Our mission

The Alliance Française of Vancouver is part of the global network of French Language schools, that has more than 1,000 independent committees in over 130 countries, teaching over 400,000 students.

The Alliance has 3 missions:

- To offer French courses in France and world-wide, to all audiences

- To raise awareness of French and French-speaking world cultures, in all of their dimensions

- To promote cultural diversity by highlighting all cultures

The Alliance Française of Vancouver was founded in 1904. [To read more about our history, click here] We are a Canadian non-profit educational and cultural association, managed by a Board of Directors and elected by its members. Our centre has 2,000 students and members and is the third largest Alliance in North America.

The mission of our organization is to promote cultural exchanges and to introduce our students to the Francophone world in all its diversity. Besides the library, rich with 10,000 references, we offer you monthly events such as movie with dinner or coffee and croissants or exhibitions that allow the students and French speaking people to get together.

As a member of our association you get free access to the library and movie shows, discounts for some cultural activities organized by the Alliance but also special rates or gifts from our partners. You will also receive our newsletter to learn about the Alliance program.

Act around the world

The Foundation supports good governance in the Alliances. It has experts organized by geographical zones, capable to react and give advice to an Alliance Française when it encounters a difficulty.

Serve the French language

Twelve permanent collaborators work at the Foundation. Its Board of Directors includes prominent personalities such as Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, permanent secretary of the Académie française, writer Erik Orsenna, journalist Bernard Pivot. Its sponsors, CIC-Banque Transatlantique, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, the Cordon Bleu, Total are active. Its main contributors, among whom is Pierre Moussa, founder of Paribas, also have a seat there.

Promote cultural diversity

Through its series  «Alliances in resonance», the Foundation Alliance Française promotes foreign cultures in France. Periodically, artists of one country are in focus in the gallery, the theatre or the auditorium on Boulevard Raspail in Paris. The Foundation encourages the Alliances to value the culture of their host countries.

History

From The Granville School to Alliance Française of Vancouver

In 1896, Marie-Louise Kern, assisted by her sister Aimée Salomé, creates the Granville School, a private boarding school for young girls. As early as 1899, the Alliance Française de Paris subsidizes the purchasing of books for the Granville School and in June 1901 starts awarding medals to the student whose spoken French is particularly remarkable. At the same time, Professor Dongour-Jouty is appointed as a delegate of the Alliance Française de Paris in Vancouver.

On May 4, 1904, Mr. Robert Dupouey, Professor at the University of Paris, is invited by Melle Kern and Mr. Donjour-Jouty. At the end of his conference, he promotes the creation of an Alliance Française branch in Vancouver, which is founded on May 5, 1904. The by-laws are officially registered with the BC Society Registry in Victoria on December 22, 1955.

In 1969, to address the expansion of the association, an Executive Director of the Alliance Française of Vancouver is sent for the first time by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France), upon request of the Consul General of France in Vancouver.

A home for Alliance Française de Vancouver

On March 16, 1968, Charles Bloch-Bauer, President of the Alliance Française of Vancouver, inaugurates the headquarters located on Cambie Street in the presence of dignitaries from British Columbia, Quebec, and France. On April 20, 1989, a second floor is added, with a room dedicated to the library.

Milestones and cultural commitment

March 3, 1979, the Alliance Française of Vancouver celebrates its 75th anniversary. In 1986, Alliance Française participates in the International Expo 86. In November 2003, Alliance Française and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. sign a partnership to offer to a wider public the opportunity to learn Canada's other official language and to know more about the Francophone culture. Classes are opened in Richmond, Burnaby, Downtown Vancouver, and Coquitlam. On May 11, 2004 the Canadian Club of Vancouver awards both organizations the Baldwin-LaFontaine Prize in recognition of their joint efforts to promote French language and culture in British Columbia.

100 years... already

On May 4, 2004, the City of Vancouver congratulates the Alliance Française for its dynamism and involvement in the city's cultural life through a proclamation at the opening of City Council. The Alliance Française de Vancouver had already been recognized as a cultural partner of the City of Vancouver on June 21, 1996. In October 2003, Le Dîner du Siècle, at Four Seasons Hotel, opens a year of festivities to celebrate the Centennial. On May 5, 2004, the Alliance Française commemorates its creation with the launching of 100 years in Vancouver, a Centennial Book that relates the story of the association.

In 2005 the Alliance Française, along with its other major European cultural partners, has received the Prince of Asturias Award, Communications and Humanities. This award is one the most prestigious in Europe.