French Canada

French Canada is a term to distinguish the French-speaking population of Canada from English Canada.

Definition

Because it has represented different realities at different points in time, the term French Canada can be interpreted in different ways. Roughly chronologically they are:

le Canada

Canada, New France, was the historic homeland of the French Canadian people, the St. Lawrence River valley, in the time of New France. It corresponds to the southern part of modern Quebec excluding the Eastern Townships. Later, it was renamed the Province of Quebec (1763), Lower Canada (1791), Canada East (1840), and finally the Province of Quebec (1867) again.

Canadien settlements

All the communities where French Canadians have settled in North America may be interpreted as French Canada. In this interpretation; Falher, Alberta; Bonnyville, Alberta; Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan; St. Boniface, Manitoba; Hawkesbury, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; Manchester, New Hampshire; Burlington, Vermont are part of French Canada, while Pontiac, Stanstead, and most First Nations in Quebec are not. French Canadian communities in the United States were called "Little Canadas".

Francophones

Francophone Canadians represent those areas with large concentrations of French speaking peoples. In this sense, Quebec, parts of New Brunswick, Eastern Ontario, Northern Ontario, Southern Manitoba, and smaller communities elsewhere fall under this category.

This can also represent the collection of all francophones in Canada, whether or not they live in communities with significant francophone populations. "Francophone" here may mean those who speak French natively, or it may alternatively include those allophones in Canada who, in various ways, are associated with French Canadian society more closely than with English Canadian society.

These Canadian francophones refer to themselves as Québécois in Quebec, Acadiens in Atlantic Canada, Fransaskois in Saskatchewan, Franco-Manitobains in Manitoba, Franco-Ontariens in Ontario, Franco-Albertains in Alberta, Franco-Colombiens in British Columbia, Franco-Terreneuvians in Newfoundland and Labrador, Franco-Yukonais in the Yukon and Franco-Ténois in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. With the exception of the Acadians who have a different history altogether, most French Canadians trace their origins to Quebec, although there are numerous more recent immigrants from various francophone communities around the world (e.g. Haitians).

See also

• French in Canada
• Quebec diaspora
• Bilingual belt