Franco-Ontariens | |
|---|---|
 Franco-Ontarian flag | |
| Total population | |
| Francophones: 652,540 (2021)[1][note 1][note 2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ontario (Eastern,Northeastern, andCentral Ontario including theGreater Toronto Area)[note 3] | |
| Languages | |
| Canadian French · Canadian English · Franglais |
| Part ofa series of articles on the |
| French people |
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Africa Asia Middle East Europe
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South America Oceania 1Overseas parts of France properMigration of minorities inFrance (i.e.Basques) can be considered as separate (ethnically) or French migration (by nationality). |
Franco-Ontarians (French:Franco-Ontariens orFranco-Ontariennes if female, sometimes known asOntarois andOntaroises) areFrancophone Canadians that reside in the province ofOntario. Most areFrench Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to theGovernment of Ontario, there were 652,540 Francophones in the province.[note 1] The majority of Franco-Ontarians in the province reside inEastern Ontario,Northeastern Ontario, and theGolden Horseshoe). There area also more isolated francophone communities scattered across other regions of the province, such as inEssex,Penetanguishene, andWelland, among others.[note 3]
The first francophones to settle in Ontario did so during the early 17th century, when most of it was part of thePays d'en Haut region ofNew France. However, French settlement into the area remained limited until the 19th century. The late 19th century and early 20th century saw attempts by the provincial government to assimilate the Franco-Ontarian population into the anglophone majority with the introduction of regulations that promoted the use of English over French, for exampleRegulation 17. During the late 1960s and 1970s, because of theQuiet Revolution, Franco-Ontarians established themselves as a distinct cultural identity – having only identified as French Canadians before. Francophone rights were furthered in the 1970s as a result ofC'est l'temps, a Franco-Ontariancivil disobedience movement that pressured several provincial departments to adopt bilingual policies.
The provincial government passed theFrench Language Services Act in 1986 which recognized the French language as a "historic language of Ontario," and as an official language of the province's education system, judiciary, and legislature. However, the Act did not make the French language an official language in its entirety; with other provincial services only made available in French in designated communities and regions with a significant Franco-Ontarian population.
The termFranco-Ontarian has two related usages, which overlap closely but are not identical: it may refer to francophone residents of Ontario, regardless of their ethnicity or place of birth, or to people of French Canadian ancestryborn in Ontario, regardless of their primary language or current place of residence.[citation needed] In June 2009, the provincial government expanded the definition of a francophone as a person whosemother tongue is French, or a person that has a different mother tongue but still uses French as the primary language at home.[1] The termOntarois is used sometimes to distinguish French-speaking Ontarians, while the general term for Ontarian in French isOntarien. The use of the termOntarois follows the convention that a francophone minority is referred to with endings of -ois.
In popular usage, the first meaning predominates and the second is poorly understood.[citation needed] Although most Franco-Ontarians meet both definitions, there are notable exceptions. For example, althoughLouise Charron was the first native-born Franco-Ontarian appointed to the bench of theSupreme Court of Canada, she was preceded as a francophone judge from Ontario byLouise Arbour, aQuebecer who worked in Ontario for much of her professional career as a lawyer and judge. As a result, both women have been referred to as "the first Franco-Ontarian Supreme Court justice", although the technically correct practice is to credit Charron, Franco-Ontarian in both senses, with that distinction.
Conversely, two of the most famousrock musicians from Ontario,Avril Lavigne andAlanis Morissette, are Franco-Ontarian by the second definition but not by the first, since they were born to Franco-Ontarian parents but currently live outside Ontario and work primarily in English. FormerPrime MinisterPaul Martin was born in Windsor to a Franco-Ontarian father fromPembroke and an anglophone mother, although many Canadians consider him a Quebecer as he represented aMontrealriding in Parliament.
Both meanings can be politically charged. Using the second to the exclusion of the first may be considered offensive to some in that it excludes francophones born in or withethnic origins from other francophone countries from the Franco-Ontarian community. Using the first to the exclusion of the second obscures the very real ethno-cultural distinctions that exist between Franco-Ontarians, Québécois,Acadians,Métis and other Canadian francophone communities, and the pressures toward assimilation into theEnglish Canadian majority that the community faces. As a result, the complex political and sociological context ofFranco-Ontarian can only be fully understood by recognizing both meanings and understanding the distinctions between the two.
