Canadiens français | |
|---|---|
 French Canadians andFrench Americans as percent of population by state and province | |
| Total population | |
| 4,995,040 in Canada (by ancestry)[1][a] 14.5% of the total Canadian population (2016) c. 10.56 million (French-speaking Canadians)[2] 29.1% of the total Canadian population (2021) 1,998,012 in the United States (2020)[3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Canada: majority inQuebec, large minority inNew Brunswick, small minorities inNorthern Ontario,Eastern Ontario,Nova Scotia,Prince Edward Island,Alberta andManitoba. United States: smallFrench Canadian American minorities inNew England,New York,Michigan andLouisiana. | |
| Languages | |
| Canadian French,Canadian English,Franglais, | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyCatholic, minorityProtestant | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Québécois, otherFrench,Acadians,French Louisianians,Métis,Brayons,Breton Canadians,Norman Canadians,Basque Canadians,German Canadians,Belgian Canadians,Old Stock Canadians |
| Part ofa series of articles on the |
| French people |
|---|
 |
Africa Asia Middle East Europe
North America
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). |
French Canadians, referred to asCanadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are anethnic group descended fromFrench colonists first arriving inFrance's colony of Canada in 1608.[4] The vast majority of French Canadians live in the province ofQuebec.
During the 17th century, French settlers originating mainly from the west and north of France settled Canada.[5] It is from them that the French Canadian ethnicity was born. During the 17th to 18th centuries, French Canadians expanded acrossNorth America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns.[6] As a result, people of French Canadian descent can be found across North America. Between 1840 and 1930, many French Canadians emigrated toNew England, an event known as theGrande Hémorragie.[7]
French Canadians get their name from theFrench colony of Canada, the most developed and densely populated region ofNew France during the period ofFrench colonization in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original use of the termCanada referred to the area of present-dayQuebec along theSt. Lawrence River, divided in three districts (Québec,Trois-Rivières, andMontréal), as well as to thePays d'en Haut (Upper Countries), a vast and thinly settled territorial dependence north and west of Montreal which covered the whole of theGreat Lakes area.
From 1535 to the 1690s,Canadien was a word used by the French to refer to theFirst Nations they had encountered in the St. Lawrence River valley atStadacona andHochelaga; however, First Nations groups did not refer to themselves asCanadien.[8] At the end of the 17th century,Canadien became anethnonym distinguishing the French inhabitants of Canada from those of France. At the end of the 18th century, to distinguish between the English-speaking population and the French-speaking population, the termsEnglish Canadian andFrench Canadian emerged.[9] During theQuiet Revolution of the 1960s to 1980s, inhabitants of Quebec began to identify asQuébécois instead of simply French Canadian.[10]
French settlers fromNormandy,Perche,Beauce,Brittany,Maine,Anjou,Touraine,Poitou,Aunis,Angoumois,Saintonge, andGascony were the firstEuropeans to permanently colonize what is nowQuebec, parts of Ontario, Acadia, and select areas of Western Canada, all in Canada (seeFrench colonization of the Americas). Their colonies ofNew France (also commonly called Canada) stretched across what today are theMaritime provinces, southern Quebec andOntario, as well as the entireMississippi River Valley.
The first permanent European settlements in Canada were atPort Royal in 1605 andQuebec City in 1608 asfur trading posts. The territories of New France wereCanada,Acadia (later renamedNova Scotia), andLouisiana; the mid-continentIllinois Country was at first governed from Canada and then attached to Louisiana. The inhabitants of the French colony of Canada (modern-day Quebec) called themselves theCanadiens, and came mostly from northwestern France.[11] The early inhabitants of Acadia, orAcadians (Acadiens), came mostly but not exclusively from thesouthwestern regions of France.
Canadien explorers and fur traders would come to be known ascoureurs des bois andvoyageurs, while those who settled on farms in Canada would come to be known ashabitants. Many French Canadians are the descendants of theKing's Daughters (Filles du Roi) of this era. A few also are the descendants of mixed French andAlgonquian marriages (see alsoMetis people andAcadian people). During the mid-18th century, French explorers andCanadiens born in French Canada colonized other parts of North America in what are today the states ofLouisiana,Mississippi,Missouri,Illinois,Vincennes, Indiana,Louisville, Kentucky, theWindsor-Detroit region and theCanadian prairies (primarily SouthernManitoba).
