Franco-Ontarians

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Flag of the Franco Ontarians

Franco-Ontarians (French Franco -Ontarians , English Franco-Ontarian , sometimes Ontarois ) are the French-speaking inhabitants of the Canadian province of Ontario . According to the 2001 census, there are 485,630 French-speaking Canadians living in Ontario (with a single mother tongue), which is 4.3% of the population. Another 82,305 people said French was one of their mother tongues. The French Ontarians are the largest French-speaking community in Canada outside of Québec and the largest linguistic minority within Ontario. The French spoken in Ontario differs little from Quebec French , but tends to have more Anglicisms .

distribution

The Franco-ontarian population is mainly concentrated in the region of Eastern Ontario (41.3% of the population) with the cities of Ottawa and Cornwall and the region of Northeast Ontario ( 25.2%) with the cities of Sudbury , North Bay and Timmins . Other significant Francophone communities exist in Toronto , Windsor , Penetanguishene, and Welland . Ottawa (128,620 people) has the numerically largest francophone community, Sudbury with 29% the highest percentage of the big cities. The proportion tends to be higher in rural small towns, for example around two-thirds in Prescott and Russell United Counties . The community with the largest francophone share is Hearst in the Cochrane District with 96%.

Legal status

Although Ontario is not officially bilingual, the French Language Services Act 25 identifies areas where provincial authorities are required to offer services in French. This applies to areas where either 5000 Francophones live or where their share of the total population is higher than 10 percent. The law is limited to provincial services. Municipal authorities are not obliged to do so, but they can apply the law voluntarily. Forty-four municipalities in Ontario are officially or functionally bilingual at the municipal authority level. Most of these parishes are organized in the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario .

French-speaking districts in Ontario

In the following districts, counties and cities (marked in dark blue on the map) the law applies in the entire area:

In the following districts (marked in light blue on the map) the law applies in individual municipalities:

The Office of Francophone Affairs (French: Office des affaires francophones ) is a government agency responsible for providing services in French. Francophones living outside of the designated areas can contact the government agency directly or a neighboring designated area. The legal system of Ontario is officially bilingual in all areas, although in certain areas individual legal transactions have to be relocated to another district due to a lack of French-speaking judicial officers. If a Francophone wants a negotiation in his language, he must not be refused.

See also

Web links