The origins of Acfas date back to 1923 in Montreal, when a group of University of Montreal professors – including radiologist Léo Pariseau and botanist Brother Marie-Victorin – founded the French-Canadian Association for the Advancement of Science. This initiative arose at a time when scientific research in Quebec was conducted primarily in English, and the association’s goal was to rally French-speaking scientists and advance knowledge across all fields. In 1933, Acfas held its first scientific congress, providing a landmark forum for scholars to share their work in French on the national stage. Over the decades, Acfas became instrumental in nurturing a francophone intellectual milieu for science in Quebec and gradually expanded its reach beyond the province. It established a tradition of annual congresses and scholarly awards to recognize research excellence, and played a leading role in the growth of a dynamic French-Canadian scientific community.
Today, Acfas stands as the premier organization promoting research in French and representing all scientific disciplines in Canada. Renamed the Association francophone pour le savoir in 2001, it retained its well-known acronym and is now referred to simply as Acfas. The association’s core mission remains the advancement of research, innovation, and scientific culture in the French-speaking world, which includes supporting the dissemination and appreciation of scientific knowledge for the benefit of society. Acfas helps ensure the vitality of science in French by supporting both established researchers and the next generation of scholars – including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career researchers – so that they can contribute to meeting society’s challenges. To extend its impact across the country, Acfas maintains multiple regional chapters that help carry out its mission within francophone academic communities in minority-language settings. The recent creation of a pan-Canadian support service for research in French also underscores Acfas’s commitment to sustaining francophone scholarship at universities outside Quebec.
In parallel with its conferences, publications, and awards that all serve to promote and showcase science, Acfas acts as an implementing agency for various research and innovation funding programs. Without naming these programs explicitly, the association works with public partners to administer research grants and funding initiatives on their behalf. For example, Acfas manages mobility grants that enable researchers to undertake research stays and collaborative projects across different provinces of Canada, thereby strengthening the nationwide network of francophone scientists. More broadly, the programs under Acfas’s stewardship share common orientations: they are designed to support researchers (especially emerging scientists), to enhance the valorization and impact of research conducted in French, to promote the dissemination of scientific knowledge, and to encourage intersectoral and interuniversity collaboration in innovation. By fulfilling this intermediary role, Acfas ensures that these financial supports contribute to a dynamic, collaborative research ecosystem aligned with its mission of advancing science.
Nearly one hundred years after its creation, Acfas remains a cornerstone of the scientific landscape in Quebec and beyond. The organization is widely recognized by research communities, government bodies and the media as a driving force in research and innovation, one that champions a vibrant, balanced and inclusive research ecosystem for the benefit of society. True to its non-partisan and unifying approach, Acfas continues to promote the advancement of knowledge in French and to highlight the critical role of science in addressing the great challenges of our time.
