Question Period Note: Decline of French in Quebec

Language data from the 2021 Census released by Statistics Canada on August 17, 2022, shows that between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, while the number of francophones in Quebec is increasing, their proportion is decreasing.

• Our Government is committed to protecting and promoting French across the country, including in Quebec, and has even made sure to recognize in the modernized Act that the French language is in a minority situation in Canada and North America .
• Both the modernized Act and the Action Plan 2023-2028 include concrete provisions and investments to restore and increase the demographic weight of Francophones in the country.
• For our government, tackling the decline of French is of paramount importance, and the legislative, administrative and regulatory measures in the reform of the language regime, to ensure the protection and promotion of French across the country, bear witness to this.

• On June 20, 2023, Bill C-13 - An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact An Act respecting the use of French in federally regulated private businesses and to make related amendments to other Acts received Royal Assent. The purpose of this Act is to strengthen support the French language throughout Canada, including Quebec.
• According to Census data published by Statistics Canada on August 17, 2022, in 2021, 85.5% of the Quebec population reported speaking French at home at least regularly. In Quebec, from 2016 to 2021, there was a growth in numbers, but a decrease in the proportion of the population who had French as their mother tongue (dropping from 77.1% to 74.8%), as their first official language spoken (from 83.7% to 82.2%) or who could conduct a conversation in French (from 94.5% to 93.7%).
o The number of people who spoke predominantly French at home has increased from 6.4 million in 2016 to 6.5 million in 2021, while the proportion of the population they represent has decreased (from 79, 0% to 77.5%) over this period.
o At the same time, the proportion of the population of Quebec who spoke French most often equally with another language at home increased slightly from 2016 (3.3%) to 2021 (3.5%).
o From 2016 to 2021, the proportion of the population for whom French was the first official language spoken decreased in all regions of Quebec, except in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region (+1.1 points percentage). The biggest decline s were in Nord-du-Québec (-3.6 percentage points), Laval (-3.0 percentage points), on the island of Montreal (-2.4 percentage points) and in the Outaouais (-2.4 percentage points).
• The mandate letter of the former Minister of Official Languages committed her to "Continue to work to secure the future of the French language in Canada by fully implementing measures outlined in the White Paper, English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada." The letter also asked the Minister to " Swiftly reintroduce An Act for the Substantive Equality of French and English and the Strengthening of the Official Languages Act by early 2022" and to "Protect the institutions of Quebec’s English-speaking community and support the creation of new education and community spaces for the community.”
• In the September 2020 Speech from the Throne, the Government recognized that “the situation of French is unique. There are nearly 8 million Francophones in Canada, in an ocean of more than 360 million mainly English-speaking inhabitants. The government therefore has a responsibility to protect and promote French not only outside Quebec, but also within it".
• In August, 2020, the Office Québécois de la langue française released the results of its Survey on Language Requirements among Montreal Businesses, Municipalities and Boroughs. According to the report:
o 39.8 % of Quebec businesses (62.9 % on the island of Montreal) required or wanted the person hired to have English language skills for the last position filled (2018).
o 23.5 % of Quebec municipalities and Montreal boroughs required or wished French and English or English-only skills when hiring, while on the island of Montreal, the percentage rises to 50.
o More than a quarter (27.8 %) of Quebec businesses required or preferred English language skills for oral communication outside the organization. This proportion is 21 % for municipalities and boroughs.
• According to various scenarios studied by Statistics Canada, the population with French as a mother tongue would decrease from 21.3% in 2011 to 17% or 18% in 2036; while the population with English as a mother tongue would change from 58.7% to 52% or 56%. In Quebec, citizens with French as their mother tongue would constitute between 69% and 72% of the population in 2036, compared to 79% in 2011. In the rest of Canada, this same proportion could fall from 3.8% to 2.7% or 2.8%.
• On May 24, 2022, the National Assembly of Quebec passed An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (commonly known as Bill 96) to make amendments to the Charter of the French Language (also referred to as "Bill 101") and to several other existing laws. Bill 96 was assented to and came into force on June 1, 2022, in addition to certain provisions suspended by the Quebec Superior Court.

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