A French version of the Canberra Interview for the Elderly (CIE) was developed. This instrument is designed for lay administration and, using a computer algorithm, produces diagnoses of dementia and depression according to ICD-10 and DSM-III-R criteria. The reliability of this French version was found to meet or exceed the English version in a test-retest design. Validity, established by comparison with diagnoses made by an experienced clinician, was also found to be acceptable. The CIE is thus an appropriate instrument for the epidemiological study of these disorders in French-speaking populations.