French Canadian
"Canadiens" redirects here. For the ice hockey team, see Montreal Canadiens.French Canadian or
Canadiens historically refers to inhabitants of
Canada who can trace their ancestry to the original French settlers of what is now the
Province of Quebec. In a contemporary context, it may also refer to
francophone (French-speaking) Canadians. With the exception of the
Acadians, who have a distinct history, most French Canadians find their ancestry among
agriculturalists from
France who colonized the area that is now Quebec during Canada's colonial period, starting in the
17th century.
Franco-Canadian is a similar term but does not imply longstanding ancestry on Canadian soil. It is sometimes used to designate recent immigrants from France or other French-speaking countries.
Francophone Canadians are found across Canada. Six million of Canada's French speakers are found in the province of Quebec, where they constitute the majority language group, and another one million are distributed throughout the rest of Canada. Roughly 31 per cent of Canadian citizens are French-speaking and 25 per cent are of French-Canadian descent. Not all French speakers are of French descent, especially in modern-day Quebec, and not all people of French-Canadian heritage are exclusively or primarily French-speaking.
Francophone cultures are an integral part of
Canadian culture and of
Canadian literature.
French Canadians may be grouped geographically by their province of origin:
*
Québécois(e), province of
Quebec (many no longer self-identify as French Canadian)
*Franco-Terreneuvians, province of
Newfoundland and Labrador*
Franco-Ontarians, province of
Ontario*
Franco-Manitobans, province of
Manitoba*
Fransaskois, province of
Saskatchewan*
Franco-Albertans, province of
Alberta*
Franco-Columbians, province of
British Columbia*Franco-Yukonnais, territory of
Yukon*
Franco-Tenois, territory of
Northwest Territories*Franco-Nunavois, territory of
NunavutThe
Acadians in the
Maritime Provinces and the
Métis are not classified as French Canadians, but as distinct francophone peoples.
There is also a
Franco-American community in the
United States, particularly in
New England, but also in Michigan and the Midwest, who are predominantly descended from French Canadians, though some have Acadian roots, especially on the border between Maine and New Brunswick.
Cajuns in
Louisiana stem primarily from the Acadian populations deported from
Nova Scotia in the 1750's, though some French-speaking settlers came from Quebec,
St. Domingue (
Haiti),
Mobile, Alabama, or directly from France.
Quebec
In Quebec, the term "French Canadian" has become increasingly repudiated since the rise of
contemporary Quebec nationalism during the
Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. All public institutions attached to the Quebec state exclusively refer to Quebec citizens as Québécois.
This is a reflection of the strong social, cultural, and political ties that most Quebeckers of French-Canadian origin, who constitute a majority of
francophone Quebeckers, maintain within Quebec. Because Québécois also signifies any settled resident of Quebec â€" a civic signifier â€" this post-Quiet-Revolution use of the term as an ethnic signifier for French Canadians has introduced an ambiguity into the term's meaning which has often played out in political issues.
Today, the term Québécois (masculine) or Québécoise (feminine) is often preferred by individuals in expressing their cultural and national identity, whether in English or French. For the younger generations of francophones, the English term "French Canadian" is either not known at all or discovered later on in life if they learn English and interact with Anglophones. Francophones who self-identify as Québécois and do not have French or French Canadian ancestry do not recognize themselves in the "French Canadian" designation and those who do have French or French Canadian ancestry recognize the origin of the French expression
Canadien français which is considered archaic, or even pejorative.
Elsewhere in Canada
There are many urban and small centres in Canada outside of Quebec that have significant populations of French Canadians. They include, but are not restricted to the following;
*
Port au Port Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador*
Edmundston, New Brunswick *
Moncton, New Brunswick *
Ottawa, Ontario*
Cornwall, Ontario *
Sudbury, Ontario *
Windsor, Ontario*
Winnipeg, ManitobaHere, francophones have enjoyed
minority language rights under the
Canadian Constitution since 1982, protecting them from provincial governments that have historically been indifferent or downright hostile towards their presence. Consequently, French Canadians outside Quebec identify more strongly as Canadian than with their province of origin and more readily identify as French Canadian.
