Dating back to its founding in1852 Bytown, the ICFO (L’Institutcanadien-français d’Ottawa) has played a key role in preserving and promoting the French language and Francophone culture in our city for more than 170 years.
For André Lajoie, researching the ICFO has been a life's passion, painstakingly compiling a database of close to 2,700 newspaper articles, maps and other resources.
The result is an illuminating window into the vibrant history of Ottawa's French-language community.
The ICFO was founded at a time the growing influence of English-speaking culture prompted Ottawa’s French-speaking community to create space where Francophones could meet, exchange ideas, discuss topics of common interest and promote French language literature and culture.
Over the years, the ICFO broadened its scope to include educational, artistic and social activities and to serve as a focal point for Francophone intellectual life in Ottawa, offering lectures, courses and cultural events.
André’s chronicle of the ICFO begins with a look back at the legacy of Joseph-Balsora Turgeon (1810-1897), a community leader who had a remarkable impact on the course of our city’s history and a chief founder of the ICFO.
Available only in French, André’s compilation includes over 500 photos of the birth of the Francophone community from the early days of Bytown to present-day Ottawa:
