Our goals

Le Conseil culturel et artistique francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CCAFCB) is the centralizing organization that represents francophone arts and culture in British Columbia. Its mandate is to facilitate interaction, consolidation and collaboration between the community organizations and francophone artists.

It provides arts presenters with a directory of artists, to promote the visibility of francophone artists in a predominantly anglophone environment. It provides synergy between artistic creation and distribution. The representativeness, development and promotion of francophone arts and culture in British Columbia are central to the CCAFCB’s raison d'être.

Created in 1996, CCAFCB includes the many francophone associations of the province that provide cultural and artistic programming. It actively supports initiatives in this sector.

Our mandate

  • Ensure a sense of belonging and pride by promoting the growth and cultural development of the Francophone community of British Columbia
  • Represent and defend the cultural and artistic interests of the Francophone community of British Columbia
  • Sensitize the community to the importance of creating a cultural space
  • Promote Francophone arts and culture and make cultural products accessible to the community
  • Promote cultural exchanges and support creation
  • Establish programs to support community cultural activities and events
  • Collaborate with the artistic milieu, the community and its members in the creation of artistic and cultural projects
  • Liaise with governmental, para-governmental and private organizations involved in culture
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Our mission

  • Represent the Francophone arts and culture sector at the provincial and federal levels
  • Promote the Francophone artistic and cultural activities of organizations and their artists
  • Offer training and participate in the development of artists and associations working in the arts and culture in French
  • Stimulate networking and concerted action for the advancement of arts and culture in French in British Columbia

On the cultural road towards...

  • A vibrant and dynamic cultural and artistic sector
  • A community that enjoys plentiful and diverse cultural and artistic experiences
  • An artistic community that is recognized in the francophone milieu
  • A sustained partnership with the community

The team

Members of the Board of Directors

President
Jean-Louis Roseberry

Vice-president
Marie-France Lapierre

Secretary - Treasurer
Mona Lemoine

Board Member
Bertrand Dupain

Board Member
Hélène Leone

Staff

Managing director
Jean-François Packwood

Background

Initially the Fédération des Francophones oversaw the francophone cultural brief in the province of British Columbia. The Fédération set up a cultural committee within its Board. Committee members met to make their common vision a reality by establishing a professional and independent cultural and artistic sector of the Fédération des francophones de la C.-B.
The CCAFCB came into being on May 27, 1996, as a full-fledged organisation established to meet the growing need to support development of a thriving francophone cultural and artistic community. To achieve this, the first board of directors developed the CCAFCB’s primary mandate to make arts and culture more accessible to the francophone community. This involved several administrative procedures, such as hiring the first Managing Director (Daniel Thériault) in 1996 and the recruitment of members. The next year on June 7, 1997, the first AGM bringing together a dozen member organizations was held with the participation of Marie Woolridge, President of the organization from 1996 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2002.

A little over two decades later, the CCAFCB continues to play its role of representing francophone arts and culture and ensuring the development, promotion, and representativeness of the sector. The CCAFCB fulfills its mandate with the collaboration of its thirteen member organizations that also contribute to its numerous projects and initiatives.

Projects

Since its creation, the CCAFCB has maintained several projects and services to meet its needs. One of these is Pacifique en chanson, an annual event that represents an opportunity for emerging artists to participate in a week of training with professionals in their artistic discipline.
Originally, “Pacifique en chanson” was known as the ''gala provincial de la chanson'' and it had been organized by the Fédération des francophones since 1992. The CCAFCB took over in 1996 and changed the name in 2006 to its present name.

Another ambitious project spearheaded by the CCAFCB is “Réseau pacifique”, an idea launched in 2003, in parallel with the arts symposium that took place the same year. The goal of “Réseau pacifique” is to create a province-wide platform for the diffusion of arts presentation, for example for artist tours.

Today

The CCAFCB still represents the community and remains in contact with its counterparts on an interprovincial level across Canada within the Fédération culturelle canadienne française. The organization is represented on various provincial committees such as: Culture Days, Arts Coalition BC, Alliance for the Arts, to name only a few.
Over the years, the CCAFCB has become a unique voice for the support and development of arts and culture, on a provincial and a national level. It has supported artists by providing them with training tailored to their needs to develop their expertise. The artists also have the opportunity to be listed in the arts directory that provides an excellent reference tool in the province’s francophone arts sector.
Today the CCAFCB has reinforced its ties with the artists. Interaction with the artists is focused on their professional development through initiatives such as the Art+ project.