BCACC to support RésoSanté's first Francophone community health centre in British Columbia

French-speaking RCCs can now provide mental health services to the Francophone community of BC through the Santé Ouest health centre.

VICTORIA, BC, Sept. 16, 2025 /CNW/ - The BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) continues its collaboration with RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique to extend mental health services to the Francophone community in British Columbia. In the fall of 2024, RésoSanté opened Santé Ouest in Vancouver – the first Francophone community health centre in BC with an aim to promote equity of access to French-language healthcare services by reducing language barriers for French-speaking populations.

The BCACC collaborated with RésoSanté to create and validate a list of Francophone Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCCs) capable of supporting French-speaking patients visiting the health centre. RésoSanté can now refer patients to RCCs who are not only French speakers, but also members in good standing who have cleared BCACC's stringent entry to practice standards. As a result of this collaboration, RésoSanté and the BCACC now have a list of French-speaking mental health professionals available to the public.

Nearly 330,000 individuals in British Columbia are French speakers. With Santé Ouest, offering bilingual services, this expands health care to not only French speakers, but to the wider population of BC.

RésoSanté and Santé Ouest Executive Director, Nour Enayeh says "Our partnership with BCACC mark a turning point for the Francophone community in British Columbia. French speakers can now access mental health services in their own language, delivered by qualified professionals who understand their cultural and linguistic realities."

BCACC CEO, Michael Radano says "I congratulate RésoSanté on their incredible achievement of opening the first community health centre for Francophones in BC. Language should not be a barrier when accessing mental health services and our collaboration aligns with our vision of better public access for all. We look forward to supporting the Francophone community through our RCCs."

BCACC: The BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) is a not-for-profit provincial professional association founded in 1988 with more than 10,000 members. BCACC advocates for the clinical counselling/psychotherapy profession and public access to mental health services. Its 8000+ Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCCs) are held to the highest standards of practice and a strict code of ethics in service and protection of the public which includes a robust complaint, inquiry, and remedial process.  https://bcacc.ca

RésoSanté: RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique is a provincial non-profit organization that helps connect all health stakeholders to better serve the province's Francophones. It supports and advocates with the provincial Ministry of Health for the health of the Francophone community of British Columbia. Its vision is to ensure Francophones in British Columbia have access to quality health and wellness services in French that are adapted to their needs. More information - https://resosante.ca/ 

SOURCE BC Association of Clinical Counsellors