What are Francophone communities outside Quebec?

Francophone communities outside Quebec are the French-speaking communities in the rest of Canada, comprising about 1 million people who use French as their first official language spoken (per Statistics Canada census categorisation). The communities are organised by region and historical origin: Acadian (Atlantic Canada and particularly New Brunswick), Franco-Ontarian (eastern and northern Ontario), Franco-Manitoban, Fransaskois (Saskatchewan), Franco-Albertan, Franco-Yukonnais, Franco-Tenois (NWT), Franco-Nunavois (Nunavut), and Franco-Columbian (BC).

The largest community is the Acadians of New Brunswick, with about 235,000 people (about 31 per cent of New Brunswick's population). New Brunswick is officially bilingual under provincial law (the Official Languages of New Brunswick Act, 2002). The Acadian Peninsula in the northeast of the province and the Edmundston-Madawaska region in the northwest are predominantly French-speaking. Acadian culture traces to the original 1604 French Acadian colony in Acadie (most of present-day Atlantic Canada). The 1755 to 1763 Acadian Expulsion (Le Grand Derangement) by the British deported about two-thirds of the 14,000 Acadians; many returned after 1764. Other Acadian communities are in Nova Scotia (the Cheticamp area of Cape Breton, Argyle and Clare in the southwest, about 40,000 people), Prince Edward Island (about 15,000), and western Newfoundland (the Port-au-Port Peninsula and the Stephenville area, about 25,000).

Franco-Ontarians (about 565,000 people, the largest