Conclusion

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]89-642-x[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]

This demolinguistic portrait of Alberta 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 Alberta increased by 89% from 1951 to 2006, going from 34,200 to 64,800. However, that population decreased from 1981 to 1996. The increase in the Francophone population during the 1951–2006 period was much smaller than that of the other two language groups. In fact, the English-mother-tongue population quadrupled (increasing by 300%) to 2,593,400 in 2006, while the "other"-mother-tongue population more than doubled (with an increase of 133%), totalling 598,200 in 2006 compared with 256,900 in 1951.
   
   
2. In Alberta, using the first official language spoken as criterion has very little effect on the size of the Francophone population, despite the presence of allophones. The relative share of the French FOLS population within the overall population of Alberta is 1.9% (62,790), while that of the French-mother-tongue population is 2.0% (64,750) (after equal redistribution of multiple responses).
   
   
3. The proportion of persons whose first official language spoken is French within the overall population of Alberta is 1.9%. Nearly seven Franco-Albertans in 10 reside in two census divisions (CDs): Division 6 (30% of the province's Francophones or 19,125 persons) and Division 11 (36% of the province's Francophones or 22,805 persons). Furthermore, more than half of the province's Francophones live in the cities of Calgary (27%) and Edmonton (24%).
   
   
4. From 1971 to 2006, the proportion of children from a French-English exogamous family among all families with at least one French-mother-tongue parent increased in Alberta, going from 45% to 76%. Conversely, the share of children living in an endogamous family with both parents having French as their mother tongue and the share of children whose parents formed a French-"other"-tongue exogamous couple both declined substantially, going from 37% and 18% respectively in 1971 to 17% and 8% in 2006.
   
   
5. Because of the increase in the proportion of French-English exogamous couples from 1971 to 2006, one might expect to see a decrease in the rate of transmission of the minority language (in this case, French) to children. However, it remained fairly stable. Whereas French had been passed on to 5% of the children under 18 years of age of French-English exogamous couples in 1971, the proportion was 8% in 2006. There was also an increase in the transmission of French to the children of French-"other"-language exogamous couples, from 12% to 14% during the same period.
   
   
6. From 1971 to 2006, the French-mother-tongue population saw its numbers grow by 39%, from 46,750 to 64,750. However, not all cohorts registered an increase. Firstly, the cohorts under 25 years of age decreased in size, owing to a drop in fertility among Francophone women that was due in part to a fertility rate below the replacement level. Secondly, the number of persons aged 30 and over was up because of sizable migration of the French-mother-tongue population from other provinces and territories and outside Canada. However, part of the increase in the number of seniors is explained by the aging of the population and increased life expectancy.
   
   
7. Through successive censuses, the rate of language transfer has increased for persons with French as a mother tongue in Alberta. Thus, in 1971, approximately 54% of Albertans with French as a mother tongue reported using another language, usually English, most often at home. Thirty-five years later, 69% of French-mother-tongue persons reported speaking a language other than French most often at home. Among English-mother-tongue persons, the proportion of language transfers was almost nil and remained stable over the period, registering 0.6% in 1971 and 0.4% in 2006. Among "other"-mother-tongue persons, language transfers declined over the past 35 years, going from 62% in 1971 to 46% in 2006. This major decrease is essentially the result of a strong increase in the immigrant population.
   
   
8. Overall in Alberta, a greater proportion of Francophones report using English most often at home (complete and partial language transfers) than the proportion of Francophones that report being more at ease in English than in French. Thus, around 70% of Franco-Albertans report speaking English most often at home while 54% report being more at ease in English than in French.
   
   
9. In Alberta, the population whose first official language spoken (FOLS) is French mainly uses English in both spheres. The use of English as the predominant language (mainly or only) in the home was reported by 67%; 23% spoke mainly or only French there. But the most widespread use of English is in oral interactions that take place in institutions and stores, where 96% of the French FOLS population use it predominantly while 75% use it exclusively. Beyond the language choices at home and in institutions and stores, the extent to which English is used within immediate networks, at work and in the consumption of media is roughly similar, ranging from 86% to 90% depending on the domain. With friends, data from the Survey on the Vitality of official-language Minorities (SVOLM) show that 78% of persons for whom French is the first official language spoken use mainly or only English.
   
