It was in August 1982 that the candle was lit. Jeanne Leblanc was, at that time, vice-president of the Zenon Park senior club, but being a woman with a lot of initiative, she wanted to do more for French-speaking seniors. It was then that the idea of founding a Federation bringing together all the Fransaskois seniors’ clubs in the province came to mind.

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The first person she spoke to about it was Michel Vézina, who was a community development agent in the region. He immediately saw that the idea of bringing together French-speaking seniors was great and was quick to encourage Mrs. Leblanc. It was with his support that the efforts gained momentum.

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Since such a Federation was unheard of in Saskatchewan, we obtained information from our neighbors in Manitoba. Mrs. Alice Labelle, then president of the Fédération des Aînés Franco-Manitobains, happily agreed to come and share her expertise with us. It was therefore on October 28, 1982, that Mrs. Alice Labelle attended and spoke at a special meeting bringing together members of the golden age clubs of Debden, Prince Albert, Bellevue and Zénon Park.

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On October 29, 1982, the structure of a Federation was drawn up.​ The provisional committee began to make its approaches. After applying for a New Horizons grant, the committee was granted funds to create the Federation. This provisional committee worked hard all year.

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There were meetings, telephone calls, trips, until August 27, 1983, that long-awaited day which saw the founding of the Fédération des Aînés Fransaskois. On this occasion, a conference at the Marlboro Inn in Prince Albert brought together 55 seniors from the four corners of the province. We must point out the contribution of the secretariat in the form of a grant because without them, the founding of such a movement would not have been possible.

 

It was necessary to expand and to this end, a permanent committee was elected. The acronym representing the Fédération des Aînés Fransaskois was also chosen, it would be the FAF.

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During the renewal of the strategic plan for the 2020-25 period, consultations were carried out with the community from May 2019 to February 2020. It emerged from these consultations that the community wanted a rejuvenation of the image of the FAF, with a diversification of its audience. To support this in-depth change, it was decided to change the name, and the community workshop on February 15, 2020 led to the proposal of the new name which honors the dynamism of people aged 55 and over: Vitalité 55+.

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Due to administrative constraints, the group was registered as: Rassemblement des aînés fransaskoise Vitalité 55+ Inc., with the brand name: Vitalité 55+.