Welcome to Hawkesbury

Hello and welcome to the new Living in Hawkesbury blog!

You may not know us yet, so allow us to introduce our town! Hawkesbury was one of 14 Canadian communities selected in 2019 to become a Welcoming Francophone Community. Under this initiative, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is building partnerships to help French-speaking newcomers feel more at home in their communities. Hawkesbury is part of this project and is actively working to make our town a welcoming place for Francophones of all origins.

What is a WFC?

WFC stands for “Welcoming Francophone Community.”

As the name implies, a WFC is a community that welcomes French-speaking newcomers. But that’s not all! A WFC is a big Francophone family that embraces open-mindedness and promotes values such as respect, mutual aid, compassion, equality, and much more.

Why Hawkesbury?

That’s a great question!

Hawkesbury is a rural Ontario town with deep Francophone roots. According to the last census, it has a population of 11,715 inhabitants, 91 percent of whom are fluent in French and 67 percent of whom speak Canada’s two official languages. Every service in the town and region is provided in both French and English. What’s more, we have a number of associations and organizations dedicated to helping the local community grow and thrive, by assisting residents in finding jobs, housing, schools and more.

Five reasons why the IRCC chose Hawkesbury

• The city is located between two major cities: Ottawa, Ontario (our nation’s capital) and Montréal, Québec. This explains why the French language and French heritage are so important to our community.
• The region is overflowing with fun and exciting tourist attractions, easily accessible by car and all within a 100-kilometre radius.
• We have space… and lots of it! The air is clean, we enjoy four distinct seasons, and we’re surrounded by breathtaking landscapes including mountains, forests, meadows and rivers.
• We have specialized, accessible, high-quality health care services that are constantly being improved through innovation.
• Finally, our region is known for its well-established commercial and agri-food industries. These sectors continue to grow, with an ever-present demand for new labour providing a steady stream of attractive business opportunities.

The purpose of this blog

This blog has been launched to connect with Hawkesbury residents and with people looking to move here. Our sizable team is devoted to helping French-speaking immigrants feel at home in our town. We’ll be publishing articles on a wide variety of topics related to newcomer integration and settlement in our region, so be sure to check back regularly.

In the meantime, follow us on social media so you don’t miss a thing!