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This demolinguistic portrait of British Columbia Francophones contains considerable and varied information on the characteristics, practices and perceptions of this language group. What stands out from all this information? While the following items are not a complete list of the key points contained in this report, they provide a general picture.

1. The French-mother-tongue population of British Columbia more than tripled between 1951 and 2006, going from 19,400 to 58,900. The English-mother-tongue population also tripled, reaching 2,900,900 in 2006, while the population with an "other" mother tongue increased six-fold, totalling 1,114,600 in 2006, compared to 181,900 in 1951.
   
   
2. The criterion of first official language spoken (FOLS) is a more inclusive definition of the Francophone population, since it includes "other"-mother-tongue persons in the Francophone or Anglophone population. Thus, the relative share of the French FOLS population within the British Columbia population is 1.5% (61,700), while the relative share of French-mother-tongue population is 1.4% (58,890) (after equal redistribution of multiple responses). Conversely, the relative share of the Anglophone population is 71.2%, based on mother tongue, and 95.5% according to FOLS, which shows allophones' strong orientation toward English.
   
   
3. The proportion of persons whose first official language spoken is French within the overall population of British Columbia is 1.5%. Nearly two-thirds of the Franco-Columbian population resides in four census divisions: Greater Vancouver (50.9% or 31,400 people), Capital (10.2% or 6,305), Fraser Valley (4.7% or 2,890) and Central Okanagan (4.1% or 2,518) (see Appendix A). The Greater Vancouver census division (CD) corresponds to the Vancouver census metropolitan area (CMA), and the Capital CD includes not only the Victoria CMA, but also census subdivisions Capital F and Capital G
   
   
4. Between 1971 and 2006, the proportion of children from a French-English exogamous family within the population of families with at least one French-mother-tongue parent increased in British Columbia, from 59% to 73%. Conversely, the share of children living in an endogamous family with both parents having French as their mother tongue declined substantially, from 26% in 1971 to 12% in 2006. The formation of French–"other"-language exogamous families remained stable during this period, with a proportion of approximately 15%.
   
   
5. Because of the increase in the proportion of French-English exogamous couples between 1971 and 2006, one might expect to see a decrease in the rate of transmission of the minority language (in this case, French) to children. While French had been passed on to 3% of the children under 18 of French-English exogamous couples in 1971, the corresponding proportion was 9% in 2006. There was also an increase in the transmission of French to the children of French–"other"-language exogamous couples, from 15% to 19% during the same period.
   
   
6. Between 1971 and 2006, the number of French-mother-tongue persons under 25 years of age declined, owing to a drop in the fertility of Francophone women. Also during this period there was a sizeable increase in the number of persons aged 30 and over, owing to substantial migration of French-mother-tongue persons coming from another province or a territory or from outside Canada. However, part of the increase in the number of seniors is explained by the aging of the population and the increase in life expectancy.
   
   
7. Across the censuses, the language transfer rates among French-mother-tongue persons in British Columbia remained nearly stable. Thus, in 1971, approximately 74% of Franco-Columbians with French as a mother tongue reported using another language, usually English, most often at home. Thirty-five years later, 73% of French-mother-tongue persons reported speaking a language other than French most often at home. The proportion of language transfers among English-mother-tongue persons, which was almost nil, also remained stable at 0.6% in both 1971 and 2006. Among "other"-mother-tongue persons, language transfers declined over the past 35 years, going from 60% in 1971 to 39% in 2006. This major decrease is essentially the result of a strong increase in the immigrant population.
   
   
8. Overall in British Columbia, the proportion of Francophones who report speaking English most often at home (complete and partial language transfers) is larger than the proportion of francophones who report being more at ease in English than in French. Thus, 74% of Franco-Columbians report speaking English most often at home while 45% report being more at ease in English than in French.
   
   
9. In British Columbia, the population whose first official language spoken is French mainly uses English in both spheres. Within that population, 71% report using English predominantly (mainly or only) in the home, while 22% speak mainly or only French. The use of English is most widespread in oral interactions that take place in institutions and stores. There, 99% of the French FOLS population use English predominantly (mainly or only), while 77% use it exclusively.
   
   
10. The proportion of persons within the population of British Columbia who in 2006 reported being able to conduct a conversation in French (7.0%) is greater than the proportion who reported French only or with another language as their mother tongue (1.6%) or for whom French is the first official language spoken (1.5%).
    
