- FAQS -
Frequently Asked Questions
Membership Questions
CPF wants to make our services easily accessible to all parents and caregivers across Canada, without any financial barriers. Increased membership and participation are key to delivering our mandate. By offering free membership, we hope to reach a wider audience and provide valuable resources to more families and educators across Canada.
At Canadian Parents for French, we value member engagement and recognize that we need a large membership base in order to grow, in order to offer more programming, in order to be accessible across the country, and in order to continue our advocacy work. We have made the process to join easier online and free.
Yes, no action is required on your part. Your current membership will be automatically converted to a free membership in preparation for the 2024/25 school year. Current members will receive an email around the third week of May 2024, advising you of the upcoming change to a free, digital membership. You can continue to enjoy access to the resources you currently use, we’ve highlighted a few here.
- An event calendar of what’s happening across Canada with easy registration
- Resources for families of children in early school years through French Footprints
- Resources for families and learners in a French Second Language (FSL) program please check out the Resource pages for all school years
- Q: Can members decline to convert to a free membership?
A: If your circumstances and needs have changed, and you no longer wish to be a member of CPF, please email cpf@cpf.ca to let us know of your wishes. This option will be included in the conversion notification email. All members will be advised that their membership is being converted to a free membership, from May 2024 to June 2025. Should you wish to not be converted, please click here to email cpf@cpf.ca advising of your instruction to cancel your membership.
If you are a parent, caregiver or educator who wishes to access French resources and support, you can sign up for a free individual membership here — it’s fast and one easy step.
If you are an organization such as a school, school board, educational management firm or french language supporter you can become a partner for $60/year here.
If you would like to learn more about becoming a partner organization you can email cpf@cpf.ca and we can connect with you to discuss your needs and any requirements, which are often different from organization to organization.
No, membership will be renewed annually to ensure we have your up-to-date contact details and your permission to contact you by email.
Being a member of CPF means you will receive advanced notice of Events and Programming as well as access to the resources you currently use, we’ve highlighted a few here.
- an event calendar of what’s happening across Canada with easy registration
- resources for families of children in early school years through French Footprints
- resources for families and learners in a French Second Language (FSL) program please check out the Resource pages for all school years
Yes. We are coordinating additional member discounts with our partners. Check out this page for the most up-to-date information on the discounts that we offer!
Membership will continue to be a requirement for events and tutoring supported by the National Office. Membership as a requirement for provincial events will be at the discretion of the local CPF Branch and will be indicated in the event description. As membership is free to join we hope you will join to ensure that participants are part of the CPF community.
Yes, CPF requires membership to participate in events, especially now as it is free to join. Membership ensures that participants are part of the CPF community.
Membership is a requirement to participate in our Concours d’art oratoire. Individuals are encouraged to sign up for our FREE membership but are often covered by their school board’s membership.
Negative optioning describes a process in which the member receives services on a regular basis until they cancel, and failure to reply constitutes acceptance. CPF is converting existing members without a fee, which should be considered an improvement from their current state which includes a fee arrangement.
What about 1-year or 3-year memberships?
CPF is aligning membership with the school year, running from September to September. The free membership that we are converting you to will be for the upcoming 2024/25 school year beginning in September 2024.
As the paid membership is for the current school year, a refund will not be issued.
As a not-for-profit and registered Canadian charity, reducing membership to free is a significant decision affecting revenue generation, but we deem it a necessary change to ensure that more people can join CPF and participate in the resources, programming ,and events. We rely on grants and donations to keep our doors open delivering programs to youth, parents, caregivers, educators and advocating for French-second-language use and learning.
The member communication email will include directions: If you would like to discuss a refund or have any questions, please email cpf@cpf.ca
We are grateful for your membership and appreciate your support in committing to a 3-year membership with us. 3-year memberships were offered at $60 ($20 per year) an already discounted rate from the $25 per year fee. We would like to ask you to consider any remaining balance of your $60 membership, to be left with CPF as a donation-type of contribution:
- $40 balance on the 2nd and 3rd year of membership
- $20 balance on the 3rd year of membership
As a not-for-profit and registered Canadian charity, reducing membership to free, and charging no fee, is a significant decision affecting our revenue, but we deem it a necessary change to ensure that more people can join CPF and participate in the resources, programming, and events. We continue to rely on grants and donations to keep our doors open so we can deliver programs to youth, parents, caregivers, educators, and our work advocating for French-second-language use and learning.