Franco-Ontarians constitute the largest French-speaking community in Canada outside Quebec. According to the province of Ontario, there are 650,000 Francophones in Ontario, making up 4.6 per cent of the province's population.[1] However, the figure is derived from the province's "Inclusive Definition of Francophones" (IDF), which includes respondents from the2021 Canadian Census who reported French as their mother tongue and respondents whose mother tongue was not French but have proficiency in the language and use it as their primary language at home.[1] Before the introduction of IDF in 2009, a respondent's mother tongue was the main measure used by the government to determined the number of francophones in the province.[1] There were 590,000 Ontarians, or 4.2 per cent of the population, that reported having French as a mother tongue in the 2021 census, making it the most common mother tongue in the province after English.[3]
The majority of Franco-Ontarians are bilingual in both French and English; a minority (40,045 respondents in 2016) reported having proficiency in only the French language and limited or no knowledge of English.[4] In the same census, more than 1.52 million Ontarians, or 11.5 per cent of the province's population, reported having proficiency in theFrench language;[2] while 11.2 per cent of the population reported to be bilingual in French and English.[5] However, that figure includes both Franco-Ontarians and Ontarians who speak French as asecond language.[5]
In 2016, approximately 16.1 per cent of francophone Ontarians identified as a visible minority.[1] More than half of Ontario's francophone visible minority population reside withinCentral Ontario (including theGreater Toronto Area), with 37.8 per cent residing inEastern Ontario, and the remaining 5.7 per cent in other areas of the province.[1]
In 2016, 59.5 per cent of francophones in Ontario were born in the province, while 19.6 per cent originated from Quebec, and 16.4 per cent came from all other provinces or territories in Canada.[1] However, the percentage of those born in the province varies between region, with 85.3 per cent of francophones inNortheastern Ontario being born in Ontario; whereas only 39.6 per cent of francophones in Central Ontario were born in the province.[1] 4.5 per cent of francophones in Ontario were born outside Canada.[1] 35 per cent of francophones born outside Canada were born in Africa, while 28 per cent were from Europe, 20 per cent from Asia, and 17 per cent from other countries in the Americas. Francophone immigrants account for 15 per cent of all immigrants into Ontario, and nearly a third of all immigrants into Central Ontario. 17.4 per cent of immigrants to the province between 2011 and 2016 were francophone.[1]
Franco-Ontarians may be found in all areas of Ontario. Approximately 43.1 per cent of francophones in province reside in Eastern Ontario, with 268,070 francophones living in that region.[1] Francophones comprise approximately 15.4 per cent of Eastern Ontario's total population.[1] More than 68 per cent of francophones that live in Eastern Ontario reside in its Champlain region, an area that encompassesCornwall,Hawkesbury,Ottawa andPembroke (all of which are adjacent to or near the Ontario-Quebec border).[1]
However, Northeastern Ontario is the region that has the highest proportion of francophones, with the 122,360 francophone residents of the region making up 22.6 per cent of the region's population.[1] Central Ontario also has a large population of Franco-Ontarians, with 191,375 francophones residing in that region, which includes 63,055 Franco-Ontarians living in theGreater Toronto Area. Other areas include 33,555 Franco-Ontarians inSouthwestern Ontario and 7,055 Franco-Ontarians inNorthwestern Ontario.[1]
Étienne Brûlé is often considered the first francophone and European to have arrived in the region in 1610.[6] During this time, most of Ontario formed a part ofNew France'sPays d'en Haut region; with most of the European inhabitants in the region at the time beingcoureurs de bois andvoyageurs, orJesuit missionaries inHuronia; most notably the settlements ofSainte-Marie among the Hurons (in present-dayMidland) in 1649, and another settlement inSault Sainte Marie in 1668.[6] During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, themilitary of New France established a number of fortifications and garrisons in the region, includingFort Frontenac (in present-dayKingston) in 1673, andFort Rouillé (in present-dayToronto) in 1750.[6] The development ofFort Pontchartrain in Detroit, led to the development of Petite Côte, a permanent settlement south of theDetroit River. The settlement was the first permanent settlement in Ontario, and eventually becameWindsor. However, European settlement into the region remained largely limited during this period.[6]
After theTreaty of Paris was negotiated in 1763, New France was ceded to the British. Present day Ontario was governed as a part of theProvince of Quebec until 1791, when Ontario was severed from the colony, formingUpper Canada. In 1797, theLegislative Assembly of Upper Canada passed theUpper Canada School Act, which provided for schools that used English and French and instructional languages.[7] In 1798, during the final years of theFrench Revolution, French noblemanJoseph-Geneviève de Puisaye led a small group of royalists from France to settle lands north ofYork (present day Toronto).[8]
French migration intoCanada West/Ontario did not accelerate until the second half of the 19th century, farmers fromCanada East/Quebec began to migrate in search of fertile land in Eastern Ontario, and along theCanadian Pacific Railway north ofLake Nipissing andLake Huron.[6] A large number of French Canadians were also drawn toNorthern Ontario during this period, with the discovery of nickel inSudbury, and gold inTimmins.[6]
In an attempt to alleviate anti-French sentiments, in 1885George William Ross, the provincial Minister of Education, mandated the requirement of English to be taught in francophone schools for two hours in the first four years of elementary school, and for four hours in its final four years.[7]
