In 1998, the Government of Canada introduced a pilot program to address more directly the needs of the country's Francophone and Acadian communities in the area of information and communications technology (ICT).

During the first three years that the Francommunautés virtuelles program has been in existence, 74 innovative projects have been initiated targeting the development of French-language skills and content.

Following a positive evaluation of the program's pilot phase, an agreement was signed between Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage, under Heritage's Canadian Culture Online strategy. It provided for a renewed and increased budget for the Francommunautés virtuelles program. As a result, 36 Internet projects were set up in 2002-03.

In March 2003, as part of implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages, the federal government announced a further investment of several million dollars over five years to continue activities of the program. The additional funding has made it possible to expand French-language on-line services and to establish a still more active network connecting all of Canada's Francophone and Acadian communities for the purpose of developing and using ICT in French. In taking this step, the government is acting on its commitment to encourage the socio-economic and cultural development of official language minority communities.

In December 2003, a competition covering fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05 allowed for funding of many new projects. The program is launching their next competitions without any financial support or participation from Canadian Heritage. The program has a budget of 3,8 millions of dollars for the 2005-07 competition while the budget for the 2006-08 competition is at 4 millions of dollars. These amounts will be allocated to the selected projects that will have met the admissibility criteria, that were evaluated and recommended by the program's National Advisory Committee, and finally, that were accepted and approved by Industry Canada.

The program is thus able to carry on its mission, which is to position Canada's Francophone and Acadian communities to benefit from the digital revolution. The projects funded by the program will contribute to the development of French Canada's communities and economy, and will help French-speaking Canadians to compete in a knowledge-based economy.

Industry Canada's Francommunautés virtuelles program seeks to promote the active participation of the country's Francophone and Acadian communities in the area of developing and using information and communications technology.

The Francommunautés virtuelles program has the following objectives:

• Encourage the development and use of information and communications technology in Francophone and Acadian communities throughout the country in order to bridge the digital divide in Canada.
• Create and promote networks of Web sites by expanding cooperation and partnership within Canada's Francophone and Acadian organizations, with the aim of contributing to the socio-economic and cultural development of their communities.
• Develop French-language Web applications, content and services, and make them visible and available through major Canadian portals, including government portals.

Since it was established in 1998, the Francommunautés virtuelles program, in partnership with Canadian Heritage under Canadian Culture Online, has supported over 140 innovative Francophone projects seeking to stimulate French-language connectivity, access to the Information Highway, content development and new media. In total, more than $9 million has been invested in Francophone and Acadian communities to enable them not only to have access to high-quality French-language content but also to improve their skills in developing and using advanced technologies. With the help of the program, Francophone Canadians can swap information over the Web and share their experiences in economic and community development.