More Allophones Calling Rest of Quebec Home: Numbers of persons whose mother tongue is neither English nor French rises sharply outside Montreal

Jack Jedwab

Executive Director

Association for Canadian Studies

February 10, 2009

Special for the Montreal Gazette

For several years concerned with the overwhelming concentration of immigrants in Montreal, the government of Quebec has made efforts to encourage newcomers to settle in the regions outside of the province’s largest city. Its efforts may be bearing fruit judging by the results of the 2006 census. The combination of a slightly higher percentage of immigrants settling outside of Montreal in the rest of Quebec and the substantial increase in the numbers of immigrants admitted by the province since the beginning of the century has had an important impact on the demography of several regions. Indeed between 2001 and 2006 the increase has been so important that in several places the combined numbers of allophones surpassed the size of the anglophone population in areas with historically established English-speaking communities. In 1996 the headlines of major Quebec newspapers proclaimed that the number of mother tongie allophones in Montreal surpassed the number of anglophones. While in the rest of Quebec the number of anglophones still exceeded the number of allophones at the time of the 2006 census by now it is reasonably safe to assume that in the ROQ there are more allophones.

As observed in the table below where there were more allophones than anglophones in 2001 (e.g. Baie-Comeau, Saguenay, Alma, St.Georges, Thetford Mines, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Granby and Sorel) there are now more allophones. Moreover although there were substantially more angophones than allophones in Sherbrooke, in 2006 the numbers were near even. In some places the increases in the numbers of allophones have been sufficiently significant so as to heavily outnumber anglophones. Drummondville is a case in point with more anglophone than allophone residents in 2001 and three times more allophones than anglophones in 2006. Numbers of allophones in the ROQ between 2001 and 2006 jumped by nearly 50% while over that same period the anglophone population declined very slightly. In several cities the numbers of allophones doubled or better over the 5 years. In Drummodville they nearly quadrupled. Clearly in some cities outside the presumed psychological barrier to taking up residence outside of Montreal has been removed.

Table 1

Numbers of anglophones and allophones in the province of Quebec and selected cities, 2001 and 2006

Allophones Anglophones

Mother Tongue 2001 2006 2006 2001

Quebec / Québec 709425 886280 575555 557040 Montréal 625210 760 445 425635 408675 Rest of Quebec 84 215 125 835 149 920 148 365 Matane 25 140 100 35 Rimouski 110 505 355 245 Rivière-du-Loup 40 135 85 80 Baie-Comeau 205 285 175 240 Saguenay 680 1700 1100 1150 Alma 75 245 150 185 Dolbeau-Mistassini 0 75 75 45 Sept-Îles 2260 2755 765 875 Québec 11665 19410 10250 9765 Saint-Georges 45 240 175 240 Thetford Mines 115 330 380 280 Sherbrooke 4800 8385 8850 9480 Cowansville 80 210 1820 1670 Victoriaville 340 775 345 190 Trois-Rivières 1240 2495 1300 1425 Shawinigan 265 445 365 545 La Tuque 2755 3010 210 205 Drummondville 560 2050 780 690 Granby 755 1850 1745 1685 Saint-Hyacinthe 640 1315 295 345 Sorel-Tracy 275 580 340 370 Joliette 450 1115 230 325 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 1290 1840 2110 2250 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield 310 430 1035 1085 Lachute 85 165 1215 1355 Val-d'Or 1175 1380 770 775 Amos 310 325 185 180 Rouyn-Noranda 275 455 725 900 As mentioned it is not so much an increase in the share of immigrants taking up residence outside of Montreal but their volume. As observed below Quebec received almost as many immigrants between 2001 and 2006 as it did in the period 1991-2001. And as illustrated below in the ROQ more immigrants arrived between 2001 and 2006 that it did over the previous ten years.

