Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities

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The use of English in daily activities among English-speaking adults in Quebec appears to be much more widespread than the use of French among French-speaking adults outside Quebec, according to the first results of a groundbreaking survey.

Data from the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities show clearly that outside Quebec, the predominance of French in all social spheres is a reality only among the French-speaking population in certain regions of New Brunswick and of Ontario, mainly those bordering Quebec.

At least three-quarters of French-speaking adults in New Brunswick reported that they speak only French, or mostly French, with their friends and in their immediate networks.

In Ontario, 15% of French-speaking adults said they use only French, or mostly French, in their daily life. This proportion reaches 38% when taking into account those who reported speaking French and English equally. The use of French was much weaker in the provinces west of Ontario, as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

In Quebec, results from the survey found that Quebec English-speaking adults use English heavily on a daily basis. Two-thirds (67%) of them used English predominantly with friends, while nearly 60% did so in their immediate networks.

Moreover, when those who reported using English and French equally were included, the survey showed that English was used more often, or as often, among nearly 85% of Quebec English-speaking adults.

The survey was designed to offer a better understanding of the linguistic life of official-language minorities, and provide information on whether members of such minority communities live their lives in the minority language.

Use of health services: English the predominant language

The survey examined the use of the minority language in the access to a variety of health care services, and the importance that official-language minorities attached to the availability of health services in the minority language.

It found that English was the predominant language in contacts with the different health services. The principal reason cited by respondents for this situation was the lack of professionals who spoke their minority language.

In Quebec, 72% of English-speaking adults reported using only English with their family doctor. Just over one-half (52%) of those who consulted a nurse used only English, as did about 51% of adults who consulted health professionals in other areas of service.

Outside Quebec, just over one-third (35%) of French-speaking adults reported using mostly French with their regular medical doctor. About 36% used mostly French with a nurse, as did 33% in contacts with other health care professionals.

Only in New Brunswick was French used more than English. More than three-quarters (77%) of the French-speaking adults there reported using mainly French with their family doctor. This proportion rose to 79% among those who contacted other health care professionals. In Ontario, the corresponding proportions were 31% and 20%, respectively.

The use of French varied on a regional basis in New Brunswick. In the northern region, the vast majority (90%) of French-speaking adults reported using mainly French with their family doctor. This compares with 80% in the southeast region and 26% in the rest of the province.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of French-speaking adults in all provinces outside Quebec said the main reason that it would be difficult to get health-care services in French is the scarcity of French-speaking professionals. Inside Quebec, at least 70% of English-speaking adults cited a similar problem for receiving services in English.

Minority school attendance outside Quebec

This survey also collected data on proportions of young people who attended minority language schools inside and outside Quebec, as well as the main reasons for parental choices regarding their child's language of instruction.

Outside Quebec, an estimated 111,600 children who had at least one French-speaking parent, or 49% of the total, attended a French-language school in 2006, elementary or secondary. Another 15% were exposed to instruction in French within a French immersion program.

Of these children, about 75,800 (53%) were registered in French-language schools at the elementary level. However, only about 35,800 (44%) were registered in French-language secondary schools. This suggests a significant number of these students had moved to an English-language school after completing their primary schooling in French.

The parents of 35% of the children registered in a French-immersion program told the survey they would have preferred their child to be registered in a minority French school. The parents of about 42% of children registered in a regular program at an English school had the same preference.

The parents of more than 80% of children who would not have preferred their child to be registered in a minority school considered it "very important" or "important" for their children to be able to speak French.

Minority school attendance in Quebec

In Quebec, the language of education of children of English-speaking parents is not always a matter of choice for parents. In most cases, this choice exists for children whose parents are Canadian citizens and had their elementary schooling in English in Canada. Other very specific criteria also allow parents to register their children in English schools. All other children must generally attend French schools as required under Quebec language legislation.

The survey found that in Quebec, just under one-half (49%) of the children of English-speaking parents were registered in an English elementary or secondary school in 2006. Of all the children attending an English school, half were in a French immersion program.

Among the children registered in a French-language school, one-third had parents who would have preferred to register them in a minority English school. However, while this situation is not what they would have chosen, the parents of 91% of these children nevertheless stated that they considered it "very important" or "important" for their children to be able to conduct a conversation in French.

The survey also examined differences in language of schooling among different types of families in Quebec. Of the 32,300 children who had two anglophone parents, 78% were registered in English schools. However, when one spouse was anglophone and the other francophone, only 37% of children were registered in an English school. The rest were in a French school.

Sense of belonging and perceptions regarding vitality

The survey asked members of official-language minorities, based on their experience, which group they identified with the most, namely francophones or anglophones.

Outside Quebec, about one-third (34%) of French speakers said they identified only or mostly with the francophone group. Nearly half (48%) said they identified with the two language groups equally, and nearly 15% said they identified mainly with the anglophone group.

These results vary widely on a regional basis. In New Brunswick, for example, 61% of adults identified primarily with the francophone group. In northern New Brunswick, this proportion increased to 73%.

The vast majority (89%) of French-speaking adults considered it important that linguistic rights, such as the right to education or the right to receive federal government services in the minority language, be respected in their province.

More than one in four French-speaking adults (26%) outside Quebec believed that the presence of French has increased in their municipality over the past 10 years. On the other hand, about 20% thought that its presence had decreased.

Nearly 42% of French-speaking adults considered the vitality of the francophone community in their municipality to be strong or very strong.

In Quebec, the proportion of English speakers who identified primarily with the anglophone group (51%) was much larger than the proportion of French speakers who identified with the francophone group outside Quebec (34%). About 40% of English speakers in Quebec said they identified with both groups.

The vast majority (95%) of English-speaking adults in Quebec considered it important that their linguistic rights be respected.

However, more than one-third (35%) of English-speaking adults said the presence of English had decreased in Quebec over the past decade. And about 42% said that the vitality of the anglophone community in their municipality was strong or very strong.

In general, with respect to both the past and the future, French-speaking adults outside Quebec seemed more optimistic about the change over time in the presence of French in their municipality than were their English-speaking counterparts in Quebec regarding the evolving presence of English in their community.

Whereas one-quarter of the former believed that the presence of French in their municipality will decline in the next 10 years, 36% of English-speaking adults in Quebec foresaw a decline in the presence of English in their community.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5099.

The report Minorities Speak Up: Results of the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities, 2006 (91-548-XWE, free) is now available from the Publications module of our website.

For more information, or to enquire about concepts, methods or data quality of this release, please contact the Client Services (613-951-2320; demography@statcan.gc.ca), Demography division.