Dr.
Mother tongue: 575,555 (7.7%)
Home language: 744,430 (10%)
Official Language Minority: 918,955 (12.9%)
Unlike other minorities, English-speaking Quebecers are not an
ethnic group, with large outmigration to other provinces, intermarriage with francophones, and waves of immigration renewing the face of the community every generation. This makes estimating the population difficult. According to the 2006 Canadian census, 575,555 (7.7% of population) in Quebec declare English as their
mother tongue, 744,430 (10%) use mostly English as their
home language, and 918,955 (12.9%) comprise the Official Language Minority, having English as their
First Official language spoken.
Communities
Montreal
The English-speaking community of Montreal is extremely diverse, having always been influenced by successive waves of immigration into the city; even today 36% of anglophones in Quebec were born outside Canada. and Inuit also use English in their day-to-day lives and use English-language health services based in Montreal. These groups blend in easily in a community that defines itself increasingly as
multicultural and
bilingual. Its dwindling numbers, its large diversity, its mobility and access to mainstream North American society means that most anglophones in Quebec will identify themselves as
Canadian or by their cultural group, and identify as "anglophone" only in the context of Quebec's
French-speaking majority.
Elsewhere in Quebec
All English-speaking communities outside the Montreal metropolitan area have been in decline for over a century, except for aboriginal communities in the North. However, communities near Montreal, Ontario and the American border are still large enough to constitute a sizeable yet shrinking minority in these regions.
In the late 1700s and the early 1800s, the
Eastern Townships, and the
Chateauguay Valley were pioneered by English-speaking settlers who moved north from the United States; the first were Loyalists (Tories in the U.S.) wishing to remain
British subjects after
The American Revolution. Very few of these Loyalists were allowed to stay in the Eastern Townships and were in fact forced by the British to move from the lands that they were squatting on because the British desired to keep the Eastern Townships as an unpopulated buffer zone between the French Canadians and the Americans. By the end of the 1790s, American homesteaders were allowed to come northward to settle lands across the border. Immigrants from England, Scotland, and Ireland would further settle these regions in the mid 1800s, and pioneer the
Outaouais region (
Gatineau and
Pontiac region) and many
Laurentian communities. By the end of the nineteenth century, many grew into thriving small cities:
Shawville,
Hull,
Lachute,
Huntingdon, St. Johns (now
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu),
Granby,
St. Hyacinthe,
Victoriaville,
Drummondville,
Magog,
Sherbrooke,
Sawyerville. Migration to and larger cities in Canada (including Montreal) has since reduced the English-speaking population in these regions.
Many American and Anglo-Scot merchants settled in
Quebec City in the nineteenth century, but the majority of anglophones were working-class Irish immigrants. In the 1860s, the proportion of English-speakers reached a historic high of 40%. The population gradually dwindled as Montreal replaced Quebec City as a center of commerce and industry. English-speakers now represent 1.9% of the total population in the Quebec metropolitan area.
There has been English-speaking settlement or immigration to some degree in almost all areas of Quebec at one time or another. What remains today in many regions is only symbolic as anglophones have moved away or assimilated into the French-speaking community. English-speaking communities in the
Gaspé Peninsula and the
Lower North Shore remain.
Population
| Criteria |
Quebec |
Home language |
1st official language |
Year |
French |
English |
Other |
| 1971–1976 |
−4,100 |
−52,200 |
−5,700 |
| 1976–1981 |
−18,000 |
−106,300 |
−17,400 |
| 1981–1986 |
−12,900 |
−41,600 |
−8,700 |
| 1986–1991 |
5,200 |
−22,200 |
−8,600 |
| 1991–1996 |
1,200 |
−24,500 |
−14,100 |
| 1996–2001 |
−8,900 |
−29,200 |
−19,100 |
| Total |
−37,500 |
−276,000 |
−73,600 |
|
Statistics Canada uses census data to keep track of minority language communities in Canada. It has recorded
mother tongue (the first language learned as a child and still spoken) since 1921,
home language (language spoken at home) since 1971, and
first official language learned (English or French) since 1991. In addition, conversational knowledge of English and French is documented.. This situation is rapidly changing as the vast majority of immigrants now adopt French as their first language: three quarters of linguistic transfers of allophones arriving between 2001 and 2006 allophones arriving have been towards French instead of English..
Outmigration is the biggest challenge facing the survival of English-language communities in Quebec, particularly outside Montreal. English-speakers account for half the out-migrants from Quebec as they're extremely mobile compared to their francophone neighbours because they share a language and cultural identity with most other Canadians and North Americans. English-speaking Quebecers cite limited economic prospects and politics (
Quebec's language policies and the
Quebec independence) as primary reasons for leaving. These political factors have also lead to fewer Canadians from other provinces settling in Quebec..