Table 2

Total – 1991 2001 Immigrant Immigrants Before to to status and 1991 2000 2006 period of immigration Quebec 7435905 851560 438940 218715 193905 Montreal 3588520 740355 384440 190575 165345 Rest of Quebec 54 500 28 140 28 560 Rimouski 45870 790 290 225 270 Saguenay 149600 1750 590 435 725 Québec 704185 26200 10115 7645 8445 Sherbrooke 183640 10360 3765 2770 3820 Victoriaville 47810 895 350 165 390 Trois-Rivières 138560 3075 1310 665 1095 Shawinigan 54725 410 280 95 35 La Tuque 15070 135 80 40 10 Drummondville 76395 2245 620 475 1145 Granby 66800 2395 1030 535 820 Saint- 54160 1825 770 210 845 Hyacinthe Sorel-Tracy 47140 820 555 180 75 Joliette 42515 1090 380 370 340 Saint-Jean-sur- 86080 2560 1635 570 355 Richelieu Montréal 3588520 740355 384440 190575 165345 Gatineau 281650 22695 10340 7010 5340 Ottawa 835470 180035 97310 52990 29740

Habla Espagnol in the ROQ

The influx of Spanish-speakers in the United States has had a significant impact on the demography and identity of our neighbors to the South. Though primarily concentrated in the States of California, Texas, Florida and New York the migration of Spanish-speakers throughout the country has resulted in the group’s growing presence in most parts of the country. Although by no means has Canada received anywhere near the same numbers of immigrants from Mexico and Latin America that have settled in the US, the numbers that have chosen to settle here are not altogether insignificant.

As observed below it is the mother tongue Spanish population that has risen in percentage terms quite sharply in Quebec City and Sherbrooke where it has more than doubled, Trois-Rivieres where it has increased nearly five fold and Drumondville where it has increased more than 10 times between 2001 and 2006. Over that same period persons with Arab mother tongue has nearly doubled in Quebec City and Sherbrooke and more than doubled in Trois-Rivieres. Numbers of Romanian mother tongue have also increased in the same cities.

Table 3

2006 Year Québec Sherbrook Trois- Drummon City e Rivières dville Spanish 2006 4410 2305 665 1140 2001 2170 1070 140 95 Arabic 2006 2560 885 390 25 2001 1410 465 140 80 2006 995 170 30 30 Portuguese 2001 600 145 45 0 Romanian 2006 975 125 105 55 2001 330 75 30 10 Chinese 2006 870 375 90 45 languages 2001 605 150 30 15 2006 850 175 115 25 Vietnamese 2001 550 190 45 10 Italian 2006 655 200 90 45 2001 450 260 65 25 German 2006 600 360 135 95 2001 600 165 130 20

Just over one in two allophones in Quebec are trilingual that is they know English and French in addition to their language of origin. In the rest of Quebec just over one in three allophones speak both English and French, a figure that is over 6 points higher than the percentage of mother tongue francophones (28%) reporting knowledge of English (and hence bilingual). It is worth noting that the degree of official bilingualism for allophones on the ROQ is well below the rate of anglophones outside of Montreal.

Table 4 Non- Total - English % official Knowledge of and French languages official languages 2006 Quebec 886280 444790 50.1 Montreal 760445 401245 52.7 Rest of Quebec 125 835 43 545 34.8 Matane 140 50 35.7 Rimouski 505 185 36.6 Rivière-du- 135 30 22.2 Loup Baie-Comeau 285 80 28.0 Saguenay 1700 620 36.4 Alma 245 80 32.6 Dolbeau- 75 10 13.3 Mistassini Sept-Îles 2755 295 10.7 Québec 19410 7975 41.8 Saint-Georges 240 95 39.5 Thetford Mines 330 105 31.8 Sherbrooke 8385 3575 42.6 Cowansville 210 130 61,9 Victoriaville 775 115 14.8 Trois-Rivières 2495 835 33.5 Shawinigan 445 155 22.4 La Tuque 3010 105 34.8 Drummondville 2050 550 26.8 Granby 1850 595 32.1 Saint- 1315 340 25.8 Hyacinthe Sorel-Tracy 580 175 30.1 Joliette 1115 315 28.2 Saint-Jean-sur- 1840 785 42.6 Richelieu Salaberry-de- 430 180 41.8 Valleyfield Lachute 165 65 39.3 Val-d'Or 1380 435 31.5 Amos 325 185 56.9 Rouyn-Noranda 455 235 51.6