About Collège-Nordique

Teaching by and for Northerners

Collège Nordique, located in Yellowknife, is the only educational institution North of 60 where you can develop your language and professional skills or pursue post-secondary studies in French. In person or online. Right here in the North.

When it was founded in Yellowknife in 2011, Collège Nordique had a vision: to contribute to the vitality of the francophone community in the North by offering quality education that promotes cultural and linguistic diversity and inclusion.

Our varied programs are destined to the NWT community and to everybody who wants to learn more about the Northern culture. With us, students can pursue post-secondary studies in French or professional development, improve their language skills or learn more about their community. They can learn individually or in groups, in person or online. Whatever our students choose, they can count on our deeply rooted values of creativity, diversity, commitment and pride.

Our team reflects our community

Collège Nordique is a non-profit organization funded in part by the Northwest Territories Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

Elected at our Annual General Meeting, the members of our Board of Directors represent our Northern francophone and francophile community. The following directors are responsible for establishing the priorities and strategic organization of our institution:

  • Angélique Ruzindana Umunyana, Ph.D. présidente, conseillère principale de programme
  • Marc Akpoé, vice-président , contrôleur financier
  • Marie-Christine Bélair, secrétaire-trésorière, Analyste principale des politiques
  • Marie-Ève Dugré, administratrice, gestionnaire principale de programme
  • Lynn Hjartarson, administratrice, avocate




Our staff includes key employees who serve our customers and manage our day-to-day operations:

Patrick Arsenault

Executive Director 
direction@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext 111

Marie-France Lanteigne

Training and Student Success Director
mflanteigne@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 106

Michael Brophy

Operations and Strategic Initiatives Manager
mbrophy@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 108

Rosie Benning

Language School Manager
rbenning@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 103

Lucille Lévy

Project Manager
llevy@college-nordique.com| (867) 920-7017 Ext. 105

Natacha St Vignes

Communications, Marketing and Community Engagement Manager
communications@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 109

Dominique Poirier

Student Services and Community Engagement Coordinator
dpoirier@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 117

Valérie Lobe Manga

Administration and Finance Coordinator
vlobemanga@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 107

Damien Frelat

Senior Teaching and Learning Coordinator
dfrelat@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 102

Jonathan Pitre

Project Manager
jpitre@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 104

Zouhoura Hadji

Marketing and Content Creation Officer
zhadji@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 114

Steve Mbita

Administrative Assistant
smbita@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 116


Last, but certainly not least, the qualified, passionate individuals who make up our faculty: 

Tamlin Gilbert

LINC Instructor
tgilbert@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 113

Sarah French

LINC Instructor
sfrench@college-nordique.com | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 112

  • Margarita Sánchez Ovando, French and Spanish | (867) 920-7017 Ext. 115
  • Natalia Pérez Pedraza, French and Spanish
  • Diane Poisson, French
  • Edgar Sánchez, Spanish
  • Georgina Franki, Tłı̨chǫ
  • Lucero Hernandez, French and Spanish
  • Rosie Benning, French
  • Sylvie Rochette, French
  • Isabel Candela, French and Spanish

For more information, please see our Documents section.