this inquiry describes the lived experience of minority francophone adolescents in thunder bay, ontario. a snowball sampling approach was used to recruit 22 participants for interviews where they were asked to talk about the environment, the constraints upon their community, and the ways in which they maintain a lifestyle celebrating language and culture in the minority milieu. the findings reflect how francophone identity and ethnolinguistic vitality are sustained, even as minority group members must also participate in domains of activity where english predominates. within these pages there is an echo of young voices telling what it is like to be french canadian in this particular city.