From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/French/Richard Jones
French immigrants came from a country in which class and hierarchy had more importance than what they generally found in Canada. The French upper classes, however, were only a tiny component of this immigration. The few wealthy French aristocrats who settled on the prairies in the late nineteenth century certainly sought to maintain their status and lifestyle by importing fine foods, wines, confectionery, and other luxuries. But they also made an effort to break through their relative social isolation by increasing contacts with more ordinary folk. Donatien Frémont tells of their more amusing efforts to demonstrate egalitarian behaviour in the small town of Whitewood, Saskatchewan where the local band included the Count de Jumilhac who played the bugle, the Count de Soras who showed much talent as a trumpeter, and the Count de Langle who beat the drums with a perfect sense of rhythm.
Only a minority of French immigrants seem to have participated actively in organizations most of whose members came from France. Such associations did exist, of course, in the early years of the more tightly knit colonies on the prairies. The obvious example was that of local parishes of the Roman Catholic Church that had been organized by French clerics and whose parishioners also came from France. With some exceptions, such groups broke down over time as these towns developed mixed populations, even among the Roman Catholic element which included an increasing number of French Canadians. Also, French-Canadian priests gradually replaced those born in France.
In Quebec, French parishes, separate from French-Canadian parishes, have never existed, and the Church did not play the same role that it performed in early colonies in the west. After World War II, some French immigrants were Protestants; both the United Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church established congregations, in Montreal and in Quebec City, in which most members, as well as the pastors, were immigrants from France. Again, as time passed and French Canadians joined these churches, they also ceased to act, even informally, as associations of French immigrants. In the 1970s French-speaking Jews became an important minority in Montreal but most came from North Africa and were not of French ethnic origin.
From the mid-1870s, French mutual aid societies were established in Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa. The most important of these was the Union Nationale Française, founded in Montreal in 1886; branches were opened later in the west. A more recent establishment was the Association des Immigrés Français, set up in 1952 by French immigrants in Montreal to assist new arrivals often disappointed at being unable to find a suitable job.
The Alliance Française in Canada, which has its headquarters in Montreal as well as branches in several cities across Canada, seeks to develop cultural ties between the French and Canadians. Although the Alliance has never had any specific mandate regarding immigrants, many French persons living in Canada have participated in its activities. Between 1902 and 1942, its Montreal committee welcomed more than 400 guest speakers. The Union Nationale Française, now the Union Française, also organizes cultural events. In the 1960s, it was the only grouping of French in Canada to boast more than 3,000 members. For purposes of coordination, it has published a monthly newspaper, Le Courrier français (Montreal, 1953– ).
A number of other associations also existed, and many still do. Some, such as the Association France-Canada, founded in 1954, and the more recent Association Québec-France, had cultural objectives. The membership of others came from a particular region of France, such as Brittany or Corsica. Quebec City, for example, has its Association Québec-Normandie. Still other organizations were specialized, grouping teachers from France or war veterans. French consulates have also sponsored a variety of cultural activities for interested French immigrants. For various purposes, political (in order to exercise the right to vote in French elections) and cultural, many relatively recent French immigrants remain registered with consulates.
