[The society "Santé en Français": a successful Canadian model for partnership]

Francophone Canadians living in a context where French is a minority language have poor access to health services in their native language. To remedy this situation, the Canadian Government has adopted a networking model inspired from the strategy "Towards Unity For Health" (TUFH) elaborated by the World Health Organization (WHO). This model, used since 2001, has given rise to a large number of partnership networks covering the entire regions where minority Francophones live. In this model five key stakeholders in health are being involved: health professionals, communities, managers of health care institutions, educational institutions and governments. The Canadian Federal Government, in close collaboration with communities, directed the project through two non-for-profit agencies: the Sociéte Santé en Français (SSF) and the Consortium National de Formation en Santé (CNFS), sharing a common vision and aiming at improving access to health services and hence health status of minority Francophones. The networking following the TUFH model created a lot of opportunities as well as many challenges to overcome.