The late 19th century, and early 20th century saw the Ontario government much less supportive of, and often openly hostile toward the Franco-Ontarian community. In an attempt to protect Franco-Ontarian language rights, theAssociation canadienne-française d'Éducation de l'Ontario (ACFÉO) was formed in 1910, who typically opposed the English-only initiatives launched by theOrange Order of Canada, and Irish Catholics led by Michael Fallon, theBishop of London, Ontario.[7] However, French Canadian migration throughout Ontario continued, with sawmills and papermills inKapuskasing, andHearst; and automotive plants inOshawa andWindsor attracting French Canadian laborers during the 1920s.[6]
In 1912, the provincial government passedRegulation 17, which limited the use of the French as the primary language of instruction to the first two years of elementary school.[7] However, enforcement of the regulation was abandoned in 1927, when it became apparent to the provincial government that the regulation perpetuated inferior schooling of pupils in the province.[7] Instead, a new policy permitting French-language schools instruction was introduced, with French given legal status in Ontario's education system, and the bilingual University of Ottawa Normal School was officially recognized.[7] The regulation formally remained in the statutes of Ontario until 1944, when the regulations were revised.[7]
Although the regulation itself was rescinded in 1927, the government did not fund French language high schools. As a result, francophones had to pursue high school education in English, pay tuition to private high schools (which few Franco-Ontarian families could afford), or simply stop attending school after Grade 9.[9] Due to the lack of funding, several generations of Franco-Ontarians grew up without formal education, with the dropout rate for francophones high during this period. Franco-Ontarians thus opted for jobs which did not require reading and mathematical skills, such as mining and forestry, and were virtually absent from white collar jobs. Sociologically, it meant that education was not a value transmitted to younger Franco-Ontarians. Further, those that did have higher levels of education often pursue job opportunities in larger cities, particularly Ottawa or even Montreal, which can create a barrier to economic development in their home communities. As well, even today many students of Franco-Ontarian background are still educated in anglophone schools. This has the effect of reducing the use of French as a first language in the province, and thereby limiting the growth of the Franco-Ontarian community.[citation needed]
Quebec writerYves Beauchemin once controversially referred to the Franco-Ontarian community as"warm corpses" (« cadavres encore chauds ») who had no chance of surviving as a community. In a similar vein, former Quebec PremierRené Lévesque referred to them as "dead ducks".[10]
The late 1960s saw a schism form between the francophones in Quebec, and the other francophone communities of Canada, notably the francophones in Ontario. The emergence of a separatequébécois identity during theQuiet Revolution; this resulted in the development of a unique Franco-Ontarian identity, with francophones in Ontario forced to re-conceptualize their identities without relying on francophones in Quebec.[11][12][13]
Recommendations from the Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario, and the Bériault Report led to the provincial government passing theSchools Administration Act, and theSecondary Schools and Boards Act in 1968.[14] The following acts introduced public funding for French-language secondary schools, and laid the foundation for the province's present elementary and secondary francophone school system.[7] In 1969, the provincial government established its French-language public educational broadcaster,TFO.[14]
Following the advice of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Ontario's premierJohn Robarts made French an official language of the provincial legislature in 1970.[14][15] While theVictoria Charter was being negotiated between the provincial premiers and the federal government, Robarts agreed that the province would recognize Franco-Ontarians rights to access provincial public service in the French language, and for French-speakers to receive the services of an interpreter, if needed, in Ontario's courts.[14] However, plans to adopt these measures were abandoned after negotiations for the Victoria Charter collapsed.[14] His successor,Bill Davis instead opted to simply provide legal services in French, with the issuance of bilingual drivers licenses and government documents.[14]
A civil disobedience movement made up of Franco-Ontarian wanting to further accessibility rights for French-speakers emerged in 1975, known asC'est l'temps.[14] Members ofC'est l'temps refused to pay tickets issued in only in English, pressuring the provincial judiciary to act in a bilingual manner.[14] As a result of the protest, the Ontario's Attorney General,Roy McMurtry authorized the first French-language provincial court proceeding in 1976.[14]
Other departments in the government of Ontario also began to adopt policies of bilingualism, and policies for French services, such as theMinistry of Health in 1979, and theMinistry of Children, Community and Social Services in 1980.[14] French was formally made an official language of the provincial judiciary in 1984.[14] In 1986, the provincialFrench Language Services Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, where it recognized French as a "historic language in Ontario," an official language in its courts and in education, as well as the "desirable use" of French in its provincial institutions including the Legislature.[14] However, the Act itself did not make the province bilingual, instead designating a number of communities where French-speakers constitute a majority or significant minority, as an area where provincial services are required to be provided in French and English.[14]
The following legislation saw pushback from several anglophone Ontario towns and cities, most notablySault Ste. Marie, which was persuaded by theAlliance for the Preservation of English in Canada to declare themselves "English-only" in the wake of theFrench Language Services Act and theMeech Lake Accord debate. This was considered by many observers to be a direct contributor to the resurgence of theQuebec sovereignty movement in the 1990s, and consequently to the1995 Quebec referendum.
