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This demolinguistic portrait of Manitoba 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 Manitoba was 45,515 in 2006 compared with 54,200 in 1951, a 16% decrease. By way of comparison, the population with English as its mother tongue grew by 81% to 845,595 in 2006. The population with a mother tongue other than English or French, which constituted 21% of the province's population in 2006, declined by 5% to 242,400 in 2006, from 254,450 in 1951, despite strong international immigration in Canada as a whole in recent decades.
   
   
2. In Manitoba, use of the FOLS criterion yields a slightly smaller Francophone population, despite a strong allophone presence. The relative share of the Francophone minority (according to first official language spoken) within the overall population of Manitoba is 3.8% (43,120) while that of the French-mother-tongue population is 4.0% (45,515) (after equal reallocation of multiple responses). As for the Anglophone population, its relative share is 74.6% according to the mother tongue criterion and 95.2% according to the FOLS criterion, which reflects allophones' strong orientation toward English.
   
   
3. The Francophone minority constitutes 3.8% of the Manitoba population. Nearly 60% of Franco-Manitobans live in the Winnipeg census subdivision (CSD), which includes the districts of St. Boniface, St. Norbert and St. Vital. There is also some concentration of Francophones in a more rural area, namely census division (CD) No. 2. This CD includes the communities of Ritchot, Taché, St. Anne, La Broquerie and De Salaberry, and is home to 17% of the province's Francophones.
   
   
4. From 1971 and 2006, among all families with at least one French-mother-tongue parent, the proportion of children from a French-English exogamous family doubled in Manitoba, going from 33% to 66%. Conversely, the share of children living in an endogamous family with both parents having French as their mother tongue declined substantially, from 54% in 1971 to 24% in 2006. The proportion of French-"other"-tongue exogamous families declined slightly during this period, going from 13% to 9%.
   
   
5. Because of the increasing proportion of French-English exogamous couples from 1971 to 2006, one might expect to see a decrease in the rate of transmission to children of the minority language (in this case, French). But whereas in 1971, French had been passed on to 7% of children under the age of 18 of French-English exogamous couples, that proportion was 19% in 2006. The transmission of French to the children of French-"other"-language exogamous couples also increased slightly, from 14% to 15% during the same period.
   
   
6. From 1971 to 2006, an increase is observed in the rate of transmission of French to the children of French-English exogamous couples. This increase is larger among families in which the mother, rather than the father, is the French-mother-tongue parent. In fact, census data show that the rate of transmission of French by French-mother-tongue mothers to their children rose sharply, from 7% in 1971 to 31% in 2006, whereas the rate for French-mother-tongue fathers went from 7% to 15%.
   
   
7. Across the censuses, there is a steady rise in the rate of language transfer for French-mother-tongue persons in Manitoba. Thus, in 1971, approximately 37% of Manitobans with French as a mother tongue reported using another language, usually English, most often at home. Thirty-five years later, 56% 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, while almost nil, nevertheless declined, going from 1.0% in 1971 to 0.4% in 2006. Among "other"-mother-tongue persons, the proportion of language transfers remained relatively stable over the past 35 years, from 52.4% in 1971 to 51.7% in 2006.
   
   
8. Overall in Manitoba, a larger proportion of Francophones report speaking English more than French at home (complete and partial language transfers) than report being more at ease in English than in French: 56% of Franco-Manitobans report speaking English most often at home, while 48% report being more at ease in English than in French.
   
   
9. In Manitoba, the population whose first official language spoken is French mainly uses English in the public sphere. The most widespread use of English involves the consumption of media and oral interactions taking place in institutions and stores. In these two domains, respectively 84% and 78% of the French FOLS population use English predominantly (mainly or only). In the private sphere, French is used predominantly in the home (mainly or only) by nearly one person in two, nearly the same figure as for English.
   
