Since 1985, the Association franco-culturelle de Yellowknife has proudly held the title of ambassador of francophone culture within the city of Yellowknife. Its main mandate is to promote, support and encourage the development of Yellowknife’s Francophone community, as well as arts and culture, in a sustainable development perspective.
AFCY is the meeting place for Yellowknife’s francophones and francophiles.
The first francophone association in the Northwest Territories was founded in 1978 in Yellowknife under the name “L’Association culturelle franco-ténoise” (ACFT). At the time, the priority for members was to install an antenna to receive Radio-Canada. Over time, Francophones in other regions of the Northwest Territories began to take an interest in Yellowknife’s activities, and the ACFT gradually extended its services throughout the Territories. On the initiative of ACFT members, a new association is created to serve the capital more specifically. This new association was incorporated on September 18, 1985 under the name “L’Association franco-culturelle de Yellowknife” (AFCY).
From then on, the ACFT concentrated on its territorial mandate and, in 1988, took the name ” Fédération franco-ténoise ” (FFT). At the time, AFCY’s role was to organize socio-cultural activities in French in Yellowknife. This mandate will gradually be extended to other types of initiatives, both community-based and cultural. In the late 1980s, the Association played an active role in setting up École Allain-St-Cyr, Yellowknife’s French-language school, and in forming a parents’ committee. This committee broke away from AFCY in 1989 to become the “Association des parents francophones de Yellowknife”. AFCY organizes several shows, sets up an amateur theater troupe and, in 1994, inaugurates a lending counter offering books, records and videocassettes in French.
Over the years, the Association has developed several important projects, including CIVR Radio Taïga, the NWT’s only French-language community radio station. Since September 2001, the Yellowknife community has been able to enjoy continuous programming in French. In 2005, AFCY celebrated 20 years of incorporation. A dinner-show featuring the Alberta band “Les fistons” drew over 200 people, including some of the original members who had travelled from across the country for the occasion. CIVR Radio Taïga emancipated itself from AFCY in 2010 and gradually drew closer to the newspaper l’Aquilon, formally joining forces in 2019 under the name Médias Ténois. In 2020, AFCY celebrated 35 years of incorporation. It is now looking to the future with a renewed team and ambition.
5016 48th Street, PO Box 1586, succ. main
Yellowknife (Northwest Territories)
X1A 2P2 Canada
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