Census Information

Statistics Canada Dept: If, as expected, it does, this new census information will very likely give rise to the usual outcry about the dire situation purportedly facing the French language on the island. We should expect that the new Parti Qu b cois government will point to the results as justification for some of the more stringent measures it insists are needed to protect French, according to Montreal Gazette. Some observers concede that the ongoing migration of young francophones to off-island suburbs is a key factor in the declining share of French on the island and wednesday is an important day on the demographic front, as Statistics Canada makes public data from the 2011 census on language knowledge and use. Among other things, the data will probably show a small decline in the share of francophones on the island of Montreal. Pessimists over the future of French pay far too little attention to why the percentage of francophones is diminishing on the island, and rarely explain why it is within the island s boundaries that the majority language s fate will be determined. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.