The Last French Canadian + Q&A with director Pascal Justin Boyer and co-creator Isabelle Corriveau
Wed 04 MarToday in Canada, can a Francophone still call themselves “French Canadian”? Actor and host Pascal Justin Boyer, born in Quebec and raised in Ontario, sets out across the country to find an answer. Feeling caught between labels like Québécois, Franco-Ontarian, and French Canadian, he wonders whether this identity is fading or simply transforming.
In The Last French Canadian, Boyer travels from the Yukon to the Prairies, Quebec, and Acadia, meeting Francophones with wildly different relationships to language and belonging. A York University professor tells him that the term “French Canadian” is outdated and tied to colonial history. Yet “Québécois” doesn’t fit Boyer either, since he has spent most of his life outside Quebec. Even “Franco-Ontarian,” his parents’ chosen identity, feels too narrow, leaving out the cultural ties he still feels to his home province.
The documentary mirrors the quick tempo of Boyer’s mother tongue, mixing humour, archival footage, and candid conversations. The film ultimately explores whether preserving the idea of being “French Canadian” risks stripping the label of its “Canadian” part altogether, leaving Boyer to ask what exactly he hopes to defend.
The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Pascal Justin Boyer and co-creator/producer Isabelle Corriveau.
A veritable one-man band, Pascal Justin Boyer has contributed to the wonderful world of youth entertainment for over 15 years. He first worked in front of the camera in series such as Motel Monstre (TFO and Radio-Canada), Mehdi & Val (Radio-Canada) and FLIP (TFO), before stepping behind the camera, finding rewarding work as a screenwriter, script editor, producer and editorial consultant.
Boyer is himself a child of television. He strongly believes in the importance of the world of the imagination, and strives to create products that celebrate the creativity and respect the intelligence of TV viewers, while entertaining both young and old.
His work has been recognized by industry colleagues, including by the Youth Media Alliance, which awarded him its Prix d’excellence de la personnalité jeunesse, as well as at the Gemini Awards (2013, 2017, 2019 and 2021) and the Kids Screen Awards (2020). Le dernier Canadien français – The Last French Canadian has been nominated in 2024 for three categories at the Gemini Awards in 2024.
With a diploma in journalism from La Cité and a master’s in communication from the University of Ottawa (MA ‘15), Isabelle Corriveau is passionate about telling the stories of vulnerable groups, as well as explaining complex topics to different audiences.
As a journalist, she worked for Radio-Canada Toronto, where she produced content of national importance, conducted in-depth interviews and produced and aired a daily radio show. For four years, she’s worked on various documentaries dealing with immigration, the work of legal aid lawyers in Montreal and the housing crisis.
In March 2022, she went to the Ukraine-Romania border to document the migration crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On her return, she showed her first short at the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, Je ne pense pas.
Passionate, committed and determined, Isabelle Corriveau is a multilingual professional who looks to work on unique, useful projects. In 2024, Isabelle was nominated for Le dernier Canadien français – The Last French Canadian at the Gemini Awards for Best documentary.
