Mother Tongue (French)

Although the number of people with French as their mother tongue (Francophones) has continued to increase in Canada, their proportion has declined over the last forty-five years. Between 1951 and 1996, the number of Francophones rose from 4.1 million to 6.7 million, but the proportion of Francophones in the population fell from 29% to 24% (Figure 1 below).

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Figure 1. Percentage of Population with French Mother Tongue, Canada and Quebec, 1951 to 1996

The proportional decline is largely explained by the heavy immigration of people whose mother tongue was a language other than French. For example, of the 1 039 000 immigrants enumerated in the 1996 Census has having arrived in Canada over the previous five years, only 3% had French as a mother tongue.

Outside Quebec, children of parents with a French mother tongue sometimes learn English rather than French in early childhood. The transmission of French mother tongue is not assured, particularly when one of the parents has English as a mother tongue. The size and proportion of the Francophone population are affected by this phenomenon.

Quebec is the only province in which the majority of the population has French as its mother tongue. In 1996, 86% of Francophones in Canada lived in Quebec. They accounted for 82% of the Quebec population.

The situation of Francophones varies widely from province to province. Quebec is the province with the highest proportion of persons whose mother tongue is French, followed by New Brunswick. It is in the latter province and in Ontario that more than three-quarters (76%) of Francophones living outside Quebec are found. New Brunswick had 242 000 francophones in 1996, representing 33.2% of its population, compared with 34.0% in 1991 and 33.8% in 1971. In Ontario, there were about 500 000 francophones, accounting for 4.7% of its population, down from 5.0% in 1991 and 6.3% in 1971. Since its entry into Confederation in 1949, Newfoundland’s provincial population has always had the smallest proportion and lowest number of Francophones (Figure 2 below).

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Figure 2. Population with French Mother Tongue, Provinces and Territories, 1996

Between 1991 and 1996, the population with French as its mother tongue and the proportion of the Canadian population made up by that group has fallen in all provinces, except Quebec and British Columbia. In these two provinces, the number of Francophones has grown while their proportion has decreased. Only in the Yukon has both the number and the proportion of Francophones in the population increased.

The text for Official Languages is based on the following publication:

Marmen, Louise and Jean-Pierre Corbeil. Languages in Canada: 1996 Census. New Canadian Perspectives Series. Ottawa: Canadian Heritage, and Statistics Canada, 1999. Catalogue number: CH3-2-8/1999.

To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data and Mapping Notes.

• English-French Bilingualism Map | Read about this map
• Knowledge of English Map | Read about this map
• Knowledge of French Map | Read about this map
• Mother Tongue (English) Map | Read about this map

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