Our mandate

Since 1985, the Association franco-culturelle de Yellowknife has proudly borne its title of ambassador of Francophone culture in the city of Yellowknife. Its main mandate is to promote, support and encourage the development of the Francophone community of Yellowknife as well as arts and culture from a sustainable development perspective.
The AFCY is the preferred meeting point for Francophones and Francophiles in Yellowknife.

Birth of the AFCY

The first Francophone association in the Northwest Territories was created in 1978 in Yellowknife under the name “L’Association culturelle franco-ténoise” (ACFT). At that time, the priority for the members was the installation of an antenna to receive Radio-Canada. Over time, Francophones from other regions of the Northwest Territories began to take an interest in the activities of Yellowknife and the ACFT gradually extended its service offer to all of the Territories. Under the initiative of ACFT members, a new association was created to serve the capital more specifically. The 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 of “Fédération franco-ténoise” (FFT). At that time, the role of the AFCY was to organize socio-cultural activities in French in Yellowknife. This mandate will gradually expand to other types of initiatives, both community and cultural. At the end of the 1980s, the Association took an active part in the establishment of École Allain-St-Cyr, the French-language school in Yellowknife, and in the formation of a parents’ committee. This committee broke away from the AFCY in 1989 to become the “Association des parents francophones de Yellowknife”. The AFCY organized several shows, set up an amateur theater group and inaugurated, in 1994, a loan counter offering books, records and videos in French.
During these years, the Association developed several important projects, including CIVR Radio Taïga, the only French-language community radio station in the NWT. Since September 2001, the community of Yellowknife has been able to hear continuous programming in French. In 2005, the AFCY celebrated its 20 years of incorporation. A dinner show to the sound of the Alberta group “Les sons” brought together more than 200 people, including some of the original members, who came from all over the country for the occasion. CIVR Radio Taïga broke away from the AFCY in 2010 and gradually approached the newspaper l’Aquilon to formally join forces in 2019 under the name of Médias ténois. In 2020 AFCY celebrated 35 years of incorporation, it now looks to the future with a renewed team and ambition.