La Francophonie

Some 200 million people use French in their daily lives worldwide.

Most of these individuals are represented by their heads of state and government within the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). Internationally, the OIF plays a role comparable to that of other multilateral organizations, such as the Commonwealth Secretariat or the Organization of American States. Various specialized agencies support the OIF. Together, these agencies and the OIF constitute the institutions of La Francophonie.

La Francophonie plays a dual political and cooperation role. This role is defined in its Charter (PDF). The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for Canada's participation in La Francophonie. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) contributes to the cooperation initiatives of the OIF and its specialized agencies through CIDA's Francophonie Program. Most member countries of La  Francophonie are developing countries. Next to France, Canada is the second largest donor to La Francophonie.

From October 17 to 19, 2008, the city of Québec hosted the Twelfth - Francophone Summit. This event, which some 5,000 individuals from all over the world attended, was one of the highlights of Québec's official 400th anniversary celebrations.

---

PDF Format

Note: to view a PDF file you need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system.


Charte de la Francophonie (French only) (PDF 97 KB, 8 pages)