People walk by bilingual signs for a commercial space for lease in the city of Westmount, on the island of Montreal, on Aug. 5.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The share of French-speakers in Quebec declined slightly in the last five years, a development Premier François Legault called “worrying” as the province heads into an October election that will be fought partly on language and identity issues.
The shrinking proportion of francophones, highlighted by 2021 census figures released on Wednesday, has revived perennial fears in Quebec about the survival of a French-speaking society in North America and the census announcement quickly became a source of political contention.
Minister of the French Language Simon Jolin-Barrette said the numbers show Quebec is at a linguistic “crossroads” that justifies the government’s recent controversial adoption of Bill 96, which limits the use of English in business, government and the courts.
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The latest census shows that by many metrics the use of French dropped in the province compared to other languages in recent years. The share of people with French as a mother tongue fell from 77.1 per cent to 74.8 per cent. Those who spoke predominantly French at home have been increasing in number but falling as a proportion of Quebec’s population since as far back as 2001, from 82.3 per cent to 77.5 per cent.
Mr. Legault has made defending French a core part of his government’s mandate, recently demanding more powers over immigration from the federal government to halt Quebec’s transformation into another Louisiana, where French is all but extinct.
In Canada, the relative proportion of people
speaking French at home is decreasing
Number of people who
speak predominantly
French at home, millions
Proportion of population
who speak predominantly
French at home, per cent
8
35
7
30
6
25
5
20
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
0
0
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
the globe and mail, Source: statistics canada
In Canada, the relative proportion of people
speaking French at home is decreasing
Number of people who
speak predominantly
French at home, millions
Proportion of population
who speak predominantly
French at home, per cent
8
35
7
30
6
25
5
20
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
0
0
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
the globe and mail, Source: statistics canada
In Canada, the relative proportion of people speaking French at home is decreasing
Number of people who
speak predominantly
French at home, millions
Proportion of population
who speak predominantly
French at home, per cent
8
35
7
30
6
25
5
20
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
0
0
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
the globe and mail, Source: statistics canada
The relative decline of French in Quebec can be explained partly by a younger anglophone population, immigration from non-Francophone countries, and Quebec losing fewer English speakers to other parts of the country, according to a Statistics Canada analysis of Wednesday’s data.
Some Quebec demographers, meanwhile, said more information is needed about the causes of the decline and about language in the workplace to get an accurate picture of the status of French in Quebec.
The trend captured in the 2021 census parallels the decline of French in Canada overall, where the share of people whose primary official language is French fell from 22.2 to 21.4 per cent since the last census. In response to the numbers, Bloc Québécois spokesperson Mario Beaulieu accused the federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of failing to protect French.
“This should be the final alarm bell for the Liberal government, which still refuses to grasp the urgency of the situation,” Mr. Beaulieu said in a statement.
Stéphanie Chouinard, a professor of political science at Royal Military College, said that although the place of French in Canada was diminishing fairly slowly, the long-term trend was clear. She called on the federal government to take tougher measures to strengthen French across the country, including by increasing francophone immigration.
“We see that despite the pretty words and the political intentions to give the two official languages equal footing, there’s one that continues to lose ground,” she said.
In Quebec, the relative proportion of people
speaking French at home is decreasing
Number of people who
speak predominantly
French at home, millions
Proportion of population
who speak predominantly
French at home, per cent
8
100
7
90
6
5
80
4
70
3
2
60
1
0
50
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
the globe and mail, Source: statistics canada
In Quebec, the relative proportion of people
speaking French at home is decreasing
Number of people who
speak predominantly
French at home, millions
Proportion of population
who speak predominantly
French at home, per cent
8
100
7
90
6
5
80
4
70
3
2
60
1
0
50
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
the globe and mail, Source: statistics canada
In Quebec, the relative proportion of people speaking French at home is decreasing
Number of people who
speak predominantly
French at home, millions
Proportion of population
who speak predominantly
French at home, per cent
8
100
7
90
6
5
80
4
70
3
2
60
1
0
50
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
the globe and mail, Source: statistics canada
Federal Minister of Official Languages Ginette Petitpas Taylor responded to the StatsCan release with a sharply worded statement reiterating the government’s promise to overhaul the Official Languages Act to strengthen the place of French.
“The census data on official languages released this morning is troubling, and demonstrates what our government has always said: French is under threat in Quebec, as it is across the rest of Canada,” she said. “For the eight million francophones in Canada who exist in an ocean of more than 360 million English speakers across North America, we know that we must be vigilant in protecting and promoting French, and that is why our government has made it a priority.”
While francophones across Canada expressed concern about the new figures, some Quebec anglophones cheered signs of growth for their community. The share of Quebeckers with English as their first official language spoken rose from 12 to 13 per cent, while their ranks topped a million for the first time on record.
“For the English-speaking community, it’s good news,” said Eva Ludvig, interim president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, an anglophone advocacy organization. “It’s reassuring: We are here, we are here to stay.”
The incremental rise of English should not be cause for alarm for francophone Quebeckers, Ms. Ludvig argued, noting that the English-speaking share of the province’s population still doesn’t exceed where it stood at the beginning of the 1970s, before multiple waves of anglophone flight.
There are other signs that French as the common language of Quebec is holding relatively steady. The share of the population that could have a conversation in French declined by less than a percentage point and stands at 93.7 per cent.
There is also evidence that immigrants continue to be absorbed into the francophone mainstream: The proportion of Quebeckers with a mother tongue other than English or French who spoke mainly French at home rose from 18.8 to 20.1 per cent since the last census, a higher rate than English.
Jean-Pierre Corbeil, professor of sociology at Laval University, cautioned against drawing too many conclusions about Wednesday’s StatsCan report until figures about language in the workplace become available later this year.
“The data today concerns the private sphere, which is not the target of linguistic policy,” he said. A recent study by Quebec’s language watchdog found that the use of French in the public sphere has remained stable in recent years, he added.
With files from Bill Curry and The Canadian Press
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