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Francois (/frænˈsweɪ/fran-SWAY) is a local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the southern coast of Newfoundland on Francois Bay at the end of a small fjord. (NOTE:There is no longer a general store) There is a post office and a small museum, accessed by concrete pathways and boardwalks. Most residents pronounce the name "Fran-sway",[1] and its proper spelling is without the cedilla found in the French word françois.
Francois is inaccessible by road and may be reached only by air or sea.[2][3][4]
The community was first settled in the 1700s, and resisted the government resettlement programs of the mid 20th century,[5] though it reconsidered and rejected resettlement in 2013 and again in 2021.[6][7]
Francois is in Newfoundland within Subdivision E of Division No. 3.[8] It is located on the southern coast of Newfoundland on Francois Bay at the end of a small fjord. The community is approximately 36 km east of the community of Grey River.[6]
As a designated place in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Francois recorded a population of 64 living in 28 of its 47 total private dwellings, a change of −28.1% from its 2016 population of 89.[9] With a land area of 5.09 km2 (1.97 sq mi), it had a population density of 17.5/km2 (45.3/sq mi) in 2016.[10]
Francois is a local service district (LSD)[11] that is governed by a committee responsible for the provision of certain services to the community.[12] The chair of the LSD committee is Austin Fudge.[11]
There is no road to the village, which can only be accessed by boat and helicopter, and snowmobile in the winter.[13][14][5] Francois is serviced by an intra-provincial ferry in Burgeo.[15]