By Canadian Press

Census data shows French is in danger in Quebec, province’s language minister says

Aug 17, 2022 | 12:52 PM

MONTREAL — Quebec’s minister for the French language says new data from the Canadian census shows that the French language is in danger in the province.

Simon Jolin-Barrette told reporters in Quebec City the province is at a linguistic crossroads and that it’s time to stop the decline of French.

Data released by Statistics Canada today shows that the percentage of Quebec residents who predominantly speak French at home declined to 77.5 per cent in 2021 from 79 per cent in 2016.

The federal statistics agency says the percentage of Quebec residents whose first official language was English rose to 13 per cent in 2021 from 12 per cent in 2016.

Eva Ludvig, the interim president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, an anglophone rights group, says the growth of Quebec’s English-speaking community is good news.

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But she says she worries politicians will use the new data to portray her community as a threat ahead of the province’s fall election. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2022.

The Canadian Press