Date | Event |
---|---|
1793 | Alexander McKenzie’s expedition: six of his ten crew members were French-Canadian. |
1807 | A group of French-Canadians Voyageurs founded Fort George, today Prince George. |
1848–1849 | The French religious schools served Aboriginal, Métis and French-Canadian children. |
1860–1890 | The French clergy, nuns (Soeurs Sainte-Anne de Québec) and priests established schools around the province (Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Mission, Williams Lake, Kamloops and Cranbrook). |
1871 | The public school system is created in British Columbia. |
1910 | French-Canadians from Eastern Canada arrive. The first French catholic school, the école Notre-Dame de Lourdes, opens its doors in Maillardville and serves the Francophone community. |
1951 | The two French catholic schools of Maillardville went on strike to demand free transportation, school books and financing. |
1964 | The Fédération canadienne-française de la Colombie-Britannique (FCFCB) concentrates its efforts on the establishment of French public schools to be managed by Francophone administrators. |
1968 | Launch of a pilot projet in Coquitlam to offer a French-langue program at the kindergarten level at the Alderson Elementary School. |
1977 | More than 100 years after the creation of a public school system, the government recognized the right of Francophones to be educated in French. |
1979 | The Francophone program (then known as “Programme cadre”) was established in B.C.: 232 students were registered in nine school districts. |
1982 | Adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which recognizes the right of Canadians to be educated in one of the country’s official language (their mother tongue) wherever they reside in Canada. |
1983 | Opening of the école Anne-Hébert in Vancouver: the first French public stand-alone school in B.C. |
1986 | Creation of a new BCTF PSA: Association provinciale des professeurs d’immersion et du programme cadre (APPIPC). |
1986 | The Greater Victoria School Board assumes control of école Victor-Brodeur located on the military base in Esquimalt, making it the second French public stand-alone school. |
1987 | The third French public stand-alone school, l’école André Piolat, opened in North Vancouver. |
1995 | The Ministry of Education announced the creation of a Francophone School District, the Conseil scolaire francophone (Francophone Education Authority/FEA). The Board has responsibility for French as a first language education throughout BC. |
1998 | The FEA assumed responsibility for hiring its own teachers–the BCTF created a new local (93). |
2006 | The Conseil scolaire francophone offers Francophone education and services in 39 schools around the province of which 20 are stand-alone. It now offers a francophone program in Nelson (kindergarten to grade 2) and at Penticton Secondary (grade 9). Current CSF enrolment is above 3,800 students, up from 1,800 in 1996, an increase of 112 %. |
2009 | The CSF counts 3,500 students, 38 schools of which 23 are stand-alone and provides education from kindergarten to grade 12, école Virtuelle, International Baccalaureate and just signed a five years Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement to cover all jurisdiction. The number of subscriptions increases by more than 3% every years and its schools are overflowing. |
2010 | The CSF and the Fédération des parents francophones launch a legal action to force the Province to recognize its constitutional rights and to give the appropriate means to meet its obligation. |
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History of the CSF
French-Canadians and Francophones have been in British Columbia for many years. All along they demanded that their children receive a French-language education. Even though some Francophone students were able to attend French classes early on, it is only in 1982 – when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom was adopted – that it became a constitutional right for Francophone parents to have their children educated in French anywhere in Canada.