Francophone Canadians (or French-speaking Canadians) are citizens of Canada who speak

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. In 2011, 9,809,155 people in Canada, or 30.1% of the population, were Francophone, including 7,274,090 people, or 22% of the population, who declared that they had French as their mother tongue.

Distribution

Six million French-speaking Canadians reside in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, where they constitute the main linguistic group, and another one million reside in other Canadian regions. The largest portion of

Francophones French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the la ...

outside Quebec live in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, followed by

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, but they can be found in all provinces and territories. 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 French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

descent, particularly in the English-speaking provinces of Ontario and

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. Canadians of French Canadian or French origin are also not all Francophone, even if a very large majority are. Unlike Francophones in Quebec, who generally identify simply as Québécois, Francophones outside Quebec generally identify as Francophone Canadians (e.g.

Franco-Ontarians Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of On ...

, Franco-Manitobans, etc.), the exception being

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

, who constitute their own cultural group, and live in

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...

in the

Maritime provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% o ...

is Canada's only officially bilingual province. All three territories (the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, and

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

) include French among their official languages.

Flags of French Canada

File:Flag of Québec.svg, Québécois File:Flag of Acadia.svg,

Acadiens The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

File:Flag of the Franco Albertains.svg,

Franco-Albertan Franco-Albertans (french: Franco-Albertains) are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Alberta. Franco-Albertans may also refer to residents of Alberta with French Canadian ancestry, although publications from the government of Alberta ...

s File:Flag of the Fransaskois.svg, Fransaskois File:Flag of the Franco-Colombiens.svg, Franco-Columbians File:Flag of the Franco-Manitobains.svg,

Franco-Manitobain Franco-Manitobans (french: Franco-Manitobains) are French Canadians or Canadian francophones living in the province of Manitoba. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 40,975 residents of the province stated that French was their mother tongue. In ...

s File:Franco-Ontarian flag.svg, Franco-Ontariens File:Flag of the Franco-Yukonnais.svg,

Franco-Yukonnais Franco-Yukonnais () are French Canadian or French speaking residents of Yukon, a territory of Canada. French has full official language status in the Yukon. Demographics The Canada 2016 Census identified 1,575 residents of the territory as franc ...

File:Flag of the Franco-Nunavois.svg,

Franco-Nunavois This is a list of notable people who are from Nunavut, Canada, or have spent a large part or formative part of their life in that territory. A * Eva Aariak, former Premier of Nunavut * Susan Aglukark, singer-songwriter * Leona Aglukkaq, MP, M ...

File:Flag of the FrancoTenois.svg,

Franco-Ténois Franco-Ténois, originating from the acronym ''TNO'', the French term for the Northwest Territories of Canada (), refers to the widespread community of francophones who reside in the Northwest Territories. History Francophones have a long hist ...

File:Flag of Franco-Terreneuviens.svg,

Franco-Terreneuviens Franco-Newfoundlanders, also known as Franco-Terreneuvians in English or ''Franco-Terreneuviens'' in French, are francophone and/or French Canadian residents of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.Canadiens francophones.

Distribution

Flags of French Canada

See also