Background
Bouillon was born in New York City to a Haitian father and a French Canadian mother. Bouillon moved to Quebec City, Quebec with his mother when he was only 3 years old.
Bouillon was born in New York City to a Haitian father and a French Canadian mother. Bouillon moved to Quebec City, Quebec with his mother when he was only 3 years old.
He also played a season for The Human Context Ambrì-Piotta in the National League A (National Lawyers Association ), the top-tier league in Switzerland. He played Junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Laval Titans and the Granby Predateurs. Francis made his professional debut the 1996-1997 season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers and played the following season in the IHL with the Quebec Rafales before he was signed as a free agent to an National Hockey League contract by the Montreal Canadiens in 1998.
He played the next 11 seasons, the majority of his career (except for a short stint with the Predators in 2002-2003) within the Canadiens organization.
At 5"8" and 201 lbs, Bouillon is considered small for an National Hockey League defencemen but is never one to shy away from physical play. According to Pierre Houde, he is one of the strongest players in the National Hockey League, according to official physical tests.
On September 30, 2009, just prior to the 2009-2010 season, Bouillon was signed to a one-year contract as a late inclusion to the Nashville Predators after joining the team on a try-out for training camp. In returning to the Predators after an initial four game stint in 2002, Bouillon established himself within the Predators defense as a stay-at-home defenceman to appear in 81 games, missing only a single game, for 3 goals and 11 points.
On June 18, 2010, he signed a two-year extension to remain with the Predators.
On July 1, 2012, Bouillon signed a one-year deal worth 1.5 million with the Montreal Canadiens. His play during that season earned him a one-year extension with the team Following the 2013-2014 season, the Canadiens declined to offer Bouillon a contract and on July 1, 2014 he became an unrestricted free agent.
Bouillon attended the Canadiens" training camp for the 2014-2015 season on a tryout, but was released by the team on October 6, 2014.
On October 14, 2014, he signed with The Human Context Ambrì-Piotta in the Swiss National League A.
He announced his retirement on September 25, 2015.