History
In 1977, Canada’s first ever Commissioner of Official Languages, Keith Spicer, met with 28 parents from across Canada who shared a common goal: They wanted their children to learn French as a second language in school. Moreover, they wanted to make sure that their children’s language education would be robust and allow them to flourish in both of Canada’s Official Languages.
Since 1977, CPF has grown from a group of 28 concerned parents into a a proactive national network made up of thousands of passionate voluteers, 11 provincial Branch offices and over 150 Chapters in communities from coast to coast to coast.
Canadian Parents for French BC & Yukon formed in 1978, one year after that first meeting, and has since grown to boast more than 10,000 members, 40 community Chapters, and support thousands of French learners in western Canada.
CPF Burnaby, founded by Deanna Cazes (centre), a parent who wanted her children to enjoy a bilingual education, was one of the first CPF Chapters to spring up in B.C. in the 1970s.
Stories from our Volunteers
In 2015, CPF BC & Yukon reached out to some of the organization’s founding members, to learn what pushed them to devote endless hours of their energy to lobby hesitant politicians for French immersion, stretch their pennies to collect French resources for growing classrooms and work tirelessly to secure a future for French education in Western Canada.
Those stories have been collected in a project called Volunteer Memories.
Watch the video (right) to learn about CPF’s founding, or click through to learn about the early days of French immersion in British Columbia.
Learn more about CPF’s founding 1977 conference by visiting here.
CPF BC & Yukon and French Immersion
French immersion was introduced in 1968 in St. Lambert, QC after a few anglophone parents decided that their children would be better off knowing both French and English. The unprecedented idea was met with resistance but ultimately, Canada’s most popular program of choice was born.
Ten years later, CPF BC & Yukon formed when immersion programs were introduced to BC. Judy Madley, a parent from the original conference in 1977, was named president. With no office and no staff, Madley and fellow volunteers worked tirelessly to fuel the program’s growth. CPF BC & Yukon’s first office opened in 1985 in downtown Vancouver.
CPF and FI Expand
CPF memberships were free at first, with only a few hundred students enrolled in immersion programs around BC. With increased demand for advocacy help and resources, a nominal $5 fee was introduced. Today, annual memberships are $25. Out of that amount, $20 is returned to the member’s local chapter to help put on events that enhance the French learning experience.
Early on, the biggest challenge faced by parents was opposition from school boards. One district even had trustees quit rather than be associated with French immersion. In their eyes, the implementation of a French immersion program could be seen as pandering to Québécois. In spite of these early hardships, the branch and its parent volunteers soldiered on undaunted and the program grew steadily.
Fast forward to the late 1990s and suddenly growth in French immersion started to take off in BC. In 1999, there were 29,979 students enrolled in the province. Almost 20 years later, there are over 50,000 immersion students in BC and over 700 in Yukon.
French immersion programs are thriving in Victoria and Vancouver, Nelson and Prince Rupert, Mill Bay and Campbell River, 100 Mile House and Golden, and in dozens of other communities as well.
Supporting those students are our 40+ chapters who put on extra-curricular events, provide awards and scholarships to students, encourage them to continue studying French after graduation and promote French-second-language programs to ensure there is always interest because—let’s not forget—these are programs of choice that wouldn’t exist unless parents demanded them.
CPF has always advocated for the removal of enrolment barriers so that French-second-language learning is accessible to more students than ever. The intangible benefits of second-language acquisition can sometimes have a huge impact in individual communities.
Community Case Studies
Consider the case of Cranbrook. In recent years, two companies based in Quebec, Tembec and Abitibi, have come to this forest community, becoming major employers. There are now industrial workers and skilled labourers who are learning French to progress in their respective companies and to communicate with fellow employees across the country and the world. Even 10 years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine that learning French would bear any relation to the work being done at the mill in Cranbrook. Now for some workers, it is a necessary part of their livelihood.
Hazelton—total population of 6,000—is home to a unique Indigenous-language and French immersion program. The program began when parents of Indigenous children were willing to consider enrolling them in French immersion, provided that they could also continue to learn their own language, Gitxsanimaax. Now, every student in the school, regardless of heritage, learns 90 minutes of Gitxsanimaax every week. What an inspiring model for the entire country!
Immersion Model Copied around the World
Language education programs in the United States, Finland, Spain, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore, New Zealand and elsewhere all offer similar language instruction programs based off of Canada’s successful immersion model.
CPF Today
There are approximately 285,000 students learning French as a second language in British Columbia. This number includes the 53,000 in French immersion and Intensive French, and 180,000 in Core French. Another 5,000 BC students are enrolled in francophone programs. Another 700+ students in Yukon are in French immersion.
CPF thanks dedicated partners like Canadian Heritage, the BC Ministry of Education, amazingly supportive school districts and teachers, the community at large, and of course, the dedicated parents and students.
There are more challenges ahead for the French language education in BC and Yukon. There is a critical teacher shortage resulting from teachers retiring and not being replaced by a sufficient number of new teachers. Additionally, there still isn’t guaranteed access to French programs in all regions.
Students who speak neither English nor French when they enter public school are discouraged from enrolling in French immersion and there is an inequity of resources available to students with learning difficulties. In many districts, parents are still not included in medium and long-range planning for French programs. As an organization, we are working on all these issues on a daily basis.
CPF Tomorrow
The demand for more French immersion classes and for more qualified French teachers will continue unabated. We will see more and more new Canadians who will want their children to learn both of Canada’s official languages. We will continue to work closer with BC and Yukon’s francophone communities.
The one thing that will not change with CPF is the belief that knowing French and English opens up a world of opportunities for our youth. After learning both of Canada’s official languages, not only are youth more culturally sensitive, but they also develop an ease for travelling anywhere in Canada or around the world and become more open to learning additional languages. CPF BC & Yukon intends to be there every step of the way to help them achieve their bilingual dreams.