Culture
English culture in Quebec tends to blend in seamlessly with the
Canadian and
North American mainstream. Unlike their
francophone neighbours who identify culturally with
Quebec, English-speaking Quebecers typically identify culturally as Canadian. As a result, English-speaking Quebecers look outward from Quebec to support their cultural identity. The result is limited assimilation into mainstream Quebec cultural institutions.
In the Montreal area, Quebecers have access to a wide range of English-language cultural activities and outlets (record stores, bookstores, cinemas, museums, concerts) concentrated in Downtown Montreal and the West Island. Outside Montreal, resources are much less common.
English-speaking Montrealers have played a large role in Canadian and North American culture, and have included prominent writers and poets such as
Mordecai Richler,
Irving Layton and
Leonard Cohen; internationally-known philosophers
Mario Bunge and
Charles Taylor; dancer
Margie Gillis; and members of the seminal Canadian painters group the
Group of Seven. English Montreal also supports an unusually strong local alternative music industry considering the small size of the population. Artists such as
Martha Wainwright,
Sam Roberts,
Patrick Watson and the musical acts
Bran Van 3000 and
Arcade Fire manage to prosper internationally while remaining in Montreal.
There are several amateur and professional theatre companies, notably the
Centaur Theatre. Since 1989, the
Quebec Drama Federation has represented the English-language milieu in Quebec.
Since 1998, the
Quebec Writers' Federation has represented the interests of English-language writers in Quebec and distributes the QWF awards. The federation grew out of the Quebec Society for the Promotion of English Language Literature and the Federation of English Writers of Quebec. There are 16 publishing houses in Quebec.
Media
English-language media tend to come from outside the province. Most local English-language media are based in the Montreal area.
Television
The province's English-language television stations are
CBMT (
CBC),
CFCF (
CTV),
CKMI (
Global) and
CJNT (
E!). CKMI is officially licensed to
Quebec City, with a rebroadcaster in Montreal; however, its actual operations are in Montreal. CJNT airs multilingual programming in addition to the E! prime time schedule. These stations are available on cable throughout the province. Anglophones in the Outaouais region are served by
English stations from Ottawa. Southern Quebec is also served by American network affiliates from
Vermont and
New York's North Country who actually depend on the Montreal market for most of their revenue. The
Burlington, VT stations are
WCAX (
CBS),
WVNY (
ABC),
WFFF(
Fox), and
Vermont Public Television (
PBS). The
Plattsburgh, NY stations are
WPTZ (
NBC) and
WCFE (PBS). These stations are carried on Montreal-area cable networks, along with other English and French language cable station. (See
Multichannel television in Canada. Western Montreal carries more English language programming to better serve the large English-speaking market.
Radio
English-language radio stations in Montreal include
AM stations
CKGM (sports),
CJAD (news/talk) and
CINW (
940 Montreal), and
FM outlets
CBME (
CBC Radio One),
CKUT (
campus radio from
McGill University),
CFQR (
Q92, adult contemporary},
CJFM (
Mix96, hot AC/pop),
CBM (
CBC Radio Two) and
CHOM (rock). Listeners in
Sherbrooke,
Lennoxville and the
Eastern Townships are served by CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two, a CJAD rebroadcast transmitter, and the
Bishop's University station
CJMQ. CBC Radio One is also available in many other Quebec communities. Parts of the province also receive English-language signals from
Ontario,
New Brunswick,
New York or
New England. However, no community in the province besides Montreal has an English commercial station.
Newspapers and periodicals
Quebec has two English-language daily newspapers: the large
Montreal Gazette, and the small
Sherbrooke Record, a local newspaper for the Eastern Townships. Many smaller communities in Quebec also have English-language weekly papers, including
The Equity in
Shawville, the
Stanstead Journal in
Stanstead,
The First Informer in the
Magdalen Islands,
The Gleaner in
Huntingdon, the
Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph in Quebec City,
SPEC in the
Gaspé region, the
West Quebec Post in
Buckingham, the
Aylmer Bulletin in
Aylmer, the
Townships Sun in Lennoxville, the Suburban and the Chronicle in the
West Island of Montreal and
The LowDown to Hull and Back News in
La Pêche. Montreal also has two English alternative weeklies,
Hour and
Mirror.
Maisonneuve is a culturally literate bimonthly general-interest English-language magazine published in Montreal.
Festivals
Cultural festivals in Montreal tend to be multilingual and multicultural, attracting both English and French-speaking Quebecers. Large festivals such as the
Montreal International Jazz Festival and
Nuits d'Afrique attract both English- and French-speaking artists and spectators of various nationalities.
