The first francophones to enter the region were French Canadian coureurs des bois employed in the North American fur trade during the 18th century.

Francophone settlement into the region first occurred with French Canadian fur traders, along with Roman Catholic missionaries, and the Métis, during the mid 19th century.

In the early 20th century, the provincial government attempted to assimilate the francophone minority into the anglophone majority by curtailing French language education in Saskatchewan.

According to the 2016 Canadian Census, the number of people that reported French was their mother tongue in Saskatchewan was 17,735, or approximately 1.6 per cent of the population.

[1] French is the seventh most commonly reported ethnic group in Saskatchewan, after German, Canadian, English, Scottish, Irish, and Ukrainian.

However, smaller communities of Fransaskois are also based in Gravelbourg, Albertville, Duck Lake, Zenon Park, Bellegarde, and St.

[4] After the two fur trading companies were united in 1821,[7] the French Métis settled along the Red River in Rupert's Land, until the Deed of Surrender transferred the territory to Canada in 1870.

[7] As a result of the sale, a number of Métis left the Red River to seek out new lands in an attempt to return to their way of life.

[8] The rebellion's leader, Louis Riel was later tried in court, the outcome of which became a major point of contention between English and French Canadians.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church aided the government in bringing new groups of immigrants to the prairies.

[14] Later that year the society would go on to form the Association Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan (renamed the Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise of ACF in 1999) in an effort to protect the rights of Fransaskois.

[15] Premier William Martin drafted an amendment to Section 177 of the School Act which limited French instruction to one hour a day.

In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R v Mercure that the North-West Territories Act still applied to its succeeding provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan), notably Section 110, which affords certain linguistic rights to francophones.

[21][19] Although both laws affirmed the right to use French in the judiciary and legislature, they also revoked many of the privileges accorded to francophones under the North-West Territories Act.

[25] The rights of francophones for the provincial judicial system was outlined in An Act Respecting the Use of the English and French Languages in Saskatchewan, passed in 1988 shortly after the Supreme Court decision on R v Mercure.

In 1911, the provincial government limited French language education was to Grade 1 of elementary school; before outright banning its instruction in 1931.

[4] Provisions made to the provincial Education Act in 1978 allowed for designated schools to use French as their primary language of instruction.

A French-language professional theatre company, La Troupe du Jour, founded in 1987, operates from a base in Saskatoon.

[4] In 1910, a province-wide, French-language weekly "Le Patriote de l'Ouest" was established in the town of Duck Lake.

The Fransaskois community is served primarily by the radio and television services of Radio-Canada, the country's French language public broadcaster.

The most famous Fransaskoise, Jeanne Sauvé, born in Prud'Homme, served as a Liberal MP, Cabinet minister, Speaker of the House of Commons and ultimately Governor General of Canada.

[30] In the arts, notable Fransaskois include sculptor Joe Fafard, folk music bands La Raquette à Claquettes and Hart-Rouge, and children's entertainer Carmen Campagne (from the town of Willow Bunch).

staples on the Fransaskois music scene, joining more established artists such as Annette Campagne, Chritianne Blondeau and Michel Lalonde.

In sports, the most notable Fransaskois is NHL games-played record holder, Patrick Marleau, and Colorado Avalanche forward Blake Comeau of Meadow Lake.

Comeau was a member of the 2004 Memorial Cup champion Kelowna Rockets and of two gold medal-winning World Junior Hockey championship teams.