French In New Brunswick: Why?

New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada, with French and English enjoying equal status. French is the mother tongue of about a third of New Brunswick's population, who are predominantly of Acadian origin. The Acadian community is largely based in rural areas along the border with Quebec and the eastern coast of the province, with the only major population centre being Moncton. The French-speaking population in New Brunswick is the largest Acadian population in Canada.

French is one of the two official languages in New Brunswick

In 2016, about a third of New Brunswick's population, or 234,060 people, were native francophones, with French as their first official language. This number decreased by 1.8% between 2001 and 2016. In 2021, the number of people who could have a conversation in French was 320,300, representing 41.9% of the province's population. This number has been increasing since 1991, with the highest proportion of French speakers recorded in 2006 (43.6%).

The majority of French speakers in New Brunswick are of Acadian origin, with most indicating their ethnic origin as French rather than Acadian. The Acadian community is concentrated in primarily rural areas along the border with Quebec and the eastern coast of the province, with the only major population centre being Moncton. Francophones are, however, in the minority in Moncton.

New Brunswick's bilingual status is enshrined in both provincial and federal law. The Canadian Constitution makes specific mention of the province's bilingual status and defines the spirit of implementation as one based on both community and individual rights. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms also makes specific mention of New Brunswick in each section relating to language. Article 16.1 declares that the French and English-speaking communities of New Brunswick have equal rights and privileges, including community-specific educational and cultural institutions.

Language policy remains a perennial issue in New Brunswick society and politics, with recurring debates arising regarding the interpretation of the provincial bilingualism policy, duality (the system of parallel French and English-speaking public services), and specifics of implementation. The French-speaking community advocates for full funding of French-language public services and fair representation in public sector employment, while some Anglophones (and Francophones) fear that the system of duality is financially inefficient.

The French-speaking minority in New Brunswick are mostly of Acadian origin

The first capital of Acadia, Port-Royal, was established in 1605. However, in 1613, English forces attacked and burned down the fortified habitation. A new centre for Port-Royal was established nearby, and it remained the capital of French Acadia until the British siege of 1710. Over the following decades, there were several colonial wars between the British and the French, with the Wabanaki Confederacy and the Acadians fighting alongside the French. During the French and Indian War, the British suspected the Acadians of being aligned with France and carried out the Great Expulsion (Le Grand Dérangement) between 1755 and 1764, deporting approximately 11,500 Acadians from the region. About a third of these people perished from disease and drowning.

Following the expulsion, some Acadians returned to the Maritime provinces of Canada, mainly to New Brunswick, as they were prohibited by the British from resettling in Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick, Acadians and Francophones were granted autonomy in areas such as education and health. Today, New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada, with French and English recognised as official languages. About a third of New Brunswick's population are francophones, and the province is home to both French and English language institutions and services.

The French language in Canada presents three different but related main dialects

The first dialect is Quebec French, which is the most widely spoken variety and is considered the standard within Canada. It is influenced by 17th- and 18th-century Parisian French and folk dialects of the early modern period, as well as other regional languages brought to New France by French colonists. Quebec French is noticeably different from Metropolitan French (spoken in Paris) in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary, but they remain mutually intelligible.

The second dialect is Acadian French, spoken in the Canadian Maritime provinces, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, as well as some parts of Quebec and Newfoundland. It is influenced by the langues d'oïl and contains features such as the alveolar r and unique verb conjugations. Chiac, a blend of Acadian French and English, is predominantly spoken in Moncton, New Brunswick and is characterized by its heavy use of English vocabulary and distinct pronunciation.

The third dialect is Métis French or Michif, spoken by the Métis communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as well as adjacent areas in the United States. Métis French is a unique mixed language that combines Métis French nouns, numerals, articles, and adjectives with Cree verbs, demonstratives, postpositions, interrogatives, and pronouns.

In addition to these three main dialects, there are other varieties of French spoken in Canada, such as Brayon French in New Brunswick and Ontario, and Newfoundland French on the Port au Port Peninsula of Newfoundland. The French language in Canada also includes the incorporation of anglicisms, or loanwords from the English language, which can be complete, hybrid, semantic, syntactic, morphological, and sentencial anglicisms.

New Brunswick is the province with the second-highest rate of English-French bilingualism

New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada, with French and English enjoying equal status. It has the second-highest rate of English-French bilingualism among all provinces and territories, after Quebec.

French is the mother tongue of about a third of New Brunswick's population, who are mostly of Acadian origin. The Acadian community is largely based in rural areas along the border with Quebec and the eastern coast of the province, with the only major population centre being Moncton.

In 2016, 31.8% of New Brunswick's population had French as their first official language, and 32.4% reported having French as their mother tongue, either exclusively or in combination with other languages. The number of people able to conduct a conversation in French in the province stood at 313,100 in 2016, or 42.5% of the population. The number of English-French bilingual speakers was 249,955, or 33.9% of the population.

The bilingual status of the province is enshrined in both provincial and federal law. The Canadian Constitution mentions New Brunswick's bilingual status and defines its implementation based on community and individual rights. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms also makes specific mention of New Brunswick in each section relating to language, and Article 16.1 declares that the French and English-speaking communities have equal rights and privileges.

The French-speaking community in New Brunswick advocates for full funding of French-language public services

New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada, with French and English as its two official languages. The province has a relatively even split of French and English speakers, with a substantial French-speaking minority of mostly Acadian origin. In 2021, there were 320,300 residents who could have a conversation in French, representing 41.9% of the province's population. Of these, 229,325 people (30.0% of the population) had French as their only first official language spoken, and 5,040 residents (0.7%) had both French and English as their first official languages.

The French-speaking community in New Brunswick has been advocating for full funding of French-language public services and fair representation in public sector employment. They argue that the two official language communities should have their specific institutions upheld, as recognised by Article 16.1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which declares that the French and English-speaking communities in New Brunswick have equal rights and privileges, including community-specific educational and cultural institutions.

However, there are concerns about the "erosion" of French as a first language in the province. According to the 2021 census, the number of people whose first language is French has dropped by about 2%. The proportion of New Brunswickers who speak French predominantly at home has also decreased from 28% in 2016 to 26.4% in 2021. These trends have raised concerns among the French-speaking community and led to calls for additional measures to prevent the decline of French speakers in the province.

While the number of bilingual New Brunswickers remains steady at 34%, there are worries that it is not increasing. There are also concerns about the lack of amendments made to the Official Languages Act, which is reviewed every 10 years. The French-speaking community seeks full funding for French-language public services, including the inclusion of nursing homes under the Official Languages Act, and better representation in public sector employment. They argue that the workforce should be sufficiently bilingual to provide official language services effectively.

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