    
11. The relative share of British Columbians who can conduct a conversation in French is highly polarized according to language group. Whereas 87.9% of persons with French as a mother tongue reported knowing both official languages, the corresponding proportion was only 7% for persons with English as a mother tongue and 5% for persons with an "other" mother tongue. Among the latter, 11%, most of them recent immigrants, reported that they were unable to conduct a conversation in either French or English.
    
    
12. In 2006, scarcely more than 10% of persons with French as a mother tongue were born in British Columbia, whereas nearly 75% were born in another province or a territory of Canada. More than one-third of French-mother-tongue persons were born in Quebec. As to foreign-born persons, most of whom were immigrants, they comprised nearly 15% of the French-mother-tongue population.
    
    
13. The immigrant population with French as its first official language spoken accounts for a very small proportion of the province's immigrant population. In 2006, its relative share was 1.3%. Whereas in 1971, immigrants accounted for 17% of the Francophone population, they accounted for nearly 24% in 2006, which was nearly equivalent to their share of the Anglophone population (26%).
    
    
14. Between 1981 and 2006, net migration between British Columbia and the other provinces and the territories was positive, ranging from 420 to 3,360, except for the period from 1991 to 1996, when it reached 6,655. Departures of Francophones for other provinces or the territories ranged between 5,060 and 7,685 during a given period. As for migration to British Columbia, it was highest in the period from 1991 to 1996, with 11,715 Francophones settling in the province. The periods of lowest migration to British Columbia were from 1981 to 1986 (7,695 arrivals) and 2001 to 2006 (7,385 arrivals).
    
    
15. In the 2006 Census, 19% of doctors working in British Columbia, or 1,055 out of a total of 5,460, reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in French, while 2.6% reported using French at least regularly in their work. For nurses, who numbered 34,815, these proportions are 7% and 0.7% respectively.
    
    
16. The results of the SVOLM show that the vast majority of British Columbia Francophones (99%) report using English in their contacts with the different health care professionals about whom information was collected in that survey, namely family doctors, nurses, telephone health line or telehealth service professionals and professionals in other places that people go to obtain care.
    
    
17. According to the 2006 Census, 4% of British Columbia police officers reported using French at least regularly at work. This rate is much lower than the rate for police officers' ability to conduct a conversation in French, which is 16%. The same applies to lawyers: their rate of use of French at least regularly at work (2%) is also much lower than the proportion of them who can conduct a conversation in French, which is 18%.
    
    
18. In British Columbia, 15,400 children of Francophone parents were enrolled in primary or secondary school at the time of the SVOLM. Of those students, approximately 40% were receiving an education in French, either in a French school (22%) or in a French immersion program in an English school. Of the rest of such children who were enrolled in elementary or secondary school, 58% were attending an English-language school (regular program).
    
    
19. In 2006, 26% of Anglophones had a high school diploma, compared to 20% of Francophones. Also, Francophones were proportionally more likely to have a university degree equivalent or higher than the bachelor's (25%) than Anglophones (22%). In the other categories, the statistics show that the differences between the two language groups are now quite small.
    
    
20. Because of Francophones closing the gap in education, the average and median incomes of persons with French as a first official language spoken (FOLS) are slightly higher than those of Anglophones. Thus, men with French as their only FOLS have an average income $1,600 higher than English FOLS men. The results for median income are quite similar; that of Francophone men is $1,200 higher than that of their Anglophone counterparts. For women, the average and median incomes of Francophones exceed those of Anglophones by respectively $2,400 and $1,800 respectively.
    
    
21. For persons with French and English as first official languages spoken, the average and median incomes are much lower than those of Francophones and Anglophones. For the population with a dual first official language spoken, the lower incomes would seem to be explained by the fact that these people are mainly immigrants. A number of studies have shown that despite a higher education level, immigrants have a higher unemployment rate and lower income levels than their Canadian-born counterparts.
    
    
22. A large proportion of British Columbia Francophones report that they identify with both the Francophone and Anglophone groups. Also, while a large proportion of Francophones report using English as their main language outside the home, a number of SVOLM findings indicate that Francophones assign a definite value to the French language. Slightly more than 50% of them reported that it is important for them to be able to use French in their daily life. Also, they consider it important or very important for individuals or organizations to work at the development of the French-speaking community (63%), for government services to be provided in French (69%) and for linguistic rights to be respected in their province (83%).