the encyclopedic entry of Franco-Columbian

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Franco-Columbians or Franco-Colombiens are French Canadians or French speaking Canadians (Francophones) living in the Pacific province of British Columbia.

British Columbia is, geographically, the farthest-removed province from Canada's historic francophone population, thus it is not surprising to find that francophone British Columbians are few in number. The 2001 census placed the number of British Columbians with French as a mother tongue at 54,400, a figure well below English (2,825,780), 'other Chinese' (130,330), Cantonese (127,120), Punjabi (121,740) and German (84,605). A good number of these listed francophones would be European and African immigrants or migrants from eastern Canada making the Franco-Columbian community a diverse one encompassing many places of origin and differing roots in the province. The popularity of French immersion education programmes have also meant that the French-speaking population outnumbers the francophone population.

Maillardville

However, francophones have a significant history in the province particularly in the area of Maillardville, a neighbourhood of Coquitlam in suburban Vancouver. In 1909 mill workers were brought from Quebec to Maillardville and their descendants constitute a small and proud community. Today Maillardville describes itself as "a community with a francophone heart" and is home to a number of francophone community organisations, schools, churches, a retirement home, the annual Festival du Bois, and an organization of francophone scouts and guides . Community organizations place the francophone population of the Coquitlam area at 13,000.

Francophone service and community centres elsewhere in the province

Francophone community centres and resources also exist in Vancouver, Prince George, Kelowna, Victoria , Nanaimo and Kamloops.

Education

The province is served by a francophone school board (Le Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique) which operates 40 schools offering education from kindergarten through grade 12 in the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, Okanagan, Kootenays, Prince George, Fraser Valley, and other parts of the province. A large and vibrant French immersion programme, although intended for anglophones, also includes some francophone students. The province hosts an active chapter of Canadian Parents for French (BC-Yukon Branch).

Although French courses, and training for French immersion teaching are offered at the province's universities, there is no bilingual or French-language university in the province. Simon Fraser University, however, offers five degree programmes that can be completed entirely in French . College Educacentre is the province's only French-language college with campuses in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria and Prince George as well as distance education options.

Media

Vancouver-based Radio-Canada television station CBUFT broadcasts throughout the province via relay transmitters, as do French-language radio stations CBUF-FM (Première Chaîne) and, to a lesser extent, CBUX-FM (Espace musique). Other French language media such as CBC's Réseau de l'information, TV5 and MusiquePlus are also available but not locally-based. TVA's owned-and-operated station in Montreal (CFTM-TV) is also available on basic cable. The province previously had a newspaper called Le Soleil de la Colombie-Britannique but it ceased publication in 1998. There is now a newspaper published out of Vancouver called L'Express du Pacifique.

Culture

In addition to Coquitlam's annual Festival du Bois, Canadian Parents for French host an annual French Celebration Week, Francapalooza, a French film festival and French-language youth camps targeting both Francophone and French immersion students. L'Association des Ecrivains de la Colombie Britannique publishes a monthly youth magazine called La Moustique. A French-language theatre group called Theatre la Seizieme is also active in the province as well as the dance troupe Danseurs du Pacifique, and the annual BC Francophone Games. The Conseil Culturel et Artistique de la Colombie Britannique serves as a community organization in the area of arts and culture.