Camp Franco-Fun wins Municipal Ovation award

The Ville de Vaudreuil-Dorion is proud to announce that Camp Franco-Fun has captured the attention of the Ovation municipale 2025 jury, winning the award in the Culture and Recreation category at the Union des municipalités du Québec conference, held from May 14 to 16 at the Quebec City Convention Centre.

Last March, the jury selected 20 projects from among the 124 submitted by municipalities. The projects were assessed on the basis of the innovative nature of the approach and the results, the potential for transfer or adaptability, the impact on the community and the extent to which resources and the community were optimised and mobilised.

Offered for the first time in 2022, Camp Franco-Fun is a day camp program designed for allophone children in Vaudreuil-Dorion to enable them to continue developing skills in French during the summer, through a day camp specially dedicated to them. It is intended as a tool for social and linguistic integration through leisure activities. The program is the result of a collaborative effort between the City, Animation Jeunesse and the Centre de services scolaire des Trois-Lacs. Two other partners joined the project in 2024: Réseaux and the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Children’s Foundation. In the summer of 2024, 45 children aged between 5 and 12 benefited from this two-week service.

“This award testifies to our City’s ongoing commitment to fostering inclusion and living together. Camp Franco-Fun is a concrete example of an initiative that makes a real difference in the lives of our young citizens and their families. I’m delighted that our team had the opportunity to present this inspiring project at the conference. I’d like to congratulate all those who have contributed in any way to making it a reality,” declared Mayor Guy Pilon.

Over the past year, Camp Franco-Fun has already won the Jury’s Coup de cœur award at the Gala Nomina, which celebrates excellence and innovation in the field of recreation and sport in Montérégie, as well as the OTIUM trophy from the Association québécoise du loisir municipal in the Municipalities or boroughs of 25,000 to 74,999 inhabitants category.

“Camp Franco-Fun was born of a real desire to meet the needs of our allophone community by offering a safe, fun, stimulating environment entirely in French. This award recognizes the efforts of our passionate team, who believe that recreation and culture can change lives,” added Vincent Bastien, Director of the Service des loisirs et de la culture.

About the Ovation municipale award

Since 2005, the UMQ’s Ovation municipale award has been a highly sought-after recognition of the work of municipalities, MRCs and municipal organizations that have put forward original solutions to optimally meet the needs of their communities. It is aimed at all municipalities, boroughs and MRCs, as well as non-profit municipal organizations in Quebec.