonie: the video “De chants et de batailles”. The Francophone cultural awareness Self-Learning educational tool presents some of the great pillars of Manitoba’s heritage and some of the defining moments in the history of French in Manitoba.
There’s nothing like a good Kitchen Party!
As part of the Mois de la Francophonie, the FLS team hosted its first ‘Kitchen Party d’cuisine’ at one of the designated bilingual health sites, Ste. Anne Hospital, in March 2024.
This new cultural awareness event aims to increase knowledge and understanding of Franco-Manitoban culture, strengthen ties with the larger Francophone community and highlight the uniqueness of Manitoba’s Francophonie.
Staff were introduced to some basic elements that reflect the Francophone community in its diversity. They experienced Franco Manitoban’s famous “joie de vivre!” through traditional music & dance by local artists and sweet snacks prepared by local food providers.
Southern Health-Santé Sud continues to carry its mandate and remains committed to maintaining and engaging with stakeholders/partners by participating in the following meetings and highlighting areas that require additional attention and improvement of the provision of health services in French:
- Santé en français: Table des gestionnaires, Working groups, and Table de concertation rurale du Sud
- Shared Health: Provincial Francophone Health Tables; Provincial Language Access Advisory Committee
- Advisory Council for the Comité consultatif de l’École des sciences infirmières et des études de la santé de l’Université de Saint-Boniface
- Manitoba Francophone Immigration Network – Community Advisory Board
Over the course of 2023-2024, Southern Health-Santé Sud actively participated in several provincial initiatives including, but not limited to the following:
Collaborative work with Shared Health – Francophone Health and Santé en français included: Active participation in the development of a provincial linguistic insecurities campaign launched in early 2024.
The Difference en français campaign was designed to overcome barriers that may prevent French speakers from using the French language in their care protocol. The campaign aims to help employees gain more confidence using their French-language skills with Francophone patients and clients by addressing linguistic insecurity in the workplace.
Sustainable FLS Model
Expansion of regional services = new opportunities for the inclusion of services in French!
Adhering to Southern Health-Santé Sud’s strong FLS policies for the designation of bilingual positions and acknowledging the commitment to bilingual services within the organization’s leadership team, new designations of the following programs/services have been introduced:
- Dialysis Unit at Bethesda Regional Health Centre (opened in October 2023)
- Operating Room at Bethesda Regional Health Centre
- Mobile Withdrawal Management Services
The introduction of bilingual services within these regional programs/services will be gradually implemented with a long-term goal of building bilingual capacity and addressing the needs of the Francophone community.
The FLS team developed a toolkit for SH-SS Provincial Clinical Team Leads outlining the key points in relation to FLS integration within clinical planning and implementation of the Clinical Preventative Services Plan.
27 employees successfully completed French language training through the Université de Saint-Boniface in this current fiscal year. Additional in-house language training support (e.g. Rosetta Stone) was also provided to staff.
50% of designated bilingual positions (excluding vacant positions) in Southern Health-Santé Sud are filled by bilingual incumbents
Southern Health-Santé Sud
516 designated bilingual positions
222 designated bilingual positions filled by bilingual incumbents (50%)
222 designated bilingual positions filled by non-bilingual incumbents
72 designated bilingual positions – vacant
Villa Youville (Independent Agency)
140 designated bilingual positions
81 designated bilingual positions filled by bilingual incumbents
59 designated bilingual positions filled by non-bilingual incumbents
1 designated bilingual position(s) – vacant
(March 2024)
Translations statistics
Translation requests – 110 requests (2023-24)
Number of words translated – 42 276 words