French is on the decline in Ontario according to 2021 census data published by Statistics Canada. The percentage of Ontarians with French as their first official language spoken has decreased over the past five years, from 4.1% in 2016 to 3.4% in 2021. The number of Ontarians who identify as bilingual is also down decrease.
The place of French in the most populous province of the country has been declining for 20 years. French was the first official language spoken by 4.7% of the population in 2001, before rising to 4.3% ten years later, then to 3.4% in 2021.
The situation in Ontario mirrors that of the rest of the country. A growing number of Canadians have French as their first official language spoken, but this proportion has declined over the past five years.
They represented 22.2% of Canadians in 2016, compared to 21.4% in 2021. A person whose two mother tongues are French and another non-official language is classified among Canadians with French as their first official language.
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of Ontarians who believe they have the ability to hold a conversation in English and French is decreasing. They represented 11.2% of the provincial population in 2016 compared to 10.8% in 2021.
The percentage of Ontarians who speak predominantly French at home has risen from 2.1% in 2016 to 1.8% in 2021, according to data released by Statistics Canada.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.
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