Access to French-language education has been an issue for French-speaking minority communities since the creation of provincial school systems. The following document bears witness to one of the countless struggles faced by these communities for over a century. As the Comité de l’enseignement du français in Saskatchewan points out, the Saskatchewan government limited French-language instruction in elementary school to one hour per day. Like other francophone minority organizations, the Saskatchewan association organized fundraising campaigns to support French-language education. This was a “burden” borne not only by Saskatchewan francophones, but also by those living elsewhere in the country since this appeal was sent outside the province.

The situation was untenable, however, when it came to secondary-school education. Public high schools offered English-only instruction. Private colleges, set up and run by Catholic religious orders, were taking over. Parents who wanted their children to study in French had to devote a substantial part of their family budget to private school tuition.

To serve the minority of students able to continue their studies, 26 colleges were founded between 1867 and 1960. There were nine colleges in New Brunswick, eight in Ontario, three in Alberta, three in Manitoba, two in Saskatchewan, and one in Nova Scotia, but none in British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland (Galarneau, 1978). Finally, most of these colleges were for boys; only four were for girls. Regardless of the size of these establishments, several of them occasionally launched fund-raising campaigns to help them pursue their French-language educational mission.