Parlez-vous franais? If so, the 2025 Canada Games needs you

Thousands of athletes, coaches and their family members will make their way to St. John's for the Canada Games in 2025, a national amateur sporting event ran over two weeks.

But one aspect off the field is already proving challenging for the organizers: a lack of French speakers.

The Games needs an estimated5,000 volunteers,500 of whom need to be able to speak French. That's a challenge in a province where, according to Statistics Canada, just 0.4 per cent of the population hasFrench as their first language and only 5.4 per cent say they are bilingual.

"There's no doubt it's going to require a large effort to go get the maximum francophone and bilingual anglophones out there to make this work," said Peter Smith, a member of the board of directors for the Canada Games host society in St. John's.

Challenges aside, Smith said he's optimistic they will get enough French speakers in time for the Games.

"There's a strong system in place and organization to make sure that we take that objective very seriously," Smith said.

"We get out there and we let the public know that we really want as many francophone and francophile to come and participate in these Games."

Karen Sherriffs, CEO of the 2025 Canada Games host society, said a great deal of interest already exists among prospective bilingual volunteers.

Some bilingual athletes have already signed on to volunteertheir time during the Games Sherriffs said, andother plans are underway to ensure there will be enough competent French speakers.

"We're really building some strategies around recruitment," shesaid. "People who may need a little touch-up on their French,what are some initiatives and activities we could do to help with that?"

Sherriffssaid they're also connecting with groups of French speakers from outside the province who might like to help.

"We're bringing the country together here," she said.

As for what tasks the volunteers are needed for, there's a wide range of possibilities, including merchandise sales and medical professionals.

"We'll need people driving vehicles from our motor pool perspective, standing at our transportation hub and helping teens, in venues, ticketing, minor technical officials," Sherriffs said.

"Food services, you're feeding almost 700 people an hour throughout the course of 18 days. Just imagine the dining hall at Memorial University, how busy that's going to be."

Preparations are well underway throughout St. John's, with$40 million being spent on an indoor multipurpose facility and a new outdoor track and field facility.

As well, costly repairs and renovations are underway at places like the Riverdale Tennis Club and the Aquarena, which was built for the last time St. John's hosted the Canada Games, in 1977.

"We really want to make sure our venues are the highest quality standards they can be," said Sherriffs.

The Games are slated forAugust 2025.

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