Our History

1917

The Association canadienne-française d’éducation de l’Ontario, ACFÉO, was created in 1910 to fight Regulation 17, which prohibited the use of French as a language of instruction in Ontario schools. Senator Napoléon Belcourt was its president.

1927

In 1917, the ACFÉO brought together thousands of students on Parliament Hill to demand that the federal government repeal Regulation 17. Over the years, the ACFÉO led more than 200 legal actions on this issue which is essential to the survival of Franco-Ontarians. Napoléon Belcourt represented the Ottawa Separate School Board before the Supreme Court of Ontario and also argued this case at the London Privy Council in 1916.

1969

In 1927, Regulation 17 was abandoned following the recommendations of the Merchant-Scott-Côté report. In 1929, the economic crisis struck and the ACFÉO had to face problems that diverged from the education realm. The association supported the creation of various organizations, including the Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens, the Association des commissaires des écoles bilingues de l’Ontario, the Association de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne and the Fédération des associations de parents et instituteurs.

1970

In 1969, additional issues surfaced, including health, arts and culture, and the organization was renamed ACFO. The ACFO created a sociocultural program as well as eight regional cultural centres. In 1977, the association presented an action plan and chose 32 objectives, of which the three central areas were politics, education and bilingualism. The ACFO succeeded in bringing to fruition the first comprehensive development plan.

2004

In 2003, the Department of Canadian Heritage requested a repositioning study from the ACFO.

In 2004, the Baastel and Matte reports came to be following consultations with the Franco-Ontarian community. Following these reports, a committee made up of community representatives, Francophone racial and ethnocultural minorities, the boards of directors of both the provincial ACFO and the DECCO, studied the needs expressed by the community. The objective that emerged from all parties was to create an organization that is more representative, more inclusive and stronger for all Franco-Ontarians. The committee then leaned on the ACFO’s political network and assumed the responsibility of managing the DECCO’s funding in order to create the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario in 2006.