CCFL: A One-Stop Hub for Francophone Newcomers in London and Beyond

CCFL employees work to help Francophone immigrants integrate and better adapt to the London region and southwestern Ontario.

The main office of Carrefour Communautaire Francophone de London (CCFL) maybe located in a building on Huron Street in northeast London but the service area of this agency, one of eight offering settlement services in the city, is in fact quite vast, expanding to Sarnia to the west of London and Woodstock to the east.

Founded in 1994, CCFL was first named the Centre Communautaire Régional de London before adopting its current name in the summer of 2019 – a change made to better reflect the Francophone aspect of the centre and its goal of becoming a voice for the Francophone community and its culture in the London region.

From only three employees, the agency has grown to close to 80 workers, depending on the time of the year, offering more than a dozen programs to the francophone and francophile community in the area.

Part of that expansion has also come on CCFL’s settlement work, through which the centre offers support to about 400 clients – permanent residents or accepted refugees – from countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Belgium, Brazil and Morocco.

Though in recent years CCFL efforts have centred around supporting newcomers navigating the school system – helping families with tasks like registering their children in school – the agency last year added a settlement worker to its rank.

Serge Kabongo, CCFL’s immigration services manager, and Didier Mwamba Kabongo stand outside the CCFL Salle Nadia Raymond room at CCFL's main offices at 920 Huron St.

This has allowed CCFL to expand some of the support services it offers to the community, including helping families get their Social Insurance Numbers, opening their first bank account in Canada or seeking medical care.

"We are guiding them through all the available resources in the community," said Serge Kabongo, CCFL’s immigration services manager, who described this as a period of growth for the agency.

Though the new position is relatively new, Kabongo said it’s already having a big impact on the community and the way CCFL can support clients.

In the past, when a client had needs that extended beyond the school system services CCFL was able to provide, it meant that the client had to be referred to a different provider.

Now, they can access multiple services in a single location, making it more convenient for newcomers, Kabongo said.

“People are enjoying that instead of coming here for one issue and to another place for something else, they only need to come here,” he said.

"If we receive a client with those needs now, we can help them directly.”

For more information about CCFL’s programs and services, visit www.ccflondon.ca/en/program.