The third conference of ministers and elected representatives was held in September 1997, in Toronto. Measures to promote the economic development of francophone communities were encouraged.

The participants were also made aware of the potential for other provinces to take advantage of Ontario’s francophone institutions to meet certain needs of their French-speaking communities. The French educational TV network (TFO) and the Collège Boréal were cited as examples.

It was in fact at the Toronto gathering that the provinces and territories developed a united front on the issue of the federal-provincial-territorial agreements on the promotion of official languages. As a result of this unity, the agreements were strengthened.