However, as a member it is your decision and if you would like to discuss a refund or have any questions, please email cpf@cpf.ca
Change in Member Benefits
No, individual memberships to CPF are now free for parents, families, educators, and any individual who would like to join our movement. As a registered charity and not-for-profit organization, we would ask you to consider a donation to support Canadian Parents for French.
Help us Make a Difference: More French SVP! Please visit our donation page.
CPF will no longer be offering family memberships and instead will convert the family membership to an individual membership. The primary family member will be emailed and converted. We encourage each and every member in your family or household to join CPF for free – it’s fast and one easy step. Join here.
*please note you must be age of majority in your province of residence to be a voting member.
Yes, membership is free for all individuals, and we encourage you to join and refer your colleagues to get their own free membership so they can be kept up-to-date on activities, programs, and resources. It’s free, fast, and one easy step.
Membership Renewals
Membership will be automatically renewed annually beginning in June 2025. Currently, from May 2024 to Sept 2024, CPF is focused on converting existing members to the new FREE digital membership.
Renewal will happen in June 2025. Generally, members will receive an email approximately two weeks before the auto-renewal date where they can:
- opt into membership and provide their expressed consent to receive emails and promotional communications from CPF; or
- decline membership by responding no and opting out.
The annual membership cycle will align with the school year cycle. Starting in June 2025, which corresponds with the end of the current school year and the promotion of students into the next grade, renewal communications will be emailed to all members. Follow-up email communication will happen over the summer, so membership is in place for the start of the school year in September.
New members can join at any time throughout the year, as they learn about CPF, its events, and programming.
Memberships will be auto-renewed annually by CPF National office. Members will receive an email approximately two weeks before the membership is renewed to opt out of membership and to confirm their consent to receive communications from CPF.
As a non-profit organization, we can’t do what we do without your support. We welcome your support as a member, as a donor, as a volunteer and we encourage you to participate in our programs and advocacy work.
Become a Member: Join our network and get FSL resources, support, and insider info only available to members. Join here.
Donate: When you give, you make a positive impact on the lives of Canadian youth. You can make your donation to support national work, or support your provincial branch, or a combination of both; you can choose to make a monthly donation or a one-time donation. We make it easy to donate monthly as a little each month goes a long way to sustaining your support for the work we do. Please visit our donation page.
Volunteer: We’re always looking for new volunteers who are ready to help young people learn and use French. To learn more about volunteering, please visit our website to learn more or you can head directly to our Volunteer intake form to get started right away. At CPF we work with Better Impact, a leading, specialty organization for volunteer registration and best practices
Subscribe to one of our e-newsletters to stay up to date on what is happening at CPF National and at your provincial/territorial branch. Click here to subscribe.
Associate Partner Organizations
Organizations are partners and sponsors, which is a different relationship to an individual membership. We provide membership to individuals including parents, students, caregivers, family members, educators, and advocates for French language learning, as our resources are for use in learning French, providing experiences using and exploring French, programming to support learning for students, for the parents and caregivers of learners and providing resources for educators.
If you are an organization such as a school, school board, educational management firm or french language supporter you can become a partner for $60/year here.
Organizations have a different use and method of accessing CPF’s services and benefits. As a not-for-profit organization and registered charity, CPF values and relies on the partnership and sponsorship of organizations and corporations in bringing CPF’s mandate to their constituents which may include employees, members, clients, affiliations, networks, and other community and professional circles.
Partnerships and sponsorships are critical for collaboration to achieve both CPF’s and your organization’s unique and shared goals, promoting French-second language learning, use, and success across Canada.
Benefits include:
- Subscription to our quarterly CPF Magazine which can be shared electronically throughout your organization.
- Early notification of events and programming that you can share throughout your organization.
- Possible collaboration on projects
- Access to shared communities of members
- Discounted rates for advertising and promotions on our website and any events.
Are you ready to Join?
Individual Memberships
Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, teacher, student or any other support of FSL education, you can take out a membership in CPF. Don’t have children of your own and still want to join our movement? As long as you’re 18 years old or over, you can become part of our family!
Associate Partner Organization (APO)
Does your school or organization want to join our cause? By becoming an Associate Partner Organization you get access to the latest research-based information and gain exclusive access to CPF programming.