The Montreal
Irish community organizes a popular
Saint Patrick's Day parade and attracts huge numbers of anglophones every March . The
Just for Laughs international Comedy festival runs English language shows that feature top international stars parallel to French language shows. Pop Montreal highlights local Montreal talent in the
independent music scene .
Fringe Theater festivals originated at English-language universities and also tend to cater to English-speaking audiences and tastes. The multi-cultural and multi-lingual
Infringement Festival was born in Montreal, created by anglophone
Donovan King.
Outside Montreal, several country festivals in areas originally settled by English-speakers such as the
Brome Fair, the Shawville Fair, and
Ormstown Fair are organized and run by rural anglophones.
Politics
The politics of language has always played against issues of
Quebec nationalism and
Quebec separatism. English-speaking Quebecers maintain a strong
Canadian identity, with about 90% opposing
Quebec sovereignty in
1980 and
1995 referendums. Having no distinct political representation in Quebec, they tend to vote for the federalist
Liberal Party of Canada federally and for the
Liberal Party of Quebec at the provincial level. In 2001, English-speaking Quebecers viewed provincial
language legislation as the principal challenge facing their community and more generally look to the federal government to protect their individual and collective rights from provincial government limits on access to English education, health care, government services, and visibility on public signs.
The
Canadian constitution protects the language rights of English-speaking communities and individuals in Quebec. Since 1867, Quebec had full jurisdiction over schools, with only Section 93 of the
Constitution Act, 1867 guaranteeing Protestant confessional boards the right to administer most English schools. Section 133 still allows French and English to be used in the
Parliament of Canada and the
Legislature of Quebec and makes both languages mandatory for the laws, records, and journals of those houses. It also gives any person the right to plead in either English or French in any of the Courts of Quebec. In 1982, Section 23 of the
Constitution Act, 1982 guaranteed the right of Canadian citizens educated in English in Canada to attend English schools. This paved the way for the Constitutional Amendment, 1999 (Québec) passed unanimously by Parliament and the
National Assembly of Quebec that transformed Protestant confessional into English linguistic school boards. The federal government also maintains the
Official Languages Act of 1988 that ensures equality between English and French in the federal civil service, that official minority language groups in Canada receive service in their language where numbers warrant, and that supports the development of communities of speakers of official languages when they constitute a minority in a province or territory.
Provincial legislation has also delimited the language rights of English-speaking Quebecers and the role of their institutions since the
Quiet Revolution as French-speaking
Québécois sought to improve their economic prospects, assimilate immigrants into their community to maintain their population, and establish French as a language of business.
Bill 63, introduced by the
Union Nationale government in 1969, required that English schools provide all students with a working knowledge of French. In 1974 the Liberal government of
Robert Bourassa passed
Bill 22 and restricted access to English schools to children who could pass a language test. In 1977, the separatist
Parti Québécois passed the more comprehensive
Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). The law made French the language of the civil service and of business in private workplaces with over 50 employees, establishing the rights of all Quebecers to work in the official language of the province; it also favored a demographic shift towards more francophones in Quebec. The Charter was and still is seen as emancipatory and a protector of culture, and is immensely popular among francophone Quebecers.
Other Charter provisions, though, deeply alienated English-speaking Quebecers. The Charter cut off access to English schools to all but children who had a parent who had received their education in English in Quebec. The Charter also eliminated the Constitutional guarantee to English legal proceedings, eliminated English translations of Quebec laws, and banned the use of languages other than French from commercial signs. The law has therefore polarized Quebec along linguistic lines to this day.
Legal challenges by English-speaking Quebecers using provisions of the Canadian constitution and
international law overturned these provisions, forcing the Quebec government to blunt these Charter provisions many times.
The Charter coupled with the looming
1980 Referendum on Sovereignty triggered an unexpected exodus of English-speaking Quebecers between 1976 and 1980, exacerbating the already existing demographic decline. Head offices that employed anglophones moved mostly to Toronto, taking their employees with them. Structural unemployment in the private sector with the mass hiring of francophones in an expanding civil service limited the economic opportunities of especially young non-bilingual anglophones in Quebec leading them to search for work elsewhere. Young highly educated anglophones, despite high rates of bilingualism and increased contact and openness to francophones, cite limited economic prospects caused by perceived linguistic discrimination and an unsatisfactory political climate as the major factors in their departure. By 2001, 50% of mother-tongue anglophones had left the province.
Faced with increasing marginalization from the political process in Quebec, English-speaking community groups across the province banded together to form
Alliance Quebec, a provincial lobby group that would advocate for English-language education, health, and social services. It was supported by the federal
Commissioner of Official Languages and members worked with provincial administrations to maintain and increase access to English government services across the province.
