Francophone Discoveries Communities

Manitoba

Features

In 2021, Manitoba had 36,740 people with French as their mother tongue and 110,435 bilingual people. More than half of Manitoba’s Francophone population lives in the City of Winnipeg.

Organization representing the Francophone population

Founded in 1968, the Société de la francophonie manitobaine (SFM) is the official representative organization of the Manitoba’s Francophone community. It works to enhance the community’s vitality and lobbies for the full respect of its rights. In cooperation with its partners, the Société plans, facilitates and promotes the community’s overall development.

The SFM’s mission is threefold:

  1. To promote the full recognition and use of French in Manitoba.
  2. To advocate for the right to communicate and flourish in French before all levels of government.
  3. To ensure the availability of a full range of services in French.

Immigration

L’Accueil francophone is an SFM initiative that was established in 2003 to help Francophone newcomers settle in Manitoba. It welcomes Francophone newcomers, helps them settle into the community, informs them of and helps them access the services and programs offered in the community and, lastly, raises the host community’s awareness of the importance of getting involved in helping newcomers. L’Accueil francophone is a member of the Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba.

Tourism

Come discover Manitoba’s Francophone communities and tourist attractions. From Saint-Boniface to La Broquerie, through Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Saint‑Georges and Saint-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba will captivate you as much by its natural landscapes as by its Francophone culture and communities.

By visiting Manitoba’s 15 bilingual municipalities, you can learn a great deal about the long and remarkable history and rich culture of the Franco-Manitoban community.

Manitoba is also known for its festivals, notably the Festival du Voyageur, the largest winter festival in Western Canada, which takes place in February in Saint‑Boniface, in the heart of Winnipeg’s Francophone community. This unique, 10-day celebration highlights French Canadian culture, traditional foods and, through a variety of performances, music.

Arts and culture enthusiasts can visit several of Manitoba’s museums, including the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Saint‑Boniface Museum and Riel House, which commemorates Louis Riel, Métis leader and founder of the province.

Located in central Canada, Manitoba promises a host of enticing experiences, activities and attractions.

For further details, consult Salut Canada, Passion et Histoire (Saint-Boniface) and Bonjour Manitoba.

Education

In Manitoba, French-language education is available from preschool to graduate school.

Preschool-aged children can be enrolled in French child care centres. School‑aged children wanting to learn French have two options: French schools in the Franco-Manitoban School Division (DSFM) and French immersion schools. In 2021, Manitoba had 24 French-language schools in the DSFM and 114 immersion schools from 25 different school divisions distributed across the province.

To pursue post-secondary education in French in Manitoba, the Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) is the institution of choice. In fact, it is both the province’s French-language university and western Canada’s oldest post‑secondary institution. USB houses both a university and a Technical College.