Francophone Community Profile of British Columbia British Columbia Acknowledgements Statistical Portrait: Anne Gilbert, Université d’Ottawa/L’ANALYSTE (for the first edition); William Floch and Elias Abou-Rjeili, Official Languages Support Program, Canadian Heritage (3rd edition) Community Life: Fédération des Francophones de la Colombie-Britannique (FFCB) Coordination : Micheline Doiron (first edition), Robin Cantin, (2nd edition), Serge Quinty (3rd édition) Production support: Christiane Langlois and Micheline Lévesque (3rd edition) Graphic Design : Heart Design Printing : St. Joseph Print Group Inc. ISBN : 978-2-922742-35-0 La Fédération des communautés francophones Legal Deposit – Library and Archives Canada et acadienne du Canada 450 Rideau St., suite 300 This publication was made possible by the financial support of Canadian Heritage and the Secrétariat aux Affaires intergou- Ottawa, ON K1N 5Z4 vernementales canadiennes of the Government of Quebec. FCFA Phone: (613) 241-7600 also wishes to acknowledge the in-kind support provided by Public Fax: (613) 241-6046 Works and Government Services Canada. Email: [email protected] Website: www.fcfa.ca This collection is available online at www.fcfa.ca/profils Foreword This profile compiles and presents updated information on the Francophone community of British Columbia. It is part of a collection of profiles of Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada published for the first time in 2000 by the Fédération des communautés Francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada and updated in 2004 and 2009. These provincial and territorial profiles are supplemented by a national profile, which describes the overall situation of Canada’s Francophones and examines the status of French in Canada. Following a general introduction to the history and geography of each community, the profile is presented in two sections: • A statistical portrait describing the vitality of French- speaking communities from various points of view (demography, language, diversity and economy). • A presentation of community life organized around six themes: major organizations, communications, cultural and community life, education and training, health and social services, legislation and government services. This updated edition adds data from the 2006 Census. A spokesperson for the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique on the occasion of the passage of La Francoforce in British Columbia Table of contents History and Geography ...............................................................................1 Demographic Vitality ....................................................................................2 Francophone Diversity ................................................................................5 Linguistic Vitality .............................................................................................7 Economic Vitality ............................................................................................9 Community Vitality ......................................................................................11 The Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française (ACELF) offers a series of 24 educational activities to accompany The Last Thirty Years ...............................................................................20 use of the Profiles of the Francophone and Acadian Communities of Canada in the classroom. These activities are accessible free Sources ...........................................................................................................21 of charge on ACELF’s Banque d’activités pédagogiques (BAP) at www.acelf.ca/bap. Francophone Community Profile of British Columbia History British Columbia’s Francophones have actively participated in Since the beginning of the 2000s, relations with the provincial the development of the province by establishing institutions that government have clearly improved. In 2006, the province signed would later serve as springboards for future societies. for the second time an agreement with the Government of Canada on official languages promotion. Since 2001, the province When Alexander Mackenzie, the first European to cross the appoints an MLA Responsible for Francophone Affairs. Rockies, reached the Pacific in 1793, he was accompanied by six French Canadian voyageurs. A few years later, more than 20 French Canadians traveled with Simon Fraser on the series of voyages that would lead to the construction of several forts in the region for the Northwest Company. By 1812, more than 300 French Canadians were engaged in the fur trade and farming. Geography They were the first settlers of British Columbia. Along with the Church, they built a host society for those who would later settle In 2006, British Columbia’s Francophone community included in the area. 70,410 people with French as their first spoken official language. These Francophones represent 1.7 percent of the total population Following the Gold Rush and the massive influx of immigrants of the province. at the end of the 19th century, Francophones quickly found themselves in the minority. Isolated from one another, they Francophones are found in every part of British Columbia. By did not form communities until the arrival in 1909 of Quebec far the greatest number are concentrated in the Vancouver Census families recruited by the owners of Fraser Mills. A community Metropolitan Area (54 percent of British Columbia’s Francophones). of Francophone workers took root along the banks of the Fraser Over 38,000 of them are spread across the various municipalities River east of Vancouver, and founded the first French-language that make up the metropolitan area, including Vancouver, Surrey, parish in British Columbia. Known as Notre Dame de Lourdes, the Burnaby, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Coquitlam parish grew and the community took on the name Maillardville. (which includes Maillardville). Another concentration is found The French-speaking population of Maillardville expanded, fed to in the different communities of the Greater Victoria area, where a large extent by a stream of migration from Willow Bunch in 6,445 residents have French as their first spoken official language Saskatchewan. The establishment of military training centres – accounting for 9 percent of the province’s Francophones. The on the west coast during the war attracted large numbers of remaining Francophones in the province are spread throughout Francophone recruits, many of whom settled permanently in the other divisions. There are cultural centres in Kelowna, Prince British Columbia, thus contributing to the vitality of French in George, Nanaimo, Powell River, Kamloops, Comox, Campbell the province. River, Kootenay Ouest and Kitimat. The urban area of Abbotsford also attracts many Francophones and accounts for 3 percent of the However, assimilation pressures rapidly made themselves felt. French-speaking population of the province. British Columbia’s Francophones had to fight hard and long for education in French: the Fédération canadienne-française de Colombie- Nowhere in British Columbia do Francophones constitute a Britannique (FCFCB) — now renamed the Fédération des Fran- significant percentage of the population. They represent only a cophones de la Colombie-Britannique (FFCB) — was created in very small minority in the Vancouver and Victoria metropolitan 1945 in a context of struggle for the survival of French in an areas – respectively 1.8 and 2 percent. Their numbers are just as environment that was extremely hostile to education in French. small in other localities; in the part of Coquitlam where the old It was not until 1969 that the provincial government accepted village of Maillardville was located, they now account for only the testing of a French immersion program in a public school. 2.3 percent of the population. The city of Surrey has the highest Francophones have had access to a French education program concentration of Francophones (5,365). since 1977. The School Act was amended in July 1997 in response to the Vickers decision handed down in August 1996. The provincial government announced in April 1998 that the French-language school board would have jurisdiction through - out the province as of July 1, 1999. Francophone Community Profile of British Columbia • 1 Demographic Vitality Population by Mother Tongue, 2006, British Columbia The French language Non-official languages French The population of British Columbia is fairly diverse in terms 27.57% 1.53% of language. English is the mother tongue of 71 percent of the 4,074,380 inhabitants of the province, compared to 1.5 percent for French. Another 27.6 percent have a non-official mother tongue, a percentage which is increasing each year: in 2001, this group accounted for only 24.3 percent of the population. French ............................................................................... 63,295 English .......................................................................... 2,926,265 English 70.9% Non-official languages .................................................. 1,137,945 Total population .................................................4,074,380 Data from: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Note: Some people declared having more than one mother tongue. As a result, the total of the categories exceeds provincial population. Population by First Official Language Spoken, 2006, British Columbia British Columbia’s Francophone community also includes a good Neither English nor French French number of