He has published thirty books, chiefly about Canadian, British Columbian and Vancouver history, on a broad range of subjects, from the Canadian fur trade and prohibition to the history of whaling, transportation and Indigenous peoples.
[2] In 2010 Francis received an award of merit from the Vancouver Historical Society for his contributions to the history of the city and the province.
[5] His book on the history of killer whales on the Pacific Coast, Operation Orca (Harbour), written with marine biologist Gil Hewlett,[6] won the Foreword Magazine prize for best nature book of 2007.
He obtained a master's degree from the Institute of Canadian Studies at Ottawa's Carleton University in 1975 and began a career as a freelance historical researcher and writer.
In 1984 he moved to Montreal to become editor of Horizon Canada, a bilingual, weekly magazine of Canadian history.