What is designation?
 Designation under the French Language Services Act (FLSA) is a legal and administrative process that allows health service providers to demonstrate that they have the capacity to actively offer French language services on a permanent basis while meeting the specific needs of the Francophone population they serve.
Currently, health service providers designated under the FLSA must comply with 20 requirements. These requirements ensure that they have the capacity to provide French language services that are available at all times, offered in an equitable fashion and equivalent to the quality of services offered in English.
 
As legal recognition, designation is rather like a seal of quality for French language health services.
 
What is the Réseau’s approach to designation?
Designation is the Réseau’s preferred mechanism for planning the active offer of quality French language services on a permanent basis in our region.
 
That is why the Réseau guides and supports health and long-term care service providers in the Champlain and South East regions through the designation process.
 
This means that we offer free consulting services to facilitate the designation process for agencies identified to offer French language services. We also help designated agencies maintain compliance with the French Language Services Act (every three years they must submit a statement of compliance to demonstrate that they still meet the requirements of the Act).
 
Following a capacity analysis, the Réseau can also make recommendations to local health authorities on identifying service providers for designation, with the objective of filling the gaps in French language services we find in our catchment area.
 
To learn more:

• Consult the list of agencies designated and identified to provide French-language health services in our region.
• Consult our FAQs: Designation under Ontario’s French Language Services Act.
• Consult our Designation Glossary.