On October 19, 2004, a Toronto lawyer successfully challenged a "no left turn" traffic ticket on the basis that the sign was not bilingual in accordance with the 1986French Language Services Act. The judge inR. v. Myers ruled that the traffic sign was not a municipal service, but instead was regulated under the provincialHighway Traffic Act and therefore subject to the bilingual requirements of theFrench Language Services Act.[16] As this was a lower court ruling, it did not affect any other court. However the implication of the decision was that many traffic signs in bilingually designated areas of Ontario would be invalid. It was feared that the ruling would have a similar effect as the Manitoba Language Rights ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada,[17] in this case forcing municipalities to erect new bilingual road signs at great expense and invalidating millions of dollars in existing tickets before the courts. The City of Toronto appealed the ruling. At the appeal hearing both parties asked the court to enter a plea of guilty. A guilty verdict was entered even though no arguments were made by either side on the merits of the case.[18] The situation created a legal vacuum for several years, during which numerous defendants used the bilingual signage argument to fight traffic tickets. The precedent was overturned by theOntario Court of Appeal in a 2011 case,R. v. Petruzzo, on the grounds that theFrench Language Services Act specifically states that municipalities are not required to offer services in French, even in provincially regulated areas such as traffic signage, if the municipality has not specifically passed its own bylaw governing its own provision of bilingual services.[16]
Ontario's Minister of Francophone Affairs,Madeleine Meilleur, became the province's first cabinet minister to attend aFrancophonie summit in 2004, travelling toOuagadougou with counterparts from Quebec,New Brunswick and the federal government. Meilleur also expressed the hope that Ontario would someday become a permanent member of the organization. On November 26, 2016, Ontario was granted observer status by La Francophonie.[19]
On January 10, 2005,Clarence-Rockland became the first Ontario city to pass a bylaw requiring all new businesses to post signs in both official languages.[20] Clarence-Rockland is 60 per cent francophone, and the city council noted that the bylaw was intended to address the existence of both English-only and French-only commercial signage in the municipality.
In 2008, the provincial government officially introduced a Frenchlicence plate, with the French slogan "Tant à découvrir" in place of "Yours to Discover", as an optional feature for drivers who wished to use it.[21]
In 2009, the government faced controversy during the H1N1 flu pandemic, when it sent out a health information flyer in English only, with no French version published or distributed for the province's francophone residents.[22] In response, MPPFrance Gélinas introduced aprivate member's bill in May 2011 to have the provincial Commissioner of French Language Services report to the fullLegislative Assembly of Ontario rather than exclusively to the Minister of Francophone Affairs.[22]
On April 26, 2010, the Ontario government designated September 25 as Franco-Ontarian Day.[23] This date was chosen as it represented the anniversary of the official raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag in 1975. On 22 February 2016, premier of OntarioKathleen Wynne formally issued an apology on behalf of the government of Ontario to Franco-Ontarians for the passage of Regulation 17, and its harmful impact on its communities.[24] The motion for the government to present an official apology to the Franco-Ontarian community was first presented byGlenn Thibeault.[24]
In 2015, MPPFrance Gélinas introduced a private member's bill to mandate the creation of a fully independent French-language university.[25] Although her bill did not pass, the government ofKathleen Wynne announced the creation of a French-language university in 2017.[26]
In 2018, the provincial government ofDoug Ford announcedseveral government cutbacks that impacted the Franco-Ontarian community, including ending the position of the French Language Services Commissioner and transferring its responsibilities to the office of theOntario Ombudsman, reducing the status of theMinistry of Francophone Affairs from a full ministry to a government office, and cancelling funding announced by the prior government ofKathleen Wynne for the creation of the French-language university.[27] After extensive backlash to the announcement, Ford reversed course, announcing that the commissioner position would be retained and that the office of francophone affairs would be restored to a full government ministry.[27] The actions led to one Franco-Ontarian MPP,Amanda Simard, leaving his caucus to sit as an independent.[28] During this period, governments inQuebec began to fly theFranco-Ontarian flag as a gesture of solidarity. The flag was hoisted atMontreal City Hall on November 23,[29] and at theNational Assembly of Quebec on December 1.[30]
Ford later cancelled funding for the new Francophone university, created by the previous government.[27] However, in September 2019 the provincial and federal governments announced a new funding plan for the creation of the first French language university in the province.[31] The province's first publicly-funded university that operates solely as a French-language institution was incorporated in April 2018 as theUniversité de l'Ontario français, expecting to accept its first cohort of full-time students in 2021.[32]
On September 21, 2020, Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed an amendment to theFranco-Ontarian Emblem Act, 2001, first proposed byProgressive Conservative MPP,Natalia Kusendova, to designate Franco-Ontarian flag as anofficial emblem of Ontario. It received royal assent and became law on September 24, 2020.[33]
On September 25, 2020, the government underDoug Ford, throughMinister of Francophone Affairs,Caroline Mulroney, announced that Franco-Ontarians will be able to request a free replacement driver's licence or Ontario photo card displaying their name using French-language characters.[34]
TheUniversité de Hearst, which teaches entirely in French and for decades operated as a federated college ofLaurentian University using Laurentian's degree-granting authority, was chartered as a fully independent university in 2021.
