This thesis examines Canadian official development assistance in the period 1968 to 1976. Specifically, it seeks to highlight the consequences of Anglophone-Francophone tensions on three aspects of the programme: Canadian aid to Francophone Africa, the activities of the Non Governmental Organizations and development education attempts. What was possible will be compared with what was done in order to determine the degree to which the ideal programme was distorted for political ends. It is argued that the political search for cultural and linguistic objectives not only modified and limited development considerations in the three selected aspects of the programme, but often replaced these ostensible considerations.