New Brunswick: Canada's Bilingual Province

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognises that English and French are the official languages of New Brunswick, with both languages having equal status. According to the latest census data, 34% of New Brunswickers can speak both English and French, giving it the second-highest bilingualism rate in the country after Quebec. The bilingualism rate has been rising, with the latest figures showing an increase of 0.8% since 2011. This rise has prompted concerns among some francophone organisations about a potential decrease in the number of francophones.

Bilingualism rate in New Brunswick

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognises that English and French are the province's official languages, with both languages having equal status and equal rights and privileges.

According to the 2016 census, 34% of New Brunswick's population (around 250,000 people) are bilingual, representing one of the biggest jumps in English-French bilingualism rates across the country. This gives New Brunswick the second-highest bilingualism rate in Canada after Quebec, where 44.9% of the population is bilingual.

The bilingualism rate in New Brunswick has been rising, increasing by 0.8% from 2011, when 33.2% of the population identified as bilingual. However, this figure is slightly lower than in 2001, when the rate was recorded as 34.2%.

The rise in bilingualism in New Brunswick could be due to the gradual assimilation of francophones, as suggested by Frédérick Dion, executive director of l'Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick. However, it is unclear from the data whether more anglophones are learning French, or more francophones are learning English.

New Brunswick's Official Languages Act imposes on provincial government institutions the obligation to serve members of the public in the official language of their choice. This means that, upon first contact, provincial institutions must offer services in both English and French. However, the Act does not require schools, community centres, or universities to offer services in both languages.

Francophone concerns

Francophones in New Brunswick have expressed concerns about the decline of the French language in the province. While New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, with English and French having equal status, there is a worry that French is losing ground to English. This is due to a combination of factors, including assimilation, lack of French education, and insufficient opportunities to speak French at work.

Assimilation

The increase in bilingualism in New Brunswick may be due to the gradual assimilation of francophones, according to Frédérick Dion, executive director of l'Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick. Dion suggests that while more people are learning to speak both English and French, there is a concern that, over time, these individuals may become English-speaking only, leading to a decrease in the number of francophones in the province. This is a particular worry in areas like Saint John, where the French-speaking population is a minority and it is not easy to live and communicate solely in French.

Education

Historically, access to French-language education has been a struggle for francophones in New Brunswick. In the 1940s, some unilingual francophone children were forced to attend English schools, and in the 1960s, the court process and legal documents were only in English. While there have been improvements, including the founding of a French-language law school in 1978, concerns remain. For example, French immersion education in the province has been criticised for not producing enough bilingual speakers, with only 10% of students who began the program in 2004 finishing with an advanced level of French. There is also a shortage of qualified French immersion teachers.

Workplace

There is a disparity between English and French speakers when it comes to using their native language at work. A study by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick found that 95% of English-speaking civil servants were able to speak English at work, compared to only 47% of French-speaking civil servants who could speak French on the job. This is a concern as constantly having to use a second language at work may lead to a decline in proficiency in one's first language.

Official bilingualism in Canada

Canada's official languages are English and French, which are used in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada. The term "official bilingualism" is used to describe the policies, constitutional provisions, and laws that ensure the legal equality of English and French in the Parliament and courts of Canada.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which became law in 1982, declares English and French as Canada's official languages. Sections 16-23 of the Charter provide language rights and guarantee equal status for both languages in federal parliament, government institutions, and courts. The Charter also ensures that all statutes, records, and journals of Parliament are published in both languages.

Canada adopted its first Official Languages Act in 1969, which was later improved in 1988 to better address the equality of English and French in the country. The Act also established a Commissioner of Official Languages who is responsible for hearing and investigating complaints and making recommendations to Parliament.

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, as recognised by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter states that both Anglophone and Francophone communities in the province have equality of status and equal rights and privileges. The Official Languages Act in New Brunswick imposes on provincial government institutions the obligation to serve members of the public in the official language of their choice.

According to the 2021 census, 18% of Canadians are able to speak in both English and French. This rate varies by age group, with 25.2% among 15-24-year-olds, 19.2% among 25-64-year-olds, and 13.7% among those aged 65 and older.

Bilingualism in schools

Historically, the education system in New Brunswick was not bilingual, with the court process and judicial proceedings functioning only in English. Francophones, who make up about 30% of the province's population, faced assimilation and were often forced to attend English schools. However, the long struggle for Francophone cultural autonomy resulted in the establishment of a separate Francophone school system, including the Université de Moncton, which offers courses in English common law.

Today, New Brunswick's education system includes both Anglophone and Francophone school districts. While there is a push for more bilingual schools to increase bilingualism among Anglophones, there are concerns that this could lead to the elimination of the French language and cultural assimilation. Additionally, there is a shortage of qualified teachers to teach French immersion programs effectively.

To address these challenges, the provincial government has set goals to increase the percentage of bilingualism among graduates. They have also implemented programs such as French Second Language (FSL) and English Second Language (ESL) to promote language acquisition. However, the success rates of these programs have been low, with only a small percentage of students achieving the desired level of proficiency.

The debate around bilingualism in schools in New Brunswick continues, with some calling for a more comprehensive approach to language education and others expressing concerns about the potential impact on cultural identity.

Bilingualism in the legal system

New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada. The province's bilingual status is constitutionally entrenched under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sections 16–20 of the Charter include parallel sections guaranteeing the same rights at the federal level and at the provincial level (New Brunswick only).

Section 16(2) is a largely symbolic statement that "English and French are the official languages of New Brunswick" with "equality of status".

Section 17(2) guarantees the right to use English or French in the New Brunswick legislature.

Section 18(2) states that New Brunswick's laws will be bilingual, with both texts equally authoritative, and that official publications will be bilingual.

Section 19(2) guarantees the right to use either official language in all New Brunswick court proceedings.

Section 20(2) guarantees the right to receive provincial government services in either official language.

The first Official Languages Act of New Brunswick was adopted by the Liberal government of premier Louis Robichaud on 18 April 1969, a few months before the adoption of the federal Official Languages Act. This law affects life in the province to the present day.

The original text has been analyzed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) at the University of Ottawa. In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was added to the Constitution of Canada, and Section 16 of the charter entrenched the official bilingualism of New Brunswick in the Charter. In 1993, the Charter was modified by the insertion of section 16.1 which guarantees the equality of English-speaking and French-speaking residents of New Brunswick.

In 2002, a new Official Languages Act was adopted by the Progressive Conservative government of Bernard Lord, replacing the 1969 Act, in order to include all the constitutional obligations of the province toward the two official languages imposed by the Charter. The new law created an Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of New Brunswick with a mandate to apply the Official Languages Act in governmental institutions, and to promote bilingualism in New Brunswick.

The long Francophone struggle against assimilation was also successful in the area of education. In the 1940s, some unilingual Francophone children were often forced to attend English schools. In the 1960s, the Program for Equal Opportunity provided for the first time provincial funding for all New Brunswick schools. Previously, local taxes funded schools, which led to the unequal funding of schools.

Today, in the English city of Fredericton, there are several French-language schools for Francophone children.

New Brunswick's bilingual status is constitutionally entrenched under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sections 16–20 of the Charter include parallel sections guaranteeing the same rights at the federal level and at the provincial level (New Brunswick only).

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