TheMinistry of Francophone Affairs is a department of the government of Ontario responsible for the provision of provincial services to the Franco-Ontarian community.Caroline Mulroney is the provincial cabinet minister responsible for the Francophone Affairs portfolio. The French language has been recognized as an official language of theLegislative Assembly of Ontario since 1970.[15]
In 2016, the government of Ontario was granted observer status to theOrganisation internationale de la Francophonie, permitting the provincial government to submit requests to the organization's ministerial conferences, and participate in certain meetings held by the organization.[35] Ontario is one of four governments in Canada that participates in theFrancophonie, with the federal government of Canada and the provincial governments of New Brunswick and Quebec being full-fledged members of the organization.
Although French is an official language in Ontario's education system, legislature, and judiciary, the province as a whole is not officiallybilingual and its other provincial services do not provide English/French bilingual service throughout the entirety of the province. However, the OntarioFrench Language Services Act requires all provincial ministries and agencies to provide French-language services within 26 designated municipalities and regions.
An area is designated as a French service area if the francophone population is greater than 5,000 peopleor 10 percent of the community's total population. Due to the 5,000 population threshold, large cities that are actually overwhelmingly anglophone with only very small francophone populations proportional to the size of the city, such asToronto andMississauga, are nevertheless still subject to the Act. Francophones who live in non-designated areas can also receive French language services by directly contacting the Office of Francophone Affairs in Toronto, or in the nearest designated community. The most recent addition to the list of designated areas is the city of Markham. It was named in June 2015, and after the three-year implementation period provided for by theFrench Language Services Act, officially became a bilingual service centre in 2018.[36] Enforcement of theFrench Language Services Act is conducted through the office of the provincial French Language Services Commissioner.
The followingcensus divisions (denoted in dark blue on the map) are designated areas in their entirety:
The following census divisions (denoted in light blue on the map) are not fully designated areas, but have communities within their borders which are designated for bilingual services:
TheFrench Language Services Act only applies to provincial government services, and does not require services operated by the municipal government to provide bilingual services, although several municipalities have done so at their own discretion. There are presently 44 communities in Ontario whose municipal government and services are bilingual in English and French. Most of these are communities are members of theFrancophone Association of Municipalities of Ontario, orAFMO.
The provincial judicial system is officially bilingual in English and French, with access to a French-speaking justice viewed as a quasi-constitutional right in Ontario.[37] The official languages of the provincial courts was set in s. 125 of theCourts of Justice Act, with s. 126 of the same act outlining the specific rights afforded to a French-speaking party.[37] French-language access within Ontario's judicial administrative offices is also required in designated communities under theFrench Language Services Act.[37] Francophone linguistic rights are further reinforced for criminal cases as those tried under theCriminal Code, a federal statute, have the right to be tried in either English or French as specified in section 530 of the Code.[37]
However, in practice the courts function primarily in English. Francophones in some parts of the province have noted some difficulty in actually accessing French language services, especially in civil litigation matters; for example, francophones in the justice system have sometimes faced unnecessary and expensive delays in their judicial proceedings, or been forced to proceed in English even if they were merely functional but not fluent in the language, due to gaps in the system's ability to actually provide full French services.[38] Acting upon a number of complaints received from the French Language Service Commissioner, the Attorney General of Ontario launched a committee in 2009 to address French language rights in the judicial system.[37]
On November 14, 2023,Edith Dumont was sworn in as the 30thLieutenant Governor of Ontario, becoming the first Franco-Ontarian to hold the viceregal office in the province's history.[39] Prior to her appointment, Dumont had a distinguished 30-year career in French-language education, including serving as the first female director of theConseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario.
Legislation on educational instruction in the French language was first passed inUpper Canada under theUpper Canada School Act, 1797, which provided for schools that used English or French as an instructional languages.[7] The use of French as the primary language of instruction was later limited to the first two years of elementary education in Ontario, from 1912 to 1927. In 1927, its enforcement was dropped with the province again permitting French-language instruction past Grade 2.[7] The present public French-language elementary and secondary school system originates from education reforms implemented by the province in 1968.[7] French-language rights for resident elementary and secondary school students in Ontario are afforded through the provincialEducation Act andSection 23 of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Public education in Ontario is managed by the provincialMinistry of Education, which sets the guidelines and curriculum for both its English and French language public school systems. There were 103,490 students enrolled in Ontario's public francophone elementary and secondary schools during the 2015–16 academic year.[40]
In addition to language, public education in Ontario is also split between asecularized, andseparate school school systems. As a result, twelve public francophone school boards operate within the province; with four secularized public school boards forming a part of theAssociation des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario, and eight separate school boards forming a part ofAssociation franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques. In 2016, Ontario's public francophone school boards operated 351 elementary schools, and 104 secondary schools.[40]
These school boards were formed after the passage of theFewer School Boards Act in 1997,[7] with a number of secularized and separate school boards being split and re-consolidated into larger school districts based on language. The re-consolidated French school boards often serve a significantly largercatchment area than an English-language school board in the province, due to the smaller francophone population.
In addition to public elementary and secondary school, a number ofprivate schools also operate with French as the primary instructional language.
Ontario is home to several public post-secondary institutions that operate either as francophone or as bilingual English and French institutions. There were approximately 21,300 students enrolled in a post-secondary francophone program/institution in Ontario during the 2015–16 academic year.[40]
Ontario has two francophone post-secondarycolleges,Collège Boréal, andCollège La Cité. The former is based in Sudbury, and operates satellite campuses throughout Ontario; while the latter is based in Ottawa, with a satellite campus in Hawkesbury. A third French-language college,Collège des Grands-Lacs, formerly operated in Toronto from 1995 to 2002. After the college ceased operations, its programs were taken over by Collège Boréal.
There are several publicly-funded universities in Ontario where French is the official instructional language. Universities that operate as francophone institutions includes theUniversité de Hearst and theUniversité de l'Ontario français. Five other Ontario-based universities are officially bilingual institutions, offering instruction in both English and French,Laurentian University, theRoyal Military College of Canada, theUniversity of Ottawa, theUniversity of Sudbury, and theNorthern Ontario School of Medicine University.[41]
Three other universities in Ontario also maintain federated oraffiliated institutions that provide bilingual instruction in either English or French. Although these affiliated institutions and schools are bilingual, their parent universities are otherwise considered anglophone institutions. Affiliated institutions that are bilingual includeDominican University College, an institution affiliated withCarleton University in Ottawa;Glendon College, an institution affiliated withYork University in Toronto; andSaint Paul University, an institution federated with the University of Ottawa. Additionally, theUniversity of Toronto also operates theOntario Institute for Studies in Education, a functionally bilingual graduate school.[41]
The dialects of French spoken in Ontario are similar to, but distinct from,Quebec French; they constitute part of the greaterCanadian French dialect. According to Michel Laurier (1989),[42] the semantic and stylistic value of the use of the subjunctive is progressively disappearing. In the article "Le français canadien parlé hors Québec : aperçu sociolinguistique " (1989),[43] Edward Berniak and Raymond Mougeon underline some characteristics:
Due to the large English majority in the province, English loanwords are sometimes used in the informal or slang registers of Franco-Ontarian French. While English loanwords occur to a large extent in many varieties of French in Canada and Europe, there has been more of a conscious effort in Quebec to eliminate anglicisms. In addition, the majority of Franco-Ontarians are, out of necessity, functionally or fluently bilingual in English, a fact that encourages borrowing, as does the fact that the English language has a greater prestige in the province from its being a majority language. Franco-Ontarian communities with a small francophone population tend to have more English-influenced French, and some younger speakers there may feel more comfortable using English than French. On the other hand, the French spoken in French-dominant Ontarian communities (such as Hearst and Hawkesbury), or in those communities near the Quebec border (such as Ottawa), is virtually indistinguishable from Quebec French.
Furthermore, improved access to publicly funded French-language schools and the establishment of bilingual universities and French language community colleges has improved French-language proficiency in younger populations.
The primary cultural organization of the Franco-Ontarian community is theAssemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, or AFO, which coordinates many of the community's cultural and political activities.
Franco-Ontarians retain many cultural traditions from theirFrench Canadian ancestry. For example, unmarried elder siblingsdansent sur leurs bas (dance on their socks) when their younger siblings get married.Catholic Franco-Ontarians attendmesse de minuit (midnight mass) onChristmas Eve. Many Franco-Ontarians also enjoy late night feasts/parties on Christmas Eve, calledréveillon, at whichtourtière is a common dish. They also celebrateSaint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24 as the national holiday for French Canadians.
The concept of Franco-Ontarians as a distinct cultural identity emerged during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[11] Prior to this time, virtually all French Canadians were understood as a single unified cultural group regardless of which province they lived in, with Quebec serving as the "citadel" of French Canada.[12]
However, theEstates General of French Canada of 1966 to 1969 radically reshaped the landscape of French Canadian identity. During the Estates General of Canada the Quebec delegation, influenced by theQuiet Revolution, had pushed forward a new concept of a uniquelyquébécois identity,[13] believing that the French Canadian population risked assimilation unless they focused their efforts on saving "the body of the nation," namely Quebec.[12] However, many Franco-Ontarians perceived the refocus in priorities by the Quebec delegation as an abandonment of the other French Canadian communities, and their shared French Canadian identity.[12] This resulted in what is sometimes described as a "rupture" between the francophones of Quebec, and the Franco-Ontarian community, who were then forced to re-conceptualize their own cultural identities while being reliant on the federal government, as opposed to Quebec.[12][13]
The actual depth of this "rupture" has been questioned by academics, as Quebec continues to exert strong cultural influence on francophone minority communities in the rest of Canada.[13] However, it remains a prominent theme in contemporary cultural analysis of French Canadian identities,[44] It is also evident that by the early 1970s, a uniquely Franco-Ontarian cultural space had emerged with the creation of new institutions and symbols.[45]
TheFranco-Ontarian flag consists of two bands of green and white. The left portion has a solid light green background with a whitefleur-de-lys in the middle, while the right portion has a solid white background with a stylized greentrillium in the middle. The green represents the summer months, while the white represents the winter months. The trillium is the floral symbol of Ontario, while the fleur-de-lys represents theFrench-Canadian heritage of the Franco-Ontarian community. The green color on the flag isPantone 349.
The flag was created in 1975 byGaétan Gervais, history professor and Michel Dupuis, first year political science student, both from Laurentian University.[46] It was officially recognized by the Ontario PC government as the emblem of the Franco-Ontarian community in theFranco-Ontarian Emblem Act of 2001.[47] In September 2020, the flag was made an official emblem of the province.[33]
Franco-Ontarian Day is celebrated on September 25, the anniversary of the first raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag in Sudbury in 1975.[48]
In 2010, the Minister Responsible for Francophone AffairsMadeleine Meilleur introduced Bill 24 to theLegislative Assembly of Ontario to have Franco-Ontarian Day officially recognised by the province. The bill, theFranco-Ontarian Day Act, 2010, passed unanimously and receivedroyal assent in May 2010.[49][50][51]
Seven monuments known asLes Monuments de la francophonie d'Ottawa, were erected in Ottawa by the francophone community to commemorate francophone contribution to the development and well-being of the city. The first of the series of monuments,Monuments de la francophonie d'Ottawa was designed by Edward J. Cuhaci, and represents the first homes and the founding of Bytown. The next five monuments, each progressing uphill, highlight business achievements that were crucial to the prosperity of Ottawa economy. The seventh monument, an unfinished granite block, symbolizes future developments.[52]
A monument to Franco-Ontarians also exists atQueen's Park in Toronto. TheNotre Place monument commemorates the Franco-Ontarian community as well as the contributions the francophone community made to Ontario. The monument was first proposed in 2015.[53] Work on the monument began on 25 September 2017, on Franco-Ontarian day; it was unveiled on the same day the following year.[53] The stainless steel columns were designed to commemorate Franco-Ontarian contributions in the province's forestry industry, while the surrounding public square was intended to be used as a gathering space.[54] The name of the monument,Notre Place, is a reference to song fromPaul Demers and François Dubé.[54] The name of the monument, and the Franco-Ontarian flag is also present on the stoned wall bench that surrounds most of the square.[53] Designed by the architectural firm Brooke McIlroy, the cost to construct the monument was approximate C$900,000.
Through their proximity toGatineau and Montreal, Ottawa and the communities east of it toward Montreal are the only regions in Ontario which have consistent access throughout the year to French-language theatrical films. However,Cinéfest in Sudbury and theToronto International Film Festival include francophone films in their annual festival programs, the Toronto-basedCinéfranco festival programs a lineup consisting entirely of francophone films, and community groups in many smaller communities offer French film screenings from time to time, sometimes in conjunction with theTournée Québec Cinéma touring program of Quebec films. Francophone films also air on TFO, Radio-Canada and cable channels such asUnis andSuper Écran.
Ontario has seven francophonepublishing companies, including Sudbury'sPrise de parole, Ottawa'sEditions Le Nordir andLes Éditions David.
Notable Franco-Ontarian writers, essayists and poets, includeLola Lemire Tostevin,Daniel Poliquin,Robert Dickson,Jean-Marc Dalpé,François Paré, Gaston Tremblay,Michel Bock,Doric Germain,Fernand Dorais,Hédi Bouraoui,Philippe Bernier Arcand,Andrée Christensen,Patrice Desbiens andJean Éthier-Blais. TheFrench-language scholarJoseph Médard Carrière was Franco-Ontarian.
Nine professional theatre companies offer French language theatrical productions, including five companies in Ottawa (Théâtre du Trillium,Théâtre de la Vieille 17,Vox Théâtre,Théâtre la Catapulte andCréations In Vivo), one in Sudbury (Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario) and three in Toronto (Théâtre Corpus,Théâtre La Tangente andThéâtre français de Toronto). There are also numerous community theatre groups and school theatre groups.
Annual music festivals includeLa Nuit sur l'étang in Sudbury and theFestival Franco-Ontarien in Ottawa. Notable figures in Franco-Ontarian music includeRobert Paquette,Marcel Aymar,En Bref,Chuck Labelle,Les Chaizes Muzikales,Brasse-Camarade,Swing,Konflit Dramatik,Stéphane Paquette,Damien Robitaille andCANO.
The song "Notre Place" byPaul Demers and François Dubé, long considered an unofficial anthem of the Franco-Ontarian community after it was written for a gala to celebrate the passage of theFrench Language Services Act in 1986, was legally designated as the community's official anthem by theLegislative Assembly of Ontario in 2017.[55][56]
Place des Arts, a multidisciplinary arts centre bringing together many of the francophone arts and culture organizations in Sudbury, opened in 2022.[57]
La Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario is an art museum whose collections and exhibitions are centred around Franco-Ontarian artists.
Ontario had one francophone daily newspaper,Le Droit in Ottawa; due to the increasingly challenging business environment for print newspapers, it moved across the river toGatineau in 2019 to take advantage of Quebec government funding assistance, but continues to cover Ottawa-related news.[58]
Several other communities in Ontario are served by francophone community weekly papers, includingL'Express andLe Métropolitain in Toronto,Le Voyageur in Sudbury,L'Action in London/Sarnia,Le Rempart in Windsor,Le Régional in Hamilton-Niagara andLe Journal de Cornwall in Cornwall.
Important historical publications include Ottawa'sLe Progrès, which was launched in 1858 as the province's first francophone newspaper,[59] and Sudbury'sL'Ami du peuple, which was published from 1942 to 1968.[60]
On radio, the Franco-Ontarian community is served primarily by Radio-Canada'sIci Radio-Canada Première network, which has originating stations in Ottawa (CBOF), Toronto (CJBC), Sudbury (CBON) and Windsor (CBEF), with rebroadcasters throughout Ontario.Ici Musique, Radio-Canada's arts and culture network, currently broadcasts only in Ottawa (CBOX), Toronto (CJBC-FM), Sudbury (CBBX),Kitchener-Waterloo (CJBC-FM-1) and Windsor (CJBC-FM-2), with an additional transmitter licensed but not yet launched in Timmins.
Non-profit francophone community stations exist in several communities, including Penetanguishene (CFRH), Hearst (CINN), Kapuskasing (CKGN), Cornwall (CHOD), Ottawa (CJFO) and Toronto (CHOQ). Manycampus radio stations air one or two hours per week of French-language programming as well, although onlyCHUO at the University of Ottawa andCKLU at Laurentian University are officially bilingual stations.
Francophone commercial radio stations exist in Sudbury (CHYC), Timmins (CHYK) and Sturgeon Falls/North Bay (CHYQ); all three stations are owned and operated byLe5 Communications, and air distinct locally targeted morning shows while operating for the remainder of the day as a shared region-wide simulcast with each station originating some of the common programming. Ottawa francophones are served by the commercial radio stations licensed toGatineau, and many other Eastern Ontario communities are within the broadcast range of the Gatineau andMontreal media markets. One station inHawkesbury (CHPR) airs a few hours per week of locally oriented programming, but otherwise simulcasts a commercial station from Montreal.
The province has twoIci Radio-Canada Télé stations,CBOFT-DT in Ottawa andCBLFT-DT in Toronto, which previously had rebroadcast transmitters throughout the province but remain available provincewide on basic cable. Both stations carry identical programming directed from Radio-Canada'smaster control inMontreal, except for local news and advertisements. CBOFT produces a newscast for broadcast only in the Ottawa area, while CBLFT produces another serving the rest of the province. The network formerly also operatedCBEFT in Windsor, which was shut down in 2012.
The provincial government operatesTFO, a sister channel toTVOntario, which is available provincewide via mandatory carriage on basic cable or satellite packages and via online streaming; it formerly also transmitted over the air in selected communities with significant francophone populations, but this was discontinued in 2012. In 2003, TFO produced and airedFrancoeur, the first Franco-Ontariantéléroman. In 2008, TFO also began airing the first Franco-Ontariansitcom,Météo+ — itself, in part, a satire of the Franco-Ontarian community's relative lack of access to local French-language media. In 2012, the production team behindMétéo+ launchedLes Bleus de Ramville.
The Quebec-based francophone networkTVA as well as specialty channelsTV5 Québec Canada andIci RDI are available on all Ontario cable systems, as these channels are mandated by theCRTC for carriage by all Canadian cable operators. Where there is sufficient local demand for French-language television, Ontario cable systems may also offer French-language channels such asNoovo,Ici ARTV,Elle Fictions andRDS, although these channels only have discretionary status outside Quebec and are typically offered only on adigital cable tier rather than in basic cable packages.
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