Ethnicity, Language and Immigration Thematic Series
The French Language in Ontario, 2001 to 2016: Facts and Figures

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by Alejandro A. Páez Silva

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The purpose of this document is to present an overview of the prevailing trends observed between 2001 and 2016^{Note 1} for the French language in Ontario. To this end, the document provides census-based information on the population^{Note 2} who have French as a first official language spoken, mother tongue, language spoken at home or language used at work as well as on the population who reported speaking French well enough to conduct a conversation.

• In 2016, there were 550,600 persons who had French as a first official language spoken representing 4.1% of Ontario’s total population.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons with French as a first official language spoken increased by 4.3% (+22,885 persons) while simultaneously decreasing as a proportion of the total population by 0.5 percentage points.

• In 2016, 1,530,435 persons reported being able to sustain a conversation in French, either exclusively or in combination with other languages. They represented 11.5% of Ontario’s total population that year, down 0.6 percentage points compared to 2001.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons able to conduct a conversation in French whether exclusively or in combination with another language increased by 12.4% which amounts to an increase of 168,410 persons over a 15 year period.
• As of 2016, English-French bilingualism stood at 1,490,390 persons who collectively represented a bilingualism rate of 11.2% in the province that year.
  • In the 2001 to 2016 period, the number of persons able to conduct a conversation in English and French increased by 12.9% (+170,675 persons) while decreasing as a proportion of the overall population by 0.5 percentage points. During that period, Ontario’s total population grew by 18.0%.
  • As of 2016, Ontario’s English-French bilingual population ranked as the second most numerous from among all provinces and territories, second only to Quebec and followed by British Columbia in third place.
• In 2016, 568,345 persons reported having French as a mother tongue^{Note 3}, either exclusively or along with other languages. They represented 4.3% of Ontario’s total population.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons with French as their mother tongue has increased by 6.4% (+34,375 persons) while simultaneously decreasing as a proportion by 0.5 percentage points.

• There were 617,265 persons who reported speaking French at home at least regularly in 2016. Collectively, they represented 4.6% of Ontario’s total population.
  • Since 2001, the number of persons who report speaking French at home at least regularly has increased by 16.8% (+88,625 persons) while remaining unchanged as a proportion of Ontario’s total population.
• Among those who reported speaking French at home at least regularly in 2016, 348,285 persons reported speaking French most often^{Note 4} while 268,980 reported speaking French as their secondary language (in addition to the main language). Respectively, they represented 2.6% and 2.0% of the province’s total population.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons who reported speaking French most often at home^{Note 4} rose by 6.8% (+22,265). In the same period, those who reported speaking French as a secondary language at home in addition to the main language rose by 32.8% (+66,360).
    • Both French spoken at home most often^{Note 4} (-0.3 percentage points) and French spoken as a secondary language at home (+0.2 percentage points) remained relatively stable as a proportion of Ontario’s total population.
    • Among those who reported speaking French most often at home^{Note 4} in the 2001 to 2016 period, the only decreases observed were among those who speak exclusively French at home. In fact, the number of persons who only speak French at home decreased by 13.6% (-22,365 persons) in that period.

• In 2016, 426,720 workers in Ontario reported using French at work at least regularly. Collectively, they represented 5.6% of Ontario’s working population that year.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, those who reported using French at work at least regularly rose by 11.9% (+45,395 workers) while remaining relatively unchanged as a proportion of Ontario’s total working population (-0.2 percentage points).
• Among those who reported using French at least regularly at work in 2016, the number of persons who used French most often^{Note 5} stood at 160,325 while 266,395 reported using French as a secondary language in addition to the main language. Respectively, they represented 2.1% and 3.5% of Ontario’s working population.
  • Since 2001, the number of workers using French most often^{Note 5} at work has increased by 21,840, up 15.8%. By comparison, the secondary use of French at work has increased by an additional 23,555 workers or 9.7% over the same period.
  • In the 2001 to 2016 period, both those using French most often^{Note 5} at work and those using it as a secondary language in addition to the main language at work remained relatively unchanged as a proportion of the total working population.
  • Among those using French most often^{Note 5} at work in the 2001 to 2016 period, only those who reported using exclusively French at work experienced a decrease (-410 workers).

Notes