Sounds and Images
(Radio, television and cable services for official languages minority communities)

Prepared for:
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC)

Submitted by:
Brynaert et associés

Summer 2008

Introduction

• Overview of Part VII of the Official Languages Act
• Description, by province and territory:
• • Demographics of the official language minority community (OLMC)
  • Communication services available
  • • over-the-air radio and television
    • cable
    • broadband (DSL, cable and wireless)
    • wireless telephony

Our mandate

• Overview of OLMCs, for CRTC managers
• • Describe the communities and the radio, TV, cable and high-speed Internet coverage
  • Establish a common information base and identify areas requiring further analysis
• No qualitative analysis

Methodology

• Licensee database
• • Digital radio (CRTC)
  • Digital TV (CRTC)
  • Cable companies (CRTC)
  • High-speed Internet / Broadband  - Industry Canada Web site
• Internet research on local delivery of services in the minority language
• • Cable companies: search their Web sites using the postal code of a school in the OLMC, by town and by village (limitation: some cable company Web sites do not provide access to this information)
  • Type of services (analog, digital, high definition (HD))

• Production of geographic maps
• • Data from Statistic Canada’s 2006 Census, production of maps, in co-operation with Canadian Heritage’s Official Languages Support Programs research team
  • Definition used:  first official language is French (English in Quebec)
  • Census divisions

Official Languages Act

Obligations under Part VII since amendments to the Act were enacted in December 2005

Enhance the vitality…

• 41. (1) The Government of Canada is committed to enhancing the vitality of the French and English linguistic minority communities in Canada and supporting and assisting their development, and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.

Take positive measures…

• 41. (2) Every federal institution has the duty to ensure that positive measures are taken for the implementation of the commitments under subsection (1). For greater certainty, this implementation shall be carried out while respecting the jurisdiction and powers of the provinces.

Regulations prescribing the manner in which...

• 41. (3) The Governor in Council may make regulations in respect of federal institutions, other than the Senate, House of Commons, Library of Parliament, office of the Senate Ethics Officer or office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, prescribing the manner in which any duties of those institutions under this Part are to be carried out.

Part VII provides for remedy...

• 77. (1) Any person who has made a complaint to the Commissioner in respect of a right or duty under sections 4 to 7, sections 10 to 13 or Part IV, V or VII, or in respect of section 91, may apply to the Court for a remedy under this Part.

Overview: OLMCs in Canada

Overview: Bilingual Canadians

Descriptions of the provinces and territories

Access to telecommunications services in the minority language

Newfoundland and Labrador

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 1,935 (0.4%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 1,935 residents of Newfoundland and Labrador reported French as their mother tongue, i.e., 0.4% of the province’s total population.

• Francophones in Newfoundland and Labrador are concentrated in three census divisions: the Port au Port Peninsula, St. John’s and the surrounding areas, and Labrador. While these three centres are comparable in size, each home to 600 to 700 Francophones, they are different. 

• Francophones settled long ago in the St. George’s Bay area in the southwest of the island. They are found principally on the Port au Port Peninsula, at Cape St. George, where they account for over 15% of the population, and in settlements around Mainland and Black Duck Brook. Their life is organized around commercial fishing, farming, and work in forest-based industries during the slow season. Off the Peninsula, there are Francophone populations in Stephenville, the regional service centre, as well as in Corner Brook a little to the north.

• There are just under 700 Francophones on the Avalon Peninsula, which includes the census division of metropolitan St. John’s. This group of Francophones is much more diverse; many of them come from outside the province, including the other Atlantic provinces, French Canada and St. Pierre. These relative newcomers are attracted by a wider range of services and a higher standard of living.

• The province’s third Francophone centre is in Labrador, in the mining towns of Labrador City-Wabush and the military base at Happy Valley-Goose Bay. These communities have developed close links with Quebec.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Radio and television

Newfoundland and Labrador

Cable

Newfoundland and Labrador

High-speed Internet

Prince Edward Island

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 5,135 (3.8%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 5,135 residents of Prince Edward Island reported French as their mother tongue, i.e., 3.8% of the province’s total population.

