The history of the Province began in 1875, when Don Bosco responded to the call of the Conference of St Vincent de Paul in Nice and started his first work in France. Initially, it was an oratory with a welfare service and a vocational school. Don Bosco sent the first three Salesians here, including the Rector, Fr Giovanni Giuseppe Ronchail, a 25-year-old Italian who had been professed for three years. They formed the first Salesian community in France.

Today, the province, whose Superior is Fr Xavier Ernst, has 123 Salesians, 15 communities and eight parishes, including one in Guadeloupe in the French Antilles.

In France and Belgium, the network of Salesian works also includes almost 60 educational institutions, which welcome over 36,000 young people, including about 3,000 boarders.