The first Acadian World Congress took place in southeastern New Brunswick in 1994. Thousands of Acadians came from all over the world to participate, and it was a tremendous success. The project took shape and adopted as its mission to develop closer ties between Acadians around the world.


The Acadian World Congress was an occasion for family reunions, and Acadians came from all over the world in search of people with the same last name, such as Allain, Amirault, Bastarache (Basque), Blanchard, Boudreau, Bourgeois, Bourque, Colette, Duguay, Gauvin, Godin, Hébert, Richard, Robichaud, Thériault and Vautour.

A number of lectures were given on four main topics: communications, the economy, education, and culture and heritage. The lectures were an opportunity to reflect on the future of Acadian communities and discuss specific problems in different regions.