• Seven in 10 Francophones live in the western part of the Island, in Prince County, where they make up approximately 10% of the population. They are largely concentrated in the Évangéline region, where they form a majority in some villages, including Wellington and Abrams Village. There, they have developed a strong sense of belonging that promotes cohesion and community organization.

• Another major area of Acadian and Francophone concentration is in Summerside and the surrounding communities of St. Eleanors and Miscouche.

• A final significant group is located in the northern part of the country, which includes the communities of Tignish, Palmer Road and St. Louis.

• Island Francophones are essentially rural, although more than a thousand of them live in and around Summerside, the regional service centre for the western part of the Island.

• Though few in number, the relative concentration of Prince Edward Island’s Acadians and Francophones gives them political clout that compensates for their low demographic weight.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Prince Edward Island

Radio and television

Prince Edward Island

Cable

Prince Edward Island

High-speed Internet

Nova Scotia

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 32,225 (3.6%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, Nova Scotia’s Acadian community had 32,225 people reporting French as their mother tongue, i.e., 3.6% of the province’s total population.

• Acadians in Nova Scotia are concentrated in two main regions: Cape Breton Island and the south coast of the province. Including Halifax, which has the largest number of Francophones in Nova Scotia, these areas are home to 80% of the province’s Francophones. Certain regions are also home to many Acadians, who are in the majority in two of the eight communities in Digby and Yarmouth Counties, i.e., Clare and Argyle, where they have developed a diversified network of institutions that support a vibrant cultural life and an active community. In Cape Breton, the French fact holds sway on Île Madame, and Acadians make up more than 40% of the population north of Inverness, where they are the core of many villages, such as Chéticamp.

• Nova Scotia’s Francophone population is essentially rural, although close to 11,200 people with French as their first language live in the Halifax Regional Municipality. There are over 1,000 Francophones in the regional municipality of Cape Breton Island (Sydney), an industrial centre that has become the principal centre for services for northern Cape Breton. Although Nova Scotia’s Acadians represented only 3.6% of the province’s total population in 2006, their local concentration gives them political clout that compensates for the low demographic weight.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Nova Scotia

Radio and television

Nova Scotia

Cable

Nova Scotia

High-speed Internet

New Brunswick

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 235,130 (32.7%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, New Brunswick’s Acadian community had 235,130 Acadians reporting French as their mother tongue, i.e., 32.7% of the province’s total population.

• Acadians are located everywhere in the province, but mostly along the coasts from Cap-Pelé to Miscou, and in the interior as far as Saint-Jacques.

• There are three areas of high concentration: Madawaska, the Acadian Peninsula in the northeast, and southeast parts of the province. The seven counties of Gloucester, Kent, Madawaska, Northumberland, Restigouche, Victoria and Wesmorland are home to over 90% of the province’s Francophones, and Francophones form the majority in four of these counties, ranging from 62% to 94% of their respective populations.

• New Brunswick is not very urban, and there are many small rural communities in the interior of New Brunswick where the vast majority of the population is Francophone.

• Some urban centres have become centres of French life. These include Edmundston in Madawaska, which is close to 90% Francophone, and Bathurst and Moncton/Dieppe. These communities are sometimes separated by vast stretches of forest or wholly Anglophone corridors, such as the Miramichi Valley, or by mixed areas, such as Moncton. In strongly Anglophone regions, Acadians live in and around the Francophone community centres in Fredericton, Saint-Jean and Miramichi.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

New Brunswick

Radio and television

New Brunswick

Cable

New Brunswick

High-speed Internet

Quebec

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 994,725 (13.4%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 994,725 people in Quebec reported English as their first language.

• Over 700,000 Anglophones live in Greater Montreal, 245,000 of whom are unilingual. Montreal’s Anglophone population represents over 76% of the province’s Anglophone residents.

• Over 61,000 Anglophones live in the Outaouais, Pontiac and Abitibi-Témiskaming regions.

• Over 30,000 Anglophones live in Estrie (Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships, etc.).

• The Lower North Shore and the Gaspé are home to several small and isolated Anglophone communities.

• Northern Quebec has several Aboriginal communities where English is the first official language.

• Large numbers of Anglophones are scattered throughout the province (the presence of a school was used as an indicator).  

