Québécois

This article is about the use of the term Québécois in the English language. For the newspaper, see Le Québécois.

In Canadian English, a Québécois (IPA: ), or in the feminine Québécoise (IPA: ), is a francophone native or resident of the province of Quebec, Canada. The term may also refer to a Quebecker who identifies with Quebec's French-speaking majority culture or someone of French-Canadian descent.

With a lower-case initial, the word québecois can refer to Quebec French, a variant of the French language spoken by over 90 percent of Quebec's population. As an adjective, it refers to Quebec's francophone culture or population.

In French, the word Québécois'' generally refers to a native or resident of Quebec or of Quebec City. Its English equivalent is Quebecer or Quebecker (pronounced or ). These terms generally refer to any resident of Quebec, including anglophone or allophone natives or residents of Quebec. In a political or cultural context, it may take on the same meaning as the English definition of the word.

The word is featured in the Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois political party names.

Controversy

The word Québécois can be politically charged, and may mean different things to different speakers. Controversy often results over the word's definition.

For example, people of Haitian ancestry living in Montreal may be considered Québécois because they reside in Quebec, or not Québécois because their ancestry cannot be traced back to New France.

As well, although Anglophone Quebecers are sometimes included in the French meaning of the word, they rarely if ever self-identify as Québécois in English, and are only occasionally referred to as such in English in academic or political circles.

In recent years, the term has been often used, within social circles, when referring solely to a French speaking resident of Quebec. Anglophones and Immigrants are not considered to be 'Quebecois'. Many have seen this as part of the Quebec Sovereigntist Movement.

See also

*Culture of Quebec
*Demolinguistics of Quebec
*Scots-Quebecer
*List of Irish Quebecers