GNWT working to improve French-language primary care services

The NWT government says it is working to improve access to French-language primary healthcare services following an audit.

The territory has released its formal response to a 2024 compliance audit focused on those services in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith.

Prairie Research Associates conducted the audit and assessed compliance with the GNWT’s 2023-28 strategic plan as well as its 2024 standards on French-language communications and services.

“Accessing care in the language you are most comfortable using matters for understanding and quality of care,” stated health minister Lesa Semmler.

“This audit helps us identify where francophone patients face barriers and guides practical improvements to how French-language primary care services are delivered across the Northwest Territories.”

The audit included four main recommendations and five sub-recommendations to improve French-language services in NWT primary care.

Recommendations include increasing recruitment of French-speaking professionals, improving communication with the public, increasing internal and public awareness of interpretation tools and resources, and continuing to monitor client experience.

The NWT government said the territorial and Hay River health and social services authorities, as well as the Francophone Affairs Secretariat, are working to address those recommendations.

The GNWT said that work includes:

• improving recruitment strategies for French-speaking healthcare workers through targeted partnerships and job advertising;
• launching a communications campaign to improve public understanding and delivery of French-language health services; and
• improving front-line staff training, protocols and tools to support French-language service delivery.

The GNWT said action already taken includes participating in national conversations on improving workforce mobility and streamlining licensing processes, as well as finding ways to support investment and capacity in front-line French-speaking staff.

“By working closely with our Franco-Ténois partners and acting on these recommendations, we are strengthening how services are offered and delivered, improving access, and ensuring the system continues to respond to the needs of Francophone residents,” stated Caitlin Cleveland, the NWT minister responsible for languages.

According to language indicators from the 2021 census, 1,475 people in the NWT reported French as a mother tongue, 615 people said they spoke French most often at home, and 4,395 people said they could conduct a conversation in French.

Of French speakers in the territory, the majority lived in Yellowknife followed by Hay River, Inuvik and Fort Smith.