What is a Francophone?
- A person born in France
- A person who speaks English and French equally
- A person whose first language is French
- A resident of Quebec of any language
Answer: A person whose first language is French
A Francophone is a person whose first language is French, and an Anglophone is a person whose first language is English. In the 2021 Census, more than 7.8 million Canadians had French as their first official language, most of them in Quebec.
Learn more: English and French
- English and French are Canada’s two official languages and important symbols of identity.
- The federal government must by law provide services across Canada in English and French.
- An Anglophone is a person whose first language is English; a Francophone is a person whose first language is French.
- In the 2021 Census, English was the first official language of about 75% of Canadians and French of about 21% (more than 7.8 million people).
- Most Francophones live in Quebec. One million live in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba, with a smaller presence in other provinces.
- New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.
- Anglophones and Francophones have lived together in partnership and creative tension for more than 300 years.
- Life in English-speaking areas was shaped by hundreds of thousands of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish settlers, soldiers and migrants from the 1600s to the 20th century.
- Because of these British roots, Anglophones are generally called English Canadians.