   
10. Within the overall population of Manitoba in 2006, the proportion of persons who reported being able to conduct a conversation in French (9.3%) is larger than the proportion who reported French alone or with another language as their mother tongue (4.2%) or the proportion for whom French is the first official language spoken (3.8%). The relative share of Manitobans who are able to conduct a conversation in French is highly polarized by language group. Whereas 89% of persons with French as a mother tongue reported knowing both official languages, the proportion was only 7% for persons with English as a mother tongue and 3% for persons with another mother tongue (see Table 3.9). Among the latter, 4% reported that they were unable to conduct a conversation in either French or English.
    
    
11. In 2006, more than 80% of French-speaking persons in Manitoba had been born there. That proportion is practically the same for persons for whom French is the first official language spoken. Regardless of the criterion chosen, the proportion of Manitoba Francophones born in another province or a territory of Canada is 16%, with two such persons in five born in Quebec and nearly one in five born in Saskatchewan. As for foreign-born persons, most of them immigrants, they constituted 3.4% of persons with French as a mother tongue and 5.4% of those with French as the first official language spoken.
    
    
12. During the past 35 years, the relative weight of immigrants to Canada who are living in Manitoba has declined, from 4.6% in 1971 to 2.4% in 2006. During the same period, this province's share of the French-speaking immigrant population living outside Quebec fell sharply, going from 6.7% to 2.2%.
    
    
13. From 1986 to 2006, net migration between Manitoba and the other provinces and territories was negative, ranging from -2,230 to -620. The period from 1981 to 1986 differs from those that followed: the population with French as first official language spoken registered a positive net migration of 755. From 1981 to 2006, for each five-year period, the number of Francophones departing to other provinces or territories ranged between 2,535 and 4,730. As for migration to Manitoba, it peaked during the period from 1981 to 1986, when 3,290 Francophones settled in the province. Since then, Francophone migration to Manitoba has steadily declined, falling to 1,970 arrivals from 2001 to 2006.
    
    
14. In the 2006 Census, 15% of doctors working in Manitoba, or 205 out of a total of 1,370, reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in French, while 3% reported using French at least regularly at work. For nurses, who numbered 12,025, these proportions were 8% and 4% respectively.
    
    
15. The proportion of doctors and nurses who are able to conduct a conversation in French is much higher than the proportion of the Manitoba population that is French-speaking. Nevertheless, the results of the SVOLM show that the majority of Manitoba Francophones use English in their contacts with different health care professionals about whom information was collected in that survey: family doctors, nurses, telephone health line or telehealth service professionals and professionals in other places that people go to obtain care.
    
    
16. In Manitoba, 10,000 children of Francophone parents were enrolled in preschool, kindergarten, elementary or secondary school at the time of the survey. Of these children, 52% were attending a French school. If including students enrolled in an immersion program in an English-language school, we can estimate that approximately 68% of children of Francophone parents in Manitoba were receiving an education in French.
    
    
17. In 2006, 25% of Anglophones had no certificate, diploma or degree, compared with 27% of Francophones. Also, Francophones were just as likely to have a university degree at or above the bachelor level (17%) as Anglophones (17%). In all categories, the statistics show that gaps between these two language groups are now very small. The existing gaps are in favour of Francophones in all categories of postsecondary diplomas, indicating that there has been considerable catching up.
    
    
18. The 2006 statistics reveal that the mean and median incomes of persons with French as their first official language spoken are higher than those of Anglophones. The mean income of men with French as their only first official language spoken (FOLS) is $2,600 higher than that of men with English as their only FOLS. The gap is larger for median income, with Francophone men earning $3,200 more than their Anglophone counterparts. Among women, the mean and median incomes of Francophones are respectively $2,100 and $1,800 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 both Francophones and Anglophones.
    
    
19. As regards the phenomenon of identity, SVOLM results suggest that Francophones have a double ethnolinguistic identity: 55% of them report that they identify with both Francophone and Anglophone groups, compared with 23% who report identifying mainly or only with the Francophone group.
    
    
20. Just over 70% 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 in developing the French-speaking community (72%), for government services to be provided in French (82%) and for linguistic rights to be respected in their province (86%).