The nature and importance of the relations that exist between Canada’s Francophone communities and Québec frequently provoke controversy and identarian inquiry. For example, how do young Francophones and Francophiles view other Francophone communities and how do they perceive their respective communities within Canada? Is there awareness of a western-Canadian Francophone community or are provincial Francophone identities imposed upon them with regard to their manner of self-representation?

In this article, we present the results of field research conducted in 2014-2015 which examines the manner in which students of the Campus Saint-Jean perceive Alberta’s Francophone community in terms of their relations with other western-Canadian Francophone communities. This is a study which, in exploring the perceptions of young Francophones and Francophiles who attend this Francophone institution of post-secondary education, allows for consideration of whether they perceive themselves as part of an Albertan Francophone space or of a plurality of Francophone Canadian spaces. We see that there are various opposing perceptions regarding the vitality, as well as the place, of Alberta’s Francophone community within the Francophonie of the Canadian west.