Simon Fraser University's French Cohort Program: How the Bilingual Track Works

What the French Cohort Program Is

Simon Fraser University's French Cohort Program (FCP) is a bilingual track inside select undergraduate majors, run through SFU's Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs. Instead of a separate degree, it layers French-language instruction onto an existing major, with 65 to 80 percent of your courses taught in French, according to SFU's Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs .

SFU pairs the cohort with a Political Science major, or French and Francophone Studies major and minor combinations, and mandatory history and Indigenous-studies coursework is built into that curriculum rather than offered as a separate paired major. You graduate with your regular degree plus a documented, intensive French-language component built into your transcript.

Step 1: Check Your French Level Before You Apply

The program targets students with intermediate to advanced French, most commonly graduates of French immersion programs or francophone high schools. If your French is at a beginner level, the cohort's course load in French is not the right starting point, and SFU's regular French department offers lower-level courses instead.

Graduates of a Quebec CEGEP or a francophone high school outside British Columbia typically clear this bar without extra preparation. A BC student coming from a standard French immersion track should also qualify, though a student with only core French classes through high school likely needs to build more proficiency before the placement test.

Step 2: Apply to SFU and Select the Cohort

You apply to SFU through the university's standard undergraduate admission process, then declare your interest in the French Cohort Program alongside your intended major, such as political science. The cohort is not a separate admission stream with its own acceptance bar beyond SFU's general entry requirements, but it does require you to opt in once you are enrolled.

Talk to the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs early, ideally before your first semester, since some French-taught sections fill up and course sequencing works better when you plan your full four years around the cohort from the start rather than joining partway through.

Step 3: Take the French Placement Test

Before you start cohort coursework, SFU runs a French language placement test to confirm your level matches the program's demands. This step exists because the cohort's courses are taught at full academic pace in French, not as a language-learning course, so the university checks you can follow lectures, readings and assignments in French from day one.

If you do not clear the placement bar on your first attempt, ask your advisor about a preparatory route, such as taking one or two French-taught electives outside the cohort first to build confidence before committing to the full course load.

Step 4: Build a Schedule Around French-Taught Courses

Once placed, you build your degree around a required minimum of 73 units taught in French, according to SFU's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences . This includes core major courses delivered in French rather than English, so your course selection each term needs more planning than a standard English-taught degree, particularly around which sections and instructors teach in French in a given semester.

Work with your program advisor each term rather than registering on your own, since French-taught sections of a required course sometimes run only once a year. Missing that single offering can push a graduation requirement back a full year if you are not tracking the schedule closely.

Step 5: Complete an Exchange or Francophone University Term

The 73-unit requirement can include courses taken at a francophone university in Canada or abroad through an exchange, and the program is structured to include this kind of term. This gives you direct immersion outside SFU's Burnaby campus, on top of the French-taught courses you take at home.

Exchange placements typically run for a semester or a full academic year at a partner francophone university, and courses completed there count toward your SFU degree once approved by your advisor in advance. Confirm course equivalencies before you travel, not after, so credits transfer cleanly into your 73-unit requirement.

What You Get at Graduation

You finish with your chosen major (commonly political science), a French and Francophone Studies minor, and a documented record of French-taught coursework that goes well beyond a standard language requirement. That combination signals genuine working fluency to employers and graduate programs, not just completed language courses.

Why the Cohort Is Worth the Extra Planning

A standard second-language requirement at most Canadian universities amounts to a few introductory courses, not full academic study in that language. SFU's cohort asks more of you week to week, but it produces a transcript that shows sustained French-language academic work across a full degree, not a handful of language electives.

That record matters for federal public service roles designated bilingual, for graduate programs in Quebec or francophone institutions abroad, and for employers in translation, international relations or bilingual customer-facing sectors. A cohort transcript backs up a fluency claim with actual coursework, rather than a self-reported skill on a resume.