After the 1760 British conquest of New France in theFrench and Indian War (known as theSeven Years' War in Canada), the French-Canadian population remained important in the life of the colonies. The British gained Acadia by theTreaty of Utrecht in 1713. It took the 1774Quebec Act for French Canadians to regain the French civil law system, and in 1791 French Canadians inLower Canada were introduced to the parliamentary system when an electedLegislative Assembly was created. The Legislative Assembly having no real power, the political situation degenerated into theLower Canada Rebellions of 1837–1838, after which Lower Canada andUpper Canada were unified. Some of the motivations for the union was to limit French-Canadian political power and at the same time transferring a large part of the Upper Canadian debt to the debt-free Lower Canada. After many decades of British immigration, theCanadiens became a minority in theProvince of Canada in the 1850s.
French-Canadian contributions were essential in securingresponsible government forthe Canadas and in undertakingCanadian Confederation. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, French Canadians' discontent grew with their place in Canada because of a series of events: including the execution ofLouis Riel, the elimination of official bilingualism inManitoba, Canada's military participation in theSecond Boer War,Regulation 17 which banned French-language schools in Ontario, theConscription Crisis of 1917 and theConscription Crisis of 1944.[12][13]
Between the 1840s and the 1930s, some 900,000 French Canadians immigrated to theNew England region. About half of them returned home. The generations born in the United States would eventually come to see themselves asFranco-Americans. During the same period of time, numerous French Canadians alsomigrated and settled in Eastern and NorthernOntario. The descendants of those Quebec inter-provincial migrants constitute the bulk of today'sFranco-Ontarian community.
Since 1968, French has been one of Canada's two official languages. It is the sole official language of Quebec and one of the official languages ofNew Brunswick,Yukon, theNorthwest Territories, andNunavut. The province ofOntario has no official languages defined in law, although the provincial government provides French language services in many parts of the province under theFrench Language Services Act.
French Canadians ofQuebec are a classic example of founder population. Over 150 years of French colonization, between 1608 and 1760, an estimated 8,500 pioneers married and left at least one descendant on the territory.[14] Following the takeover of the colony by the British crown in 1760, immigration from France effectively stopped,[15] but descendants of French settlers continued to grow in number due to their high fertility rate. Intermarriage occurred mostly with the deportedAcadians and migrants coming from the British Isles[citation needed]. Since the 20th century, the French-Canadian population has experienced significantly more intermixing with other ethnic groups, from many different origins. Nevertheless, while the French Canadians of Quebec today may be partly of other ancestries, the genetic contribution of the original French founders remains predominant, explaining about 90% of regional gene pools, while Acadians (descended from other French settlers in eastern Canada) account for 4% and British 2%, with Native American and other groups contributing less.[16]
There are manyvarieties of French spoken by francophone Canadians, for exampleQuebec French,Acadian French,Métis French, andNewfoundland French. The French spoken in Ontario, theCanadian West, and New England can trace their roots back to Quebec French because ofQuebec's diaspora. Over time, many regional accents have emerged. Canada is estimated to be home to between 32 and 36 regional French accents,[17][18] 17 of which can be found in Quebec, and seven of which are found in New Brunswick.[19] There are also people who will naturally speak usingQuébécois Standard orJoual which are consideredsociolects.
There are about seven million French Canadians and native French speakers in Quebec. Another one million French-speaking French Canadians are distributed throughout the rest of Canada. French Canadians may also speakCanadian English, especially if they live in overwhelmingly English-speaking environments. In Canada, not all those of French Canadian ancestry speak French, but the vast majority do.
