Some facts on the Canadian Francophonie

Learn more about the Canadian Francophonie.

On this page

• The Canadian Francophonie by the numbers
• The status of French
• Education, media and culture
• More information
• Related links

The Canadian Francophonie by the numbers

• Canada has a population of nearly 35 million people. French is the first official language spoken for 22.8% of the population.
• The majority of Francophones (85.4%) live in Quebec and over 1 million live in other regions of the country.
• Almost 10.4 million Canadians can carry on a conversation in French.

Source: Official Languages Branch of Canadian Heritage, February 2018, based on data from the 2016 Census of Canada, Statistics Canada, 100% sample

The status of French

• Canada is a federal state with 10 provinces and 3 territories. French, like English, is one of Canada's 2 official languages.
• Federal institutions are bilingual. They operate and provide services in both official languages. The Government of Canada also actively promotes both official languages in Canadian society (Official Languages Act).
• In every province and territory, French‐ or English‐speaking minorities have a right to primary and secondary school instruction in their language (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms).
• Quebec, the only province that is primarily Francophone, adopted the Charter of the French Language, which provides for the predominant use of French within provincial government institutions and in Quebec society.
• The province of New Brunswick is, under the Canadian Constitution, officially bilingual.
• In all provinces and territories, except for British Columbia, French benefits from legal protections or government policies as to its use in public institutions.
• Canada, as well as the governments of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick, are members of the International Organisation of La Francophonie.

Education, media and culture

• Canada has more than 3,000 French‐language primary and secondary schools, around 75 French‐language colleges and nearly 30 French-language universities, a majority of which are located in Quebec.
• Outside Quebec, more than 160,000 Francophones study in their language at 624 primary and secondary institutions, managed by the communities.
• Francophones outside Quebec also have access to over 20 colleges and universities.
• Nearly 1.7 million young Canadians are studying French as a second language, of which around 430,000 students are in French immersion classes outside Quebec.
• Canadian French‐language media include:
  • one national public broadcaster (Radio-Canada)
  • around 220 community, regional and national radio stations, of which 27% are located outside Quebec
  • nearly 50 community, private and public television stations, of which 33% are located outside Quebec
  • over 10 daily newspapers
  • and around 30 newspapers outside Quebec
• Major national institutions, present in all arts and culture sectors, are dedicated to strengthening and promoting the French language's cultural expression.
• Quebec has many creative spaces, broadcasting networks and government institutions that support cultural and artistic production in French, while providing access to these products and creations.
• Francophone minority communities also have around 100 centres for artistic and cultural creation, production and distribution.

More information

• Contact the Official Languages Branch

Related links

• Publications – Official language communities and linguistic duality: Demography and statistics
• Publications – Official language minorities and linguistic duality: Research reports and studies
• 2016 Census topic: Language

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2019
Catalogue number: CH14-43/2019E-PDF, ISBN: 978-0-660-32297-1