EDMONTON — Forever Canadian's new partner against independence, the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta (ACFA), has received more than $20 million from government-funded projects over the last decade. Forever Canadian's leader, Thomas Lukaszuk, and leaders from the ACFA took the stage on Thursday to announce that the association would be joining Lukaszuk's group in their fight against Alberta independence. "Our mandate is clear: to protect the gains achieved and to advance the rights of francophones in Alberta," reads a statement from ACFA President Nathalie Lachance. "When fundamental issues affect the future of our communities, we have a responsibility to speak out.""It is therefore in keeping with our mandate and our history that I announce today that the ACFA is officially joining the Forever Canadian movement." There are 64,000 Francophones in Alberta..But the Western Standard discovered that since ACFA and their regional bodies across Alberta have received $19 million from the Government of Canada and $1 million from the Government of Alberta since 2016.Although ACFA, as a nonprofit society, is allowed to advocate and speak out on political issues under the Alberta Societies Act, so long as its actions align with the society's purpose, the ambiguity of government funding hangs over the situation. Government funding agreements typically restrict funds from being used for partisan political advocacy or activities unrelated to the society's purpose; they may not restrict issue-based advocacy or public education.One could debate whether Alberta independence is a partisian or policy issue, but regardless of legality, it is worth analyzing how taxpayers' funds have been used over the last decade to support the society that has now decided to join the Alberta independence debate. .Government of Canada fundingOver $16 million of ACFA's federal funding came from the Canadian Heritage department as part of the Government of Canada's work to preserve and promote francophone culture in Alberta. Those funds included $2.8 million given in 2019 to "enhance the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada and support and assist their development" under the Development of Official Language Communities Program. Canadian Heritage issued another $2.1 million under the same purpose and program in 2024. The Government of Canada also provided an additional $2.5 million in 2023-24 to invest in "official language support programs," including $110,000 to ACFA to organize a pair of promotional campaigns and a summit on French‑language postsecondary education in Alberta. Additionally, ACFA bodies received over $860,000 in federal funding under the Canada Summer Jobs program. The association and its bodies received over $3.3 million in federal funding in 2025, of which $3.2 million came from Canadian Heritage official language programs..Government of Alberta fundingThe provincial government has provided substantially less funding to ACFA over the last decade, totalling under $1 million, but over $422,000 has come in the previous two fiscal years. AHS's French Health Services program is a driving force behind the surge, as it provides French-language services to Northern Albertans and supplied ACFA with $200,000 in 2025 through its partnership. The provincial government also supplied $249,000 to ACFA under arts presenting programs over the last decade. ACFA's Edmonton and Red Deer bodies also received a combined $54,781in funding for Anti-racism and multiculturalism programs since the start of the 2025-26 fiscal year. In 2022, the ACFA unveiled a five-year action plan for Alberta Francophones that included measures to ensure French services are provided under government programs, to recognize Alberta's Francophone heritage, and to attract more Francophone migrants to Alberta.