Francophones living in Canadian provinces other than Quebec have enjoyedminority language rights under Canadian law since theOfficial Languages Act of 1969, and under theCanadian Constitution since 1982, protecting them from provincial governments that have historically been indifferent towards their presence. At the provincial level,New Brunswick formally designates French as a fullofficial language, while other provinces vary in the level of French language services they offer. All three of Canada's territories include French as an official language of the territory alongside English and local indigenous languages; however, in practice, French-language services are normally available only in the capital cities and not across the entire territory.[citation needed]
Catholicism is the chief denomination amongst French Canadians. The kingdom of France forbade non-Catholic settlement inNew France from 1629 onward; thus, almost all French settlers ofCanada were Catholic. In the United States, some families of French-Canadian origin have converted to Protestantism. Until the 1960s, religion was a central component of French-Canadian national identity. The Church parish was the focal point of civic life in French-Canadian society, and religious orders ran French-Canadian schools, hospitals and orphanages and were very influential in everyday life in general. During theQuiet Revolution of the 1960s, however, the practice of Catholicism dropped drastically.[20]
| Religious group | 2021[21][b] | 2001[22][c] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
| Christianity | 3,111,025 | 63.26% | 4,086,585 | 87.54% |
| Islam | 8,805 | 0.18% | 5,325 | 0.11% |
| Irreligion | 1,744,545 | 35.47% | 551,100 | 11.8% |
| Judaism | 10,855 | 0.22% | 8,575 | 0.18% |
| Buddhism | 1,285 | 0.03% | 4,995 | 0.11% |
| Hinduism | 975 | 0.02% | 665 | 0.01% |
| Indigenous spirituality | 3,775 | 0.08% | 3,105 | 0.07% |
| Sikhism | 275 | 0.01% | 345 | 0.01% |
| Other | 29,650 | 0.6% | 7,700 | 0.16% |
| Total French Canadian population | 4,917,990 | 100% | 4,668,410 | 100% |
| Religious group | 2021[21][b] | 2001[22][c] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
| Catholic | 2,502,585 | 80.44% | 3,373,730 | 82.56% |
| Orthodox | 8,805 | 0.28% | 7,110 | 0.17% |
| Protestant | 350,365 | 11.26% | 628,275 | 15.37% |
| Other Christian | 249,270 | 8.01% | 77,470 | 1.9% |
| Total French canadian christian population | 3,111,025 | 100% | 4,086,585 | 100% |
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People who claim some French-Canadian ancestry or heritage number some 7 million in Canada. In the United States, 2.4 million people report French-Canadian ancestry or heritage, while an additional 8.4 million claimFrench ancestry; they are treated as a separate ethnic group by theU.S. Census Bureau.
In Canada, 85% of French Canadians reside inQuebec where they constitute the majority of the population in all regions except the far north (Nord-du-Québec). Most cities and villages in this province were built and settled by the French or French Canadians during theFrench colonial rule.
There are various urban and small centres in Canada outside Quebec that have long-standing populations of French Canadians, going back to the late 19th century, due tointerprovincial migration.Eastern andNorthern Ontario have large populations of francophones in communities such asOttawa,Cornwall,Hawkesbury,Sudbury,Timmins,North Bay,Timiskaming,Welland andWindsor. Many also pioneered theCanadian Prairies in the late 18th century, founding the towns ofSaint Boniface, Manitoba and inAlberta'sPeace Country, including the region ofGrande Prairie.
It is estimated that roughly 70–75% of Quebec's population descend from the French pioneers of the 17th and 18th century.
The French-speaking population have massively chosen the "Canadian" ("Canadien") ethnic group since the government made it possible (1986), which has made the current statistics misleading. The termCanadien historically referred only to a French-speaker, though today it is used in French to describe any Canadian citizen.
In the United States, many cities were founded as colonial outposts ofNew France by French or French-Canadian explorers. They includeMobile (Alabama),Coeur d'Alene (Idaho),Vincennes (Indiana),Belleville (Illinois),Bourbonnais (Illinois),Prairie du Rocher (Illinois),Dubuque (Iowa),Baton Rouge (Louisiana),New Orleans (Louisiana),Detroit (Michigan),Biloxi (Mississippi),Creve Coeur (Missouri),St. Louis (Missouri),Pittsburgh (Fort Duquesne, Pennsylvania),Provo (Utah),Green Bay (Wisconsin),La Crosse (Wisconsin),Milwaukee (Wisconsin) orPrairie du Chien (Wisconsin).
The majority of the French-Canadian population in the United States is found in the New England area, although there is also a large French-Canadian presence inPlattsburgh, New York, acrossLake Champlain fromBurlington, Vermont. Quebec and Acadian emigrants settled in industrial cities likeFitchburg,Leominster,Lynn,Worcester,Haverhill,Waltham,Lowell,Gardner,Lawrence,Chicopee,Somerset,Fall River, andNew Bedford inMassachusetts;Woonsocket inRhode Island;Manchester andNashua inNew Hampshire;Bristol,Hartford, andEast Hartford inConnecticut; throughout the state ofVermont, particularly inBurlington,St. Albans, andBarre; andBiddeford andLewiston inMaine. Smaller groups of French Canadians settled in the Midwest, notably in the states ofMichigan, Illinois,Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, andMinnesota. French Canadians also settled in central North Dakota, largely inRolette andBottineau counties, and in South Dakota.
