History/Foundation

About Us

History/Foundation

1971

The Summer Language Bursary Program (SLBP), which became Explore, was created in 1971 to provide students with the opportunity to improve their knowledge of one of Canada’s official languages and to broaden their knowledge of the culture associated with it. This program was an initiative of the Government of Canada, following the adoption of the Official Languages Act to promote the acquisition of French and English.

1977

Created in 1977, the Programme de bourses d’été pour francophones hors Québec (PBEFHQ), which became Destination Clic, allows francophones living in a province or territory outside Quebec to improve their first language and become familiar with French-speaking culture.

2001

The Explore program celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2001. To mark the occasion, CMEC led a promotional campaign to elicit the participation of all its stakeholders:

bursary recipients
teachers
workshop leaders
provinces and territories
Canadian Heritage
staff from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
host families

2004

In 2004, a marketing firm was contracted to develop a rejuvenating strategy for the official-languages programs that would help them to reach a larger public. As part of that strategy, the two programs underwent a name change: SLBP was reborn as Explore and PBEFHQ became Destination Clic.