North America
The French language has historically played a significant role in North America and now retains a distinctive presence in some regions. Canada is officially bilingual. French is the official language of the Province of Quebec, where 95% of the people speak it as either their first or second language, and it is co-official with English in the Province of New Brunswick. Other French-speaking locales include the Province of Ontario (the official language is English, but there are an estimated 600,000 Franco-Ontarians), the Province of Manitoba (co-official as "de jure" with English), the French West Indies and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, as well as the US state of Louisiana, where French is also an official language. Haiti is included with this group based on historical association but Haitians speak both Creole and French. Similarly, French and French Antillean Creole is spoken in Saint Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica alongside English.
Francophone Assembly of Ontario
The organization continued to lobby for the improvement of French language services in the province. It was instrumental in the adoption of the French Language Services Act in 1986, and in the creation of Ontario's three francophone colleges: Collège La Cité in Ottawa, Collège Boréal in Sudbury and the defunct Collège des Grands-Lacs in Toronto. As well, ACFO lobbied against the provincial government's planned closure of Ottawa's Montfort Hospital.