Literacy Ambassadors: Our Beginnings in Québec City

Updated: May 15, 2024 08:19 AM GMT

United for Literacy

Québec City, QC

Program Manager Joëlle Marion recently spoke with Sylvie Fortin—our first volunteer in Québec City with the Student Literacy Program.

Sylvie began a Bachelor of Education in Preschool and Elementary Education at Laval University in 1994. It was during her second year of studies that she noticed a poster from what was then known as Frontier College/Collège Frontière in Toronto. Intrigued, she decided to call the phone number included on the poster. She expressed her interest in volunteering and later received a canvas bag with basic promotional material: posters and pamphlets.

And so, the adventure began! With these materials, Sylvie recruited four or five people; at first, most of these volunteers were involved in education. This first team started recruiting learners at the Reading Tents on St-Joseph Street (at the time, it was a covered mall), a place that was frequented by people who were without money or, often, homes. The volunteers soon realized that they had to act quickly to... More Detail