Dear Chapter Volunteers, 

A few weeks ago we hosted our CPF BC & YK annual general meeting and conference in Ottawa. The feedback from Chapters who sent delegatges has been overwhelmingly positive. Our workshops and conferences are intended to help inspire you, to help support you, and to help connect you to other chapter leaders. It's also a ton of fun - see the pictures below care of CPF North Vancouver :-) 

We thank all the chapter leaders who joined us in Ottawa, and to everyone who helps make a real difference in communities across BC and the Yukon. 

Merci mille fois, 

Glyn Lewis, CPF BC & YK Executive Director

ps. As the CRUs are only sent to active Chapter Volunteers, please forward this communiqué to all your local contacts and supporters. Merci.

This year, 31 members, staff and board joined together virtually and Ottawa for our provincial Annual General Meeting. The weekend was packed full of activities. We got a sneak peek at the National Branding Initiative that will be rolling out sometime in the near future.  Chapter Reps will be pleased to note that our key messaging statements have been re-defined for increased clarity. 

We attended great workshops on Advocacy, Branding, Youth Directors, Social Media, SEVEC and many more. As always, the President's Banquet was a great time, with a murder mystery followed by a casino where we each got "$5,000" worth of tokens to play with. Some BC & Yukon delegates walked away with a small fortune!

We had the opportunity to tour the Parliament buildings, the Rideau Centre and some delegates even made it over to Quebec. Thanks to all of the delegates who attended both in Ottawa andby virtual meeting. Don't forget that our AGM happens every year (every second in Ottawa), and that your chapter needs to remember this cost when projecting your budget. It is the most important opportunity for us to grow as individuals, as chapter leaders, and as an organization.

Merci!

Membership Drive has been extended until November 30th due to the delayed start of school this year.

New and renewing members are eligible to win great prizes!

Remember, 80% of all new and/or renewing membership fees collected are returned to your local Chapter. Building your membership is one of the most effective ways for your local Chapter to raise funds for local activities and programs. 

Go to the Membership Drive page on our website for more details!

It is the time of year where students have settled in and parents are thinking about how to support their French Learning at home, when they don't speak much French themselves (or even if they do!).

Find information about how to support parents on our website under How to Host and Information Night

Or check out North Vancouver Chapter's website for more tips!

The 2015 Concorus d'art oratoire date is set.

The 32nd annual Concours d'art oratoire will take place on Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 at SFU Surrey.

Information will be posted in the coming months on our cpf concours webpage.

TEACHER RESOURCES! We have excellent teacher resources available on this webpage.

Here is a wonderful Concours promtotional video from the 2013 Provincial Finals. 

Please share these Concours planning resources with your local language coordinators and teachers. 

We would like to welcome new board members Marguerite Kuiack  (mkuiack@cpf.bc.ca) and Darian Pang (dpang@cpf.bc.ca) to our CPF BC & YK board.

Marguerite is a strong advocate from the Yukon who has been supporting local Chapter initatives for a number of years. Darian is coming to us as a Youth Director who held the Youth Liaison position in the CPF Surrey Chapter.

Welcome Marguerite and Darian!

We would like to thank the outgoing Youth Director, Daphne Lu for all of her great work with CPF and support of FSL over the past fouer years. We wish Daphne all the very best in Med School! 

Our Chapters have demonstrated a great level of determination and health through the annual Sociocultural Grant applications.

Even with the delays caused by the labour dispute, we have received strong applications from 40 chapters across the province.

This represents over 90 projects and a request for more than $177,000 in funding! You deserve a big congratulations on your hard work to submit these grants.

The BC & Yukon Branch currently has funding for up to $55,000 in total for Chapter activities per year, so not all projects can be approved. Heather Bartlett (Projects Coordinator - projects@cpf.bc.ca), who manages the SC program, will be notifying Chapters about your socio-cultural grant applications in the coming weeks.

N.B. We use a number of criteria in selecting successful grant applications. Amongst the criteria we aim to help each Chapter that submitted an application to receive at least one socio-cultural grant per year. We also, and this is key, look for submissions that meet the strategic priorities outlined in the application form. 

The Student Guide Program in France is the opportunity of a lifetime to travel, meet long-lasting friends, and teach people from around the world about Canadian history in both official languages.

The program is managed by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). 

Join other students from across Canada to live and work in France for a four-month period as interpretive guides at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial and Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. There is a $600 grant available to help cover travel costs. 

Experience Canada's rich military history working as a Student Guide in France for a four-month period. The Student Guide Program involves giving guided tours in battlefield terrain and underground tunnels, sometimes in adverse weather conditions, and providing operational support to visitors centres on site. The work lends itself to individuals who are skilled in adapting large amounts of information into presentations which respond to visitors' interests as well as those who are skilled in responding to various questions on sites, attractions, and points of interest to the general public.

Guides are hired (yes these are paid positions) for the following periods:
January - May
April - August
August - December
Number of positions available: 40 - 45

This program is for bilingual youth in secondary, or post secondary programs.

For more information, visit:
English          French