Why do we speak French in Canada?
Canada is a multicultural country, so it is normal to see different cultures in different parts of the country. The official languages spoken are English and French, making Canada one of the few bilingual countries.
About 20% of the total population speaks French.
How did you start speaking French?
In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier ventured across the Atlantic in search of a more direct route to Asia. He landed on the coasts of Newfoundland and what are now the Canadian Maritime Provinces, and mapped the Gulf of St. Lawrence area.
Cartier returned for two subsequent voyages, and although he failed to establish a permanent settlement, Canada’s French roots were established by the time of his death in 1557.
This explorer was the first to use the name “Canada” to designate the lands he had explored along the shores of the St. Lawrence River.
The name is a misinterpretation of the local indigenous word ‘kanata’, which means ‘village’; Cartier thought he was talking about the surrounding land and river.
He used the term “Canadiens” to refer to the Iroquois he had encountered there, and the name Canada was used to refer to the small French colony that developed in the area, with French settlers being called Canadiens.
French establishment and war conflicts
Samuel de Champlain, a French navigator, founded Port Royal in Acadia in 1605 and Quebec in 1608. In 1642, Ville Marie was founded as the colony that would become Montreal, politically and economically consolidating the French colony throughout the century.
In the 18th century, the Empire got bogged down in a conflict with the Americans and therefore decided to win the support of the French living in Canada. As a result, Quebec law was born, resulting in the restoration of civil laws and the use of French as the official language.
Current state
Canada established its first Official Languages Act in 1969, which was refined in 1988 to define the equal status of English and French at the federal level. The two languages have gradually reached a higher level of equality in most provinces, thanks to the education programs and policies promoted by the government.
Currently, New Brunswick is the only province in the country that has voluntarily chosen to be officially bilingual, and Quebec is the only province where French is spoken almost entirely, with approximately 94% of its population.
Besides Quebec, French is the official language of Manitoba and New Brunswick. Similar to some communities in the Yukon and Ontario, but not predominant in their vicinity.
These communities have their own accents and dialects of French, combining different elements of other regional languages and “popular dialects” spoken in France at the time of colonization.
This means that “French Canada” is a label that refers to a single, multi-textured identity that spans the entire country.
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