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At the time of Confederation in 1867, English and French were made the official languages of debate in the Parliament of Canada and the Parliament of Quebec.No specific policies were enacted for the other provinces, and no provisions were made for the official languages to be used in other elements of the government such the courts, schools, post offices, and so on.
French is the mother tongue of approximately 7.2 million Canadians (22.8 percent of the Canadian population, second to English at 56 percent) according to the 2016 Canadian Census. [1] Most Canadian native speakers of French live in Quebec, the only province where French is the majority and the sole official language. [2]
Official bilingualism" (French: bilinguisme officiel) is the term used in Canada to collectively describe the policies, constitutional provisions, and laws that ensure legal equality of English and French in the Parliament and courts of Canada, protect the linguistic rights of English- and French-speaking minorities in different provinces, and ...
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution.In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (which upon Confederation was divided into Ontario and Quebec)—united to form a federation, becoming a fully ...
1993: Section 16.1 is added to Canada's Charter of Rights, entrenching "the right to distinct [i.e. separate] educational institutions [for the province's] English-speaking and French-speaking communities] and such distinct cultural institutions as are necessary for the preservation and promotion of those communities." 2001: Charlebois v.
Quebec differs from other Canadian provinces in that French is the only official and preponderant language, while English predominates in the rest of Canada. [218] French is the common language, understood and spoken by 94.4% of the population. [219] [220] Québécois French is the local variant of the language.
The presence of French in Canada comes mainly from French colonization in America that occurred in the 16th to 18th centuries. Francophones in Canada are not all of French Canadian or French descent, particularly in the English-speaking provinces of Ontario and Western Canada. A few Canadians of French Canadian or French origin are also not ...
This growth of English-French bilingualism in Canada was mainly due to the increased number of Quebecers who reported being able to conduct a conversation in English and French. [11] Bilingualism with regard to nonofficial languages also increased, most individuals speaking English plus an immigrant language such as Punjabi or Mandarin. [26]