The
French were the first Europeans to permanently colonize what is now
Quebec. (See
French colonization of the Americas.) Their colonies of
New France stretched across what today are the
Maritime provinces, southern Quebec and
Ontario, as well as the entire
Mississippi River Valley. The first permanent European settlement in Canada was at
Port Royal in
1605. The territories of New France were
Canada,
Acadia, and
Louisiana. The inhabitants of Canada called themselves the
Canadiens, the inhabitants of Acadia, the
Acadiens, and the inhabitants of Louisiana, the
Louisianais. Many French Canadians are the descendants of the
King's Daughters of this era.
After the
1760 British conquest of New France in the
French and Indian War, the French-Canadian population remained important in the life of the colonies.
The British, who had gained Acadia by the
Treaty of Utrecht (
1713), deported 75% of the Acadian population to other British colonies at the beginning of the French and Indian War. The French Canadians escaped this fate in part because of the capitulation act that made them British subjects. It took the
1774 Quebec Act for them to regain the French civil law system, and in
1791 French Canadians in
Lower Canada were introduced to the British
parliamentary system when an elected
Legislative Assembly was created.
The Legislative Assembly having no real power, the political situation degenerated into the
Lower Canada Rebellion of
1837â€"
1838, after which Lower Canada and
Upper Canada were unified. One of the motivations for the union was to limit French Canadian political power. After many decades of British immigration, the
Canadiens became a minority in the
Province of Canada in the
1850s.
French-Canadian contributions were essential in securing
responsible government for
The Canadas and in undertaking
Canadian Confederation. However, over the course of the late 19th and 20th centuries, French Canadians' discontent grew with their place in Canada. (See
Quebec,
History of Canada and
Politics of Canada.)
During the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries, approximately 1 million French Canadians emigrated from the province of Quebec to settle in New England. The reason for this exodus was mostly economic, though also political.
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 of
New Brunswick, the
Northwest Territories, and
Nunavut. The
dialects of French spoken in Canada are quite distinct from those of France. See
French in Canada.
In English usage, the terms for provincial subgroups, if used at all, are usually defined solely by province of residence, with all of the terms being strictly interchangeable with French Canadian. Although this remains the more common usage in English, it is considered outdated to many Canadians of French descent, especially in Quebec.
Increasingly, provincial labels are used to stress the linguistic and cultural as opposed to ethnic and religious nature of French-speaking institutions and organizations. The term "French Canadian" is still used in historical and cultural contexts, or when it is necessary to refer to Canadians of French-Canadian collectively, such as in the name and mandate of a national organizations which serve minority francophone communities across Canada. Francophone Canadians of non-French-Canadian origin such as immigrants from francophone countries are not usually designed by the term "French Canadian"; the more general term "francophones" is used for French-speaking Canadians across all ethnic origins.
National
*
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (French Canadian Cultural Federation)*
Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences (French Canadian Association for the Advancement of Sciences)*
Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française (French Canadian Youth Federation)Image:Flag of the Franco Albertains.svg|Franco-AlbertainsImage:Flag of Quebec.svg|QuebecImage:Flag of Acadia.svg|AcadiaImage:Flag of the Franco-Manitobains.svg|Franco-ManitobainsImage:Franco-Ontarian flag.svg|Franco-OntarianImage:Franco-Terreneuviens.svg|Franco-TerreneuviensImage:FlagofFranco-Yukonnais.png|Franco-YukonnaisImage:Flag of the FrancoTenois.svg|Franco TenoisImage:Bandera dels Fransaskois.svg|FransaskoisImage:Ca-f-nu.gif|Franco-NunavoisImage:FlagofFranco-Colombiens.png|Franco-Colombiens*
Canuck*
Speak White