Sign laws governing language are a particular irritant to English-speaking Quebecers. When the original Charter provision requiring French only on commercial signs and from trade names was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1988, the Liberal government of Robert Bourrassa passed Bill 178 that made French the only language that could be used on outdoor commercial signs only. This required invoking the
notwithstanding clause in the
Canadian Constitution, which overrode the Supreme Court decision. Discontent with the Liberals led anglophones in Western Montreal to form the
Equality Party in protest, which surprised many by electing 4 candidates in the 1989 provincial election. Anglophone Quebecers would take the case to the
Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, which in 1993 found that the laws banning the commercial display of languages other than French consitituted a violation of the right to
freedom of expression. As the sign law would have to be renewed in 1993, the Liberal government passed a law that mandated French on signs, but allowed other languages provided French to be predominant, as suggested by the Supreme Court. Although this law stands up to Supreme Court challenges, many anglophones continue to find sign law regulations petty and irritating, wryly referring to the
inspectorate that enforces the law as "tongue troopers" and "language cops".
Regardless of legally recognized rights, the practice in long-established institutions has often been to provide more service than what rights alone would dictate. On the other hand, a long-term trend toward providing even less service than what rights call for has been observed, especially in cases when the service-providing entity is newly created; the only recourse being to sue for redress.
In addition to the rights guaranteed by the constitution of Canada, the various regulations outside the Charter recognize other linguistic rights of Quebec anglophones. Quebecers have the right to receive services in English from all public health care and social service institutions in Quebec, although there's considerable controversy as to whether this is in fact the case. The charter also permits bilingual status to cities, but only those with a majority of English mother-tongue residents; other cities are not required to provide services in English but usually do if a significant minority of the population is English-speaking. Ninety-three municipalities offer bilingual services in Quebec.
In 2002, Quebec's French Language Charter was amended with
Bill 104, which aims to prevent education received in fully-private English schools or through temporary certificates from producing constitutional education rights. Several court cases are still pending.
Education
In 2001, Quebec had 340 primary and secondary English-language schools administered by nine English-language school boards. As in French-language schools, elementary education goes from Kindergarten to Elementary 6 (K-6), while high school goes from Secondary 1 to 5 (grades 7-11). The curriculum is strictly controlled by the Ministère d'Education, Quebec's provincial education ministry, and is generally identical to that offered in the French-language public school system.
The exception is language education. French is taught as a second language in English schools from Grade 1 onwards, and English is taught as a second in French schools from grade 3 onwards. English schools in the Montreal area were pioneers in
French immersion and
bilingual education starting in the late 1960s. As a result, they offer a range of established bilingual and short- and long-immersion programs. Programs offering both French and English curricula as a first language have recently been approved by the Ministère d'Education and are increasingly popular. English immersion programs are not common in French-language public schools.
Some English-speaking Quebecers also opt to send their children to French-language schools. As a result, programs to integrate English-speaking children into a French-speaking milieu (particularly in English-speaking areas on the West Island) are increasingly popular in French school boards, and have used in French-language private school for years.
In an addition to the public system, many private schools provide instruction in English, including schools serving religious and cultural communities. Quebec subsidizes a large portion of the tuition on the condition that they teach the provincial curriculum; almost all private schools accept these conditions and the accompanying subsidy.
Access to English-language public and semi-private education is restricted by provincial law to children who have at least one parent educated in English in Canada. Temporary residents of Quebec and English-speaking immigrants whose children have special learning needs may apply to the Ministère d'Education for permission to enter these schools. (see
Charter of the French Language). Access to private schools is open to anyone who can afford the tuition.
CEGEPs provide 3-year career certification programs or 2-year pre-University curricula following Grade 11 (Secondary 5) high school. Most CEGEPs are tuition-free; a few are subsidized private institutions. Core courses in English literature, humanities, and French represent about 25% of the curriculum. There are eight English-language CEGEPs, open to all Quebec residents.
English is also the language of instruction at three Quebec universities (
McGill University,
Concordia University and
Bishop's University) that offer 3-year undergraduate programs for Quebec students graduating from CEGEP. They also offer standard 4-year programs to students from all over Canada, North America, and the world. For Quebec residents, 85% of tuition is subsidized by the provincial government. Canadian students pay differential tuition fees based on the Canadian average. Foreign students pay the full cost of their tuition, although Quebec has signed reciprocal agreements with some jurisdictions such as
France,
Belgium,
Bavaria, and
Catalonia allowing students to pay local Quebec tuition rates. Concordia offers instruction in French, and exams and assignments may be done in French at all universities.
Health Care
Montreal has several English-language hospitals that offer multilingual services, including service in French:
Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital (Eastern Townships)
Pontiac Community Hospital (Shawville)Further Information
Get more info on 'English-speaking Quebecer'.
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