Ethnicity, Language and Immigration Thematic Series
The French Language in British Columbia, 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 2016¹ for the French language in British Columbia. To this end, the document provides census-based information on the population² who have French as their 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 64,320 persons who had French as a first official language spoken.  They represented 1.4% of British Columbia’s total population.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons who had French as a first official language spoken increased by 8.3%, that is, by 4,950 persons.

• As of 2016, the number of persons who reported being able to conduct a conversation in French, either exclusively or along with another language, stood at 316,730. Collectively, this population represented 6.9% of British Columbia’s total population that year.
  • In the 15 years leading to 2016, those who reported being able to conduct a conversation in French have increased in number by 16.8%, that is, by an additional 45,555 persons.

• English-French bilingualism is on the rise in British Columbia. In fact, the number of persons who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages increased from 269,365 in 2001 to 314,925 in 2016, a 16.9% increase.
  • However, as a proportion of British Columbia’s total population there is a decrease in the relative weight of English-French bilinguals. Specifically, in 2001 those able to conduct a conversation in English and French represented 7.0% of British Columbia’s population whereas in 2016 this proportion fell to 6.8%.

• In 2016, the number of persons who reported having French as their mother tongue³ , whether exclusively or in combination with other languages, stood at 71,705 or 1.6% of the province’s total population.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons who report having French as their mother tongue, either exclusively or along with other languages, increased by 12.7% (+8,075 persons).

• In 2016, there were 72,750 persons who reported speaking French at home at least regularly. They represented 1.6% of British Columbia’s population. From 2001 to 2016, the number of persons who reported speaking French at home at least regularly increased by 35.7%.
  • Among those who reported speaking French at least regularly at home in 2016, 26,670 persons reported speaking French most often⁴ whereas 46,080 reported speaking French as a secondary language in addition their main language. Respectively, they represented 0.6% and 1.0% of British Columbia’s total population in 2016.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of persons who reported speaking French most often at home⁴ increased by 36.7%, that is, by an additional 7,160 persons. Similarly, those who reported speaking French as a secondary language at home increased by 35.1%, that is, by 11,975 persons.
  • In absolute terms, in the 15 years since 2001, 67.7% of the growth in the population who reports speaking French most often at home can be attributed to the increase in the number of persons who report speaking French and another language equally often.

• In 2016, 35,465 workers reported using French at work at least regularly. Collectively, they represented 1.3% of British Columbia’s working population.
  • In the 2001 to 2016 period, the number of workers who reported using French at work at least regularly increased by 15.5%, that is, by an additional 4,755 workers.

• As of 2016, the number of workers who reported using French most often at work⁵ reached 10,865, a figure which represents 0.4% of the province’s working population. By contrast, there were more than twice that number of workers who reported using French at work as a secondary language (24,600 workers) and they represented 0.9% of the province’s working population.
  • Between 2001 and 2016, the number of workers who reported using French most often at work⁵ increased by 48.0% (+3,525 workers) whereas for those who reported using French as their secondary language at work the increase was of 5.3% (+1,230 workers).
  • The increase among those who use French most often at work⁵ accounted for nearly three quarters (74.1%) of the total growth in the use of French at work.

Notes