The National Committee for Canadian Francophonie Human Resources Development consists of active members of Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada as well as representatives of federal economic departments. Its mandate is to provide advice in order to influence the policies, programs and services of the federal signatories to foster the development and enhanced vitality of the French linguistic minority communities in Canada.

Across Canada, other organizations also work to support Francophone communities. For instance, in Ontario, the Office of Francophone Affairs, created under the French Language Services Act, is the Ontario Government's main source of expertise on Francophone affairs and French-language services. It provides information on the province's French-speaking population to other levels of government and the public, and co-ordinates the government-wide delivery of French-language services in the 23 areas designated under the French Language Services Act.

West of Ontario, the small, dispersed pockets of French-speaking minorities have two important challenges they must regularly confront:

1. Resisting assimilation in an English-speaking environment that challenges the integrity of Francophone culture and language, and

2. Establishing a support network for all French minorities in Western Canada, most of whom are geographically isolated from each other.

The Internet is a valuable resource to French culture on many levels.

Thanks to Canada's Digital Collections (CDC), some Francophone communities are able to widely distribute information on French-speaking services and publish their local history in digital format on the Internet at reasonable costs. Groups of Francophone students have digitized archives, highlighted historical figures, offered research tools and posted itinerary of activities to learn more about their French heritage and share knowledge.

French-speaking communities west of Ontario have produced four digital collections which include: Manitoba en Filigranes, Saskatchewan Francophone Collections and The Willow Bunch Museum and its Historical Figures. Others are currently in production.

The CDC project allowed the Francophone students to work in a French-speaking environment, an unusual and important opportunity for the students that helps them preserve their culture and their first language. This project also reminds Canadians of our history from the early French settlements in Western Canada to the present.

Here are a few other Canadian organizations that are working to ensure the Internet provides French content of the highest quality to our communities:

If you want access to French for everything from real estate transactions to daily living issues, the Internet may be a powerful tool.