[1] The festival was established in 1997 by Marcelle Lean,[2] a former chair of the Ontario Film Development Corporation,[3] and was staged for the first time in February 1998.
[5] To establish broader audience appeal beyond the city's francophone community alone, all films were screened with English language subtitles.
[6] Separately from the main festival, an annual youth program of films for children and teenagers is also staged each year.
[8] The main festival was initially cancelled in 2016,[9] although the youth program was still staged;[10] instead, Tournée Québec Cinéma, a program of Québec Cinéma which presents a touring minifestival of Quebec films in various locations across Canada, added an event in Toronto to its schedule.
[9] The event was later revived, however, with a smaller-scale Cinéfranco presented in October 2016 at the Alliance Française de Toronto.