Acfas

Origins

The Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences was cofounded by a group of professors and researchers from l’Université de Montréal, namely Frère Marie-Victorin and doctor Léo Pariseau; Marie-Victorin was the association’s first secretary, and Pariseau its first president. At the outset, the Acfas had two goals: to put an end to the isolation of researchers by regrouping them, and thus increasing their impact on society; and to introduce the sciences to the general public, while ensuring continuity.

In 1933, the first Acfas conference took place — now the most important annual multidisciplinary in the French language and an important forum for young researchers. In 1959, the Association published le Bulletin de l'Acfas mandated with establishing new contact among Canada’s diverse scientific circles. This Bulletin has subsequently become the research review Interface, the only lay scientific magazine dedicated to the works of the country's French scientists.