Education and employment

Portrait of Official-Language Minorities in Canada

Catalogue number: Catalogue number: 11-629-x

Issue number: 2015010

Release date: April 17, 2014
Education and employment - Transcript

Description of visuals

For Francophones outside Quebec, management of minority-language school systems and access to minority-language instruction are fairly recent arrivals. Today, most children in all the provinces and territories have the opportunity to go to school in French, in either a regular or in a French immersion program within an English school.

(A bar chart appears on the screen, representing public school enrollments. Enrollment sizes are listed on the left from 120,000 to 150,000 students, and the years 2000 to 2011 are provided across the bottom. Orange bars are used to represent regular French-language programs and French immersion programs.)

Attendance at regular French-language programs outside Quebec has declined slightly, from 149, 000 students in 2000/2001 to just under 147, 000 students in 2010/2011. Over this period, enrolment in French immersion programs grew steadily, from 278,000 to 341,000 students. Thus, outside Quebec, the number of children studying in French grew 14% from 2000 to 2011.

(A bar chart appears on the screen, representing French-language studies. On the left axis are percentages from 0 to 100 and on the bottom axis are the elementary, secondary and university education levels.)

Outside Quebec, most adult Francophones that have pursued an education, did so partly or entirely in French. Indeed, 87% of them were educated in French at the elementary level, and 77% at the secondary level. Among those who have pursued a university education, 68% did so partly or entirely in French.

(A bar chart appears on the screen, representing high school diplomas and above. On the left axis are ages 25 to 65 and over, and on the bottom axis are percentages from 0% to 100%. Orange and purple bars extending to the right show the number of persons who have completed secondary or higher education.)

Francophones outside Quebec aged 25 and older are proportionally less likely than Anglophones to have completed secondary or postsecondary education. The gaps are especially large for those 65 and older: 44% of Francophones in this age group have no certificate, diploma or degree, compared with 31% of Anglophones. However, among those aged 25 to 34, Francophones are proportionally more likely to have completed secondary or postsecondary education. Six percent of Francophones and 9% of Anglophones have no certificate, diploma or degree.

(A bar chart appears on the screen, representing enrollments in anglophone minority schools in Quebec. On the left axis are enrollments from 50,000 to 250,000 students and on the bottom axis are the years 1971 to 2012. The chart moves from left to right to illustrate the strong decline in enrollments in Quebec's English-language schools over the 31-year period.)

The issue of access to an education in English for Quebec's Anglophone minority differs greatly from that of Francophone minorities outside Quebec. The English-language school system has been managed by the Anglophone minority for much longer. Over the years, enrolment in English schools in Quebec has significantly declined. This is mainly a result of decreased fertility, the sizable net negative migration of Anglophones, and the major changes in access to English-language instruction resulting from Quebec's Charter of the French Language.

(A bar chart appears on the screen, representing enrollments in minority schools in Quebec. On the left axis are percentages from 0 to 50 and on the bottom axis are ages 25 to 65 and over. Among anglophones aged 25 to 34, 38.1% are university graduates, compared with 25.7% of francophones. Among anglophones aged 35 to 64, 28.7% are university graduates, compared with 18.7% of francophones. Among anglophones aged 65 and over, 15.1% are university graduates, compared with 7.7% of francophones. Another bar chart appears on the screen, representing enrollments in English-language studies. On the left axis are percentages from 0 to 100, and on the bottom axis are the elementary, secondary and university levels, with 72% at the elementary, 76% at the secondary and 82% at the university level.)

Nevertheless, in Quebec, Anglophones are generally more educated than Francophones, regardless of age group. The majority of adult Anglophones that pursued an education did so either partly or entirely in English, at the elementary, secondary and postsecondary levels.

(The image fades into the Canada wordmark against a black background.)


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