Quebec

Radio and television

Quebec

Cable

Quebec

High-speed Internet

Ontario

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 537,595 (4.5%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 537,595 Franco-Ontarians reported French as their mother tongue, representing 4.5% of the province’s total population.

• There are Francophones living in all parts of Ontario. The greatest concentration of Franco-Ontarians is in eastern Ontario, where over 200,000 people whose first language is French are concentrated in three census divisions: Ottawa, Prescott-Russell, and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. Their demographic weight has grown in the last 25 years.

• Northern Ontario, with close to 120,000 Francophones – almost a quarter of the province’s Francophone population – has the second largest contingent of Francophones.

• In central Ontario, meaning metro Toronto and the surrounding urban areas, the Francophone population has grown as its cities expand. One in five Francophones now live in this region. 

• The number of Francophones in a population varies widely from one region to the next.
• • Close to 22% of Ontarians in the province’s northeast are Francophone, a situation that encourages the use of French.
  • In eastern Ontario, close to 20% of the population is Francophone, and they are the majority in some rural communities. The region is the seat of the federal government and has very close ties with its neighbour, Quebec. The Franco-Ontarian community in the eastern part of the province has access to a wide range of institutions, thus contributing to the vitality of French, not only regionally, but throughout Francophone Ontario.
  • Despite their numbers, Francophones in central Ontario represent only 2% of the total population. They are scattered throughout highly populated communities where they did not create Francophone enclaves but did build substantial institutions, and a dynamic urban community is beginning to take shape there.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Ontario

Radio and television

Ontario

Cable

Ontario

High-speed Internet

Manitoba

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 43,120 (3.8%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 43,120 Franco-Manitobans reported French as their mother tongue, representing 3.8% of the province’s total population.

• Manitoba’s Francophone community is mostly urban, with two-thirds living in Winnipeg and one-third living in villages or rural centres concentrated in the south part of the province. In fact, nearly 90% of Franco-Manitobans live within one hour of the province’s capital.

• Over half of the Francophones living in Winnipeg are found within the traditionally French-speaking neighbourhoods of St. Boniface, St. Vital and St. Nobert.

• In rural Manitoba, most Francophone live in villages and parishes that were founded by Francophones and today are members of the Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba (AMBM), for example, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, St. Claude, St. Pierre-Jolys and Ste-Anne-des-Chênes.

• However, other Francophone communities, such as Ste-Rose-du-Lac and St. Laurent, are relatively distant from Winnipeg.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Manitoba

Radio and television

Manitoba

Cable

Manitoba

High-speed Internet

Saskatchewan

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 14,850 (1.6%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 14,850 people in the Fransaskois community reported French as their mother tongue, representing 1.6% of the province’s total population.

• Most Francophones in Saskatchewan are concentrated in two regions.
• • The first Francophone community grew along the banks of the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers in the late 19th century, centering around the Métis village of Batoche and the city of Prince Albert.
  • The second settlement, founded at the beginning of the 20th century, was in a village called Gravelbourg, in a semi-arid area in south-central Saskatchewan best suited to raising cattle.

• Census division 3 (the second settlement referred to above) is the only one of 18 census divisions that is more than 10% Francophone. However, French is the majority language in certain rural settlements: the town of Ponteix in southern Saskatchewan, the rural municipality of St. Louis and the village of Domrémy in central Saskatchewan, and the village of Zenon Park in the east.

• The Francophone population in the province’s main urban centres has grown as Francophones leave their villages for the cities. Today, there are over 3,500 Francophones in Saskatoon, 2,500 in Regina and 1,350 in Prince Albert. They have established community infrastructure linked to French-language schools, but compared with Canada’s other provinces, Saskatchewan’s Francophone community is still mainly rural. Only one-third of the province’s Francophones live in Saskatoon and Regina.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Saskatchewan

Radio and television

Saskatchewan

Cable

Saskatchewan

High-speed Internet

Alberta

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 62,785 (1.9%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 62,785 Albertans reported French as their first language, representing 1.9% of the province’s total population.

• Franco-Albertans live mainly in Calgary and Edmonton, drawn there by the job opportunities and the variety of services that the cities offer. Over half of the province’s Francophones live in and around the two cities: south of Edmonton in Beaumont and north of Edmonton in St. Albert, Morinville and Legal. In Edmonton itself the Bonnie Doon neighbourhood is home to many Francophone institutions and is known as the French Quarter.

• There are also significant concentrations of Francophones in Rivière-la-Paix, Bonnyville, St. Paul, Plamondon and Lac La Biche. These regions in northeast and northwest Alberta are home to the highest percentages of Francophones: over 5% in the census division and over 15% in several communities.

• Francophones are the majority in the Falher region, in the town of Falher itself, in the villages of Donnelly, St. Isidore and Girouxville, and in the municipal district of Smokey River.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Alberta

Radio and television

Alberta

Cable

Alberta

High-speed Internet

British Columbia

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 61,735 (1.5%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 61,735 residents of British Columbia reported French as their mother tongue, representing 1.5% of the province’s total population.

• Metro Vancouver has by far the highest concentration, with over 31,335 Francophones living in its various municipalities: Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Coquitlam (which includes Maillardville).

• Victoria is home to 6,210 Francophones, again, in the city’s various communities.

• The remaining Francophones are spread throughout the province’s census divisions, without significant concentrations, and have established cultural centres and meeting places in Kelowna, Prince George, Nanaimo, Powell River, Kamloops, Comox, Campbell River, West Kootenay and Kitimat.

• Nowhere in British Columbia do Francophones form a significant percentage of the population, and in fact, are only a very small minority (less than 2%) in Metro Vancouver and Victoria. Their numbers are just as low in other communities, and even in Coquitlam, where the old village of Maillardville was located, Francophones today represent only 1.7% of the population.

• The village of Whistler has the highest concentration of Francophones in the province, at over 5% of the population.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

British Columbia

Radio and television

British Columbia

Cable

British Columbia

High-speed Internet

Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Yukon

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 1,185 (3.9%)

Some highlights

• 900 Francophones, mainly in Whitehorse (4%).
• Dawson and Faro also have small Francophone communities. 

Northwest Territories

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 1,005 (2.4%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, 1,005 residents of the Northwest Territories spoke French as their first language, representing 2.4% of the total population of the two census divisions.

• Francophones live in several villages and towns in the Northwest Territories. The census sub-division covering urban Yellowknife has by far the highest concentration, with over 650 Francophones. Hay River, Fort Smith, Inuvik and Norman Wells are home to a total of 225 Francophones.

• The rest are spread throughout several mining and oil industry towns in the Fort Smith area, which is the more southerly of the two census divisions comprising the Northwest Territories.

• Francophones do not constitute a significant percentage of the population anywhere in the Northwest Territories: they represent less than 3% in the Fort Smith area, just over 1% further north in Inuvik, and just under 3% of the population in Yellowknife, only slightly higher than their percentage of the population as a whole. Despite their low numbers, however, Francophones have made their mark in the political, cultural and economic life of the NWT.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Nunavut

Demographic profile
OLMC population: 425 (1.4%)

Some highlights

• In 2006, there were 425 people in Nunavut reporting French as their first language, representing 1.4% of the total population of the three census divisions that comprise the territory, which was created on April 1, 1999.

• Francophones live in several Nunavut villages. The census sub-division that includes the city of Iqualuit has by far the highest concentration, with over 250 Francophones, which is close to 60% of the new territory’s total Francophone population. There are also 35 Francophones living in Ninasivik and 20 in Rankin Inlet. The remainder are spread throughout the largest hamlets on Baffin Island and the shores of Hudson’s Bay and in the Keewatin region, which are the main service centres.

• Nowhere in Nunavut do Francophones comprise a significant percentage of the population: they represent 3% of the population of the Baffin Region, and less than 1% in the other two regions that make up Nunavut. However, they account for 6% of the population of Iqaluit, the new territory’s capital, which is culturally closer to Quebec than any other community north of the 60th parallel.

• Despite their low numbers, Francophones are making their mark in this part of the country, and the current political transformations intended to offer greater autonomy to the region are providing Nunavut’s Francophone community with an opportunity to solidify their base.

Source: Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, Community Profiles. Our update uses 2006 Census data.

Date Modified: 2008-10-31