1. Francophone Meaning
  2. Francophone Africa
  3. Francophone Definition
  4. Francophone Countries
  5. Francophone
  6. Organisation Internationale De La Francophonie
  7. Francophone Countries Map

Francophone Charter School of Oakland 9736 Lawlor Street Oakland, CA 94605 Tel: 510.746.0700. Office Schedule: 8:00 am – 3:45 pm Class Schedule: 8:15 am – 3:15 pm (M, T, Th, F) Early release at 1:00 pm on Wednesdays. General Inquiries: contact@francophoneschool.org. Anglophone definition is - consisting of or belonging to an English-speaking population especially in a country where two or more languages are spoken. French Speaking Countries Francophone Countries 2021. Hover over Click on a tile for details. French is an Indo-European Romance language. There are about 76 million native French speakers and 274 million fluent French speakers worldwide.

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Francophone Meaning

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Francophone Africa

Francophone

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Published OnlineJanuary 22, 2020
Last EditedJanuary 22, 2020

In Canada, a francophone refers to someone for whom French is their first language, the one they typically use most often to speak, read, write and think, and the one they use most often at home. In the 2016 census, about 7.4 million Canadians, or 21.4 per cent of the population, reported French as their mother tongue.

In Canada, a francophone refers to someone for whom French is their first language, the one they typically use most often to speak, read, write and think, and the one they use most often at home. In the 2016 census, about 7.4 million Canadians, or 21.4 per cent of the population, reported French as their mother tongue.

Overview

The terms francophone, anglophone and allophone are used in Canada to describe three broad linguistic groups. Anglophone refers to someone whose mother-tongue is English. Allophone is a term that describes anyone whose first language is not English, French or an Indigenous language (see Immigrant Languages in Canada). There are around 70 distinct Indigenous languages in Canada. These languages fall into 12 separate language families and are traditionally spoken by First Nations, Métis people and the Inuit.

The term also provides insight into Canada’s history. Two European empires—France and Great Britain—colonized and attempted to conquer the land we now know as Canada from the 17th to the 19th centuries (seeNew France; Seven Years’ War; The Conquest of New France; British North America). Some francophones in Canada can trace their family histories dating back to settlers who arrived from France and its colonies in the 17th century (seeFilles du Roi). Roughly 4.7 million Canadians claim a French ethnic origin.

The term francophone can refer to more than just language. It is often tied to concepts of identity, community and heritage.

Did you know?
Canada is a member of the Francophonie—the global network of French-speaking nations and peoples.

Census Definitions of French Speakers

The term francophone is used colloquially to describe a French speaker in a general sense. The Canadian census uses more specific terminology, distinguishing between people whose mother tongue is French and people for whom French is their first official language spoken (FOLS).

Mother Tongue Definition

Francophone Definition

The mother tongue definition of French speaker refers to the first language learned and still understood by an individual. More than 7.4 million Canadians, 21.4 per cent of the population, speak French as a mother-tongue.

First Official Language Spoken (FOLS) Definition

English and French are Canada’s two official languages (seeRoyal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism; Official Languages Act (1969);Official Languages Act (1988);Commissioner of Official Languages; Bilingualism). The purpose of counting people on the basis of first official language spoken (FOLS) is to help distinguish, in broad terms, between French- and English-speaking Canadians. The FOLS definition is derived from three federal census questions: knowledge of Canada’s official languages, mother tongue, and home language. According to the 2016 census, Canadians whose first official language spoken was French represented 22.8 per cent of the total population, or just over 7.9 million people. This is a larger number than that yielded using the mother tongue definition.

Francophone

Where Do Francophones Live in Canada?

There are established francophone communities across Canada. Approximately 6.2 million Quebecers, representing over 77 per cent of the provincial population, have French as a first language and as the language they speak most often at home. Quebec is the sole Canadian province where French is the only official language.

Outside of Quebec, most Canadians communicate in English. As a result, the term francophone is often employed in the context of French-speaking linguistic minority communities, or where French and English speakers live near one another. Many provinces, notably Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba all have sizeable and long-established francophone minority populations (seeFrancophones of Ontario; Contemporary Acadia; Francophones of Manitoba). Other provinces and territories have smaller but significant francophone populations (seeFrancophones of Nunavut, Francophones of British Columbia, Francophones of the Northwest Territories, Francophones of Yukon, Francophones of Saskatchewan).

Did you know?
A Francophile is someone who appreciates the French language and the culture it produced.

Francophone Countries


History of Canada’s participation in La Francophonie

Francophone

Canada was one of the founding members of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation in 1970, which became the OIF in 2005. Canada has worked actively within the international Francophonie since its inception. Canada, with the support of its provincial partners, was one of the first countries to promote La Francophonie and supported the creation of its institutions, notably in:

  • 1961 - Creation of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), a university network that currently has 842 members in 111 countries and its head office in Montréal.
  • 1979 - Creation of the Association international des maires francophones (AIMF), an initiative of the then mayors of Paris and Québec, Jacques Chirac and Jean Pelletier. The AIMF currently has 272 city members and associations with locally elected representatives.
  • 1988 - Creation of TV5 Québec-Canada, one of two operating agencies with TV5’s TV5Monde, offering programming that promotes the cultural, social and linguistic diversity of the Canadian and international Francophonie.
  • 2019: In August 2019, TV5 Monde and TV5 Québec-Canada announced the creation of TV5MONDE Plus, a digital platform for broadcasting French-language audiovisual productions worldwide.

Canada encouraged La Francophonie, originally a cultural and technical cooperation organization founded to promote the sharing of the French language, to become more involved in defending democratic values and human rights within the francophone space. Canada has also actively supported institutional reforms within La Francophonie that seek to establish a culture of management results and effectiveness. Canada has been a leader in developing the economic mandate of La Francophonie. It has been a leader in the development of la Francophonie’s economic mandate, through its significant contribution to an OIF project that aims to promote employment through women’s and youth entrepreneurship in francophone sub-Saharan Africa.

The principal directions of the three Francophonie summits held in Canada demonstrate the scope of Canada’s actions with respect to La Francophonie.

Organisation Internationale De La Francophonie

Québec Summit (1987)

The Québec Summit helped define the priorities of La Francophonie. These involve culture, communications, language, technological development, science, energy and agriculture. It was also during this summit that the Francophone Business Forum and the Institute for Sustainable Development of La Francophonie (IFDD) were formed. The IFDD’s head office is in Québec.

Moncton Summit (1999)

The Moncton Summit led to the organization of three major sectoral conferences: the Conference of Women of La Francophonie (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, February 2000) with the theme of Women, Power and Development; an international symposium on the practices of democracy, rights and freedoms in La Francophonie (Bamako, Mali, November 2000), which led to the adoption of the Bamako Declaration, a key document for La Francophonie; and a ministerial conference on culture (Cotonou, Benin, June 2001), which produced the Cotonou Declaration on the promotion of cultural diversity, preparing the way for ratification in 2005 of the International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO).

Québec Summit (2008)

Francophone Countries Map

The Québec Summit in 2008 led to the adoption of the Québec Declaration, which made concrete proposals on four major issues: the environment, the French language, democracy and the rule of law, and economic governance. This summit, which was co hosted by Canada and Quebec, also benefited from the participation of New Brunswick as a partner.

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