MONTREAL — After being called to task by the CRTC for not doing enough to encourage cultural diversity, Quebecor appears to be trying to change the predominantly white face of Quebec film and television.

Earlier this week, the first recipients of a Quebecor student bursary for aboriginal people and visible minorities graduated from the multimedia training program at Montreal’s l’Institut national de l’image et du son. The $20,000 bursary was divided among three students — Emmanuelle Amoni, Marie-Monique Jean-Baptiste and Maria Zarif — to cover tuition.

‘We think this is important,’ says Jean Hamel, a spokesperson for INIS. ‘We want to increase enrollment from students from cultural communities. We want to encourage them to pursue a career in film and television.’

In a 2005 letter, the CRTC criticized Quebecor for not taking concrete steps to increase cultural diversity at TVA, its subsidiary and the province’s most popular French-language broadcaster.

Quebecor head Pierre Karl Peladeau says the new program will make a difference. ‘It will facilitate the education of a new generation of professionals capable of writing for both television and new media, which is something we need in the future,’ he said in a statement. Quebecor created the bursary in August.