   
10. Within the overall population of Alberta in 2006, a larger proportion of persons reported being able to conduct a conversation in French (7%) than reported French alone or with another language as their mother tongue (2.1%) or than reported French as their first official language spoken (1.9%). The relative share of Albertans able to conduct a conversation in French varies from one language group to another. Approximately 9 French–mother–tongue persons in 10 reported knowing French. The proportion is 5% for persons with English as their mother tongue and 4% for those with another mother tongue. Among the latter, 7% —most of them recent immigrants–reported that they were unable to conduct a conversation in either English or French.
    
    
11. In 2006, approximately one-third of French-mother-tongue persons (35%) and French FOLS persons (32%) had been born in Alberta. Depending on the criterion used, the proportion of Alberta Francophones born in another province or a territory of Canada differs slightly; it was 54% for French FOLS persons compared with 57% for persons with French as their mother tongue. Slightly more than one-quarter of both French-mother-tongue persons and French FOLS persons had been born in Quebec. Indeed, just over one–third of Franco-Albertans were natives of Quebec or Ontario. As for foreign-born persons–most of whom were immigrants—they comprised nearly 8% of the French-mother-tongue population and 14% of the population with French as its first official language spoken.
    
    
12. Alberta receives a number of international immigrants whose first official language spoken is French. In the 2006 census count, there were 7,865 French-speaking individuals born outside Canada residing in the province. Within Alberta's immigrant population as a whole, a small proportion had French as their first official language spoken. In 2006, that relative share was 1.5%. Nevertheless, the relative weight of the French-speaking immigrant population within Alberta's Francophone population was 13% in the last census, while the relative weight of the English-speaking immigrant population within the Anglophone population was 16%.
    
    
13. From 1981 to 1991, Alberta registered negative net interprovincial migration, with a net loss of at least 25,000 persons for each five-year period. However, starting in 1991, the province posted positive net migration, with gains ranging from 3,600 for the 1991–1996 period, to 88,200 for the 2001-2006 period. Notably during the 1996–2001 period, Alberta recorded an unequalled gain of 119,400, including 113,900 Anglophones and 5,300 Francophones.
    
    
14. In the 2006 Census, 15% of the medical doctors working in Alberta—that is, 635 out of a total of 4,265—reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in French, while 2.5% reported using French at least on a regular basis in their work. For nurses, numbering 32,215, the proportions were 7% and 1% respectively.
    
    
15. The results of the Survey on the Vitality of the Official-Language Minorities show that almost all (97%) of Alberta Francophones 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 where people go to obtain care.
    
    
16. According to the 2006 Census, 3% of Alberta 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 12%. The same is true for lawyers: their rate of use of French at least regularly in their work (1%) is also much lower than the proportion who are able to conduct a conversation in French, which is 17%.
    
    
17. In Alberta, 17,140 children of Francophone parents were enrolled in elementary or secondary school at the time of the survey. Of those children, 43% were receiving an education in French, including 25% in a French school and 18% in a French immersion program in an English school. Of the rest of such children who were enrolled in elementary or secondary school, 54% were attending an English-language school (regular program).
    
    
18. In 2006, Francophones (20.5%) and Anglophones (20.3%) are almost equally as likely to have a university degree at or above the bachelor level. Francophones (18.7%) are also proportionately as likely as Francophones (18,6%) to have no certificate, diploma or degree. However, a slightly higher proportion of Anglophones (23.7%) than Francophones (20.6%) had a high school diploma or the equivalent.
    
    
19. The 2006 statistics reveal that the mean and median incomes of persons with French as their first official language spoken are slightly higher than those of Anglophones. Men with French as their only first official language spoken (FOLS) have a mean income $500 higher than men with English as their only FOLS. A larger gap is observed between these two language groups with respect to median income, since that of Francophone men is $3,200 higher than that of Anglophone men. Among women, the mean and median incomes of Francophones are respectively $1,400 and $2,000 higher than those of Anglophones. As for the mean and median incomes of persons with French and English as first official languages spoken, they are much lower than those of Francophones and Anglophones. For the population with a dual FOLS, the lower incomes seem to be explained by the fact that these people are mainly immigrants.
    
    
20. Results from the Survey on the Vitality of the Official-Language Minorities suggest that Francophones have a double ethnolinguistic identity: 54% of them report that they identify with both the Francophone and Anglophone groups, compared with 14% who report identifying mainly or only with the Francophone group.
    
    
21. The majority of Franco-Albertans (57%) reported that it is important or very important to 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 to develop the French-speaking community (62%), for government services to be provided in French (75%) and for linguistic rights to be respected in their province (83%).