SomeMetis still speakMichif, a language influenced by French, and a mixture of other European and Native American tribal languages.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1871 | 1,082,940 | — |
| 1881 | 1,298,929 | +19.9% |
| 1901 | 1,649,371 | +27.0% |
| 1911 | 2,061,719 | +25.0% |
| 1921 | 2,452,743 | +19.0% |
| 1931 | 2,927,990 | +19.4% |
| 1941 | 3,483,038 | +19.0% |
| 1951 | 4,319,167 | +24.0% |
| 1961 | 5,540,346 | +28.3% |
| 1971 | 6,180,120 | +11.5% |
| 1981 | 7,111,540 | +15.1% |
| 1986 | 8,123,360 | +14.2% |
| 1991 | 8,389,180 | +3.3% |
| 1996 | 5,709,215 | −31.9% |
| 2001 | 4,809,250 | −15.8% |
| 2006 | 5,146,940 | +7.0% |
| 2011 | 5,386,995 | +4.7% |
| 2016 | 4,995,040 | −7.3% |
| Source:Statistics Canada [30]: 17 [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][1] Note 1: 1981 Canadian census only included partial multiple ethnic origin responses for individuals with British and French ancestry. Note 2: 1996-present censuses include the"Canadian" ethnic origin category. | ||
French Canadians express their cultural or ancestral roots using a number of different terms. In the 2021 census, French-speaking Canadians identified their ethnicity, in order of prevalence, most often asCanadian,French,Québécois, French Canadian, andAcadian. All of these except for French were grouped together by Jantzen (2006) as "French New World" ancestries because they originate in Canada.[25][41]
Jantzen (2006) distinguishes the EnglishCanadian, meaning "someone whose family has been in Canada for multiple generations", and the FrenchCanadien, used to refer to descendants of the original settlers of New France in the 17th and 18th centuries.[26] "Canadien" was used to refer to the French-speaking residents of New France beginning in the last half of the 17th century. The English-speaking residents who arrived later from Great Britain were called "Anglais". This usage continued untilCanadian Confederation in 1867.[42] Confederation united several former British colonies into the Dominion of Canada, and from that time forward, the word "Canadian" has been used to describe both English-speaking and French-speaking citizens, wherever they live in the country.
Those reporting "French New World" ancestries overwhelmingly had ancestors that went back at least four generations in Canada.[27] Fourth generation Canadiens and Québécois showed considerable attachment to their ethno-cultural group, with 70% and 61%, respectively, reporting a strong sense of belonging.[28]
The generational profile and strength of identity of French New World ancestries contrast with those of British or Canadian ancestries, which represent the largest ethnic identities in Canada.[29] Although deeply rooted Canadians express a deep attachment to their ethnic identity, most English-speaking Canadians of British or Canadian ancestry generally cannot trace their ancestry as far back in Canada as French speakers.[43] As a result, their identification with their ethnicity is weaker: for example, only 50% of third generation "Canadians" strongly identify as such, bringing down the overall average.[44] The survey report notes that 80% of Canadians whose families had been in Canada for three or more generations reported "Canadian and provincial or regional ethnic identities". These identities include French New World ancestries such as "Québécois" (37% of Quebec population) andAcadian (6% of Atlantic provinces).[45]
Since the 1960s, French Canadians in Quebec have generally usedQuébécois (masculine) orQuébécoise (feminine) to express their cultural and national identity, rather thanCanadien français andCanadienne française. Francophones who self-identify as Québécois and do not have French-Canadian ancestry may not identify as "French Canadian" (Canadien orCanadien français); however, by extension, though the term "French Canadian" may refer to natives of the province of Quebec or other parts of French Canada of foreign descent.[46][47][48][49] Those who do have French or French-Canadian ancestry, but who supportQuebec sovereignty, often findCanadien français to be archaic or even pejorative. This is a reflection of the strong social, cultural, and political ties that most Quebecers of French-Canadian origin, who constitute a majority offrancophone Quebecers, maintain within Quebec. It has given Québécois an ambiguous meaning[50] which has often played out inpolitical issues,[51] as all public institutions attached to theGovernment of Quebec refer to all Quebec citizens, regardless of their language or their cultural heritage, as Québécois.
Academic analysis of French Canadian culture has often focused on the degree to which the Quiet Revolution, particularly the shift in the social and cultural identity of the Québécois following theEstates General of French Canada of 1966 to 1969, did or did not create a "rupture" between the Québécois and other francophones elsewhere in Canada.[52]
The emphasis on the French language and Quebec autonomy means that French speakers across Canada may now self-identify asquébécois(e),acadien(ne), orFranco-canadien(ne), or as provincial linguistic minorities such asFranco-manitobain(e),Franco-ontarien(ne) orfransaskois(e).[53] Education, health and social services are provided by provincial institutions, so that provincial identities are often used to identify French-language institutions:
Acadians residing in the provinces ofNew Brunswick,Prince Edward Island andNova Scotia represent a distinct ethnicFrench-speaking culture. This group's culture and history evolved separately from the French Canadian culture, at a time when the Maritime Provinces werenot part of what was referred to as Canada, and are consequently considered a distinct culture from French Canadians.
Brayons inMadawaska County,New Brunswick andAroostook County,Maine may be identified with either the Acadians or the Québécois, or considered a distinct group in their own right, by different sources.
French Canadians outside Quebec are more likely to self-identify as "French Canadian". Identification with provincial groupings varies from province to province, with Franco-Ontarians, for example, using their provincial label far more frequently than Franco-Columbians do. Few identifyonly with the provincial groupings, explicitly rejecting "French Canadian" as an identity label. A population genetics ancestry study claims that for those French Canadians who trace their ancestry to the French founder population, a significant percentage, 53-78% have at least one indigenous ancestor.[54]
During the mid-18th century, French Canadian explorers and colonists colonized other parts of North America in what are todayLouisiana (calledLouisianais),Mississippi,Missouri,Illinois,Wisconsin,Indiana,Ohio, far northernNew York and theUpper Peninsula of Michigan as well as aroundDetroit.[55] They also founded such cities asNew Orleans andSt. Louis and villages in theMississippi Valley. French Canadians later emigrated in large numbers from Canada to theUnited States between the 1840s and the 1930s in search of economic opportunities in border communities and industrialized portions ofNew England.[56] French-Canadian communities in the United States remain along theQuebec border inMaine,Vermont, andNew Hampshire, as well as further south inMassachusetts,Rhode Island, andConnecticut. There is also a significant community of French Canadians inSouth Florida, particularlyHollywood, Florida, especially during the winter months. The wealth of Catholic churches named afterSt. Louis throughout New England is indicative of the French immigration to the area. They came to identify asFranco-American, especially those who were born American.
Distinctions between French Canadian, natives of France, and other New World French identities is more blurred in the U.S. than in Canada; however, those who identify as French Canadian or Franco American generally do not regard themselves as French. Rather, they identify culturally, historically, and ethnically with the culture that originated in Quebec that is differentiated from French culture. InL'Avenir du français aux États-Unis,Calvin Veltman andBenoît Lacroix found that since the French language has been so widely abandoned in the United States, the term "French Canadian" has taken on an ethnic rather than linguistic meaning.[57]
French Canadian identities are influenced by historical events that inform regional cultures. For example, in New England, the relatively recent immigration (19th/20th centuries) is informed by experiences of language oppression and an identification with certain occupations, such as the mill workers. In the Great Lakes, many French Canadians also identify asMétis and trace their ancestry to the earliestvoyageurs andsettlers; many also have ancestry dating to the lumber era and often a mixture of the two groups.
The main Franco-American regional identities are:
Traditionally, Canadiens had asubsistence agriculture in Eastern Canada (Québec). This subsistence agriculture slowly evolved in dairy farm during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th century while retaining the subsistence side. By 1960, agriculture changed toward an industrial agriculture. French Canadians haveselectively bred distinct livestock over the centuries, includingcattle,horses andchickens.[58][59]
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"Virtually all persons who reported "Canadian" in 1996 had English or French as a mother tongue, were born in Canada and had both parents born inside Canada. This suggests that many of these respondents were people whose families have been in this country for several generations. In effect the "new Canadians" were persons that previously reported either British or French origins. Moreover in 1996 some 55% of people with both parents born in Canada reported Canadian (alone or in combination with other origins). By contrast, only 4% of people with both parents born outside Canada reported Canadian. Thus the Canadian response did not appeal widely to either immigrants or their children. Most important however was that neatly half of those persons reporting Canadian origin in 1996 were in Quebec this represented a majority of the mother tongue francophone population. ... In the 2001 Census, 11.7 million people, or 39% of the total population, reported Canadian as their ethnic origin, either alone or in combination with other origins. Some 4.9 million Quebecers out of 7.1 million individuals reported Canadian or "Canadien" thus accounting for nearly seven in ten persons (nearly eighty percent of francophones in Quebec). (Page 2)
French speakers usually refer to their own identities with adjectives such as québécoise, acadienne, or franco-canadienne, or by some term referring to a provincial linguistic minority such as franco-manitobaine, franco-ontarienne or fransaskoise.
Below is a list of the main genealogical works retracing the origins of French Canadian families:
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