45

This paper reports on the case of a student enrolled in the French Immersion Studies (Régime d’immersion en français, RIF) program at the University of Ottawa. It aims to shed light on this student’s representations and how these are linked to the stated objectives of Canada’s official bilingualism policies. Conducting semi-structured interviews with this student enabled us to produce a detailed picture of her personal experiences and her academic, social, and professional trajectory in order to determine the contribution of university immersion programs and the language policies advocated by the Canadian government, as well as the potential links between their effects. The results show the impact of a university immersion program on the student’s language skills, but they also highlight the identity building that results from the desire to study in French, to integrate into the French-speaking community, and to defend bilingualism as a value that enables the creation of a diverse linguistic imaginary, one that is open to the possibilities of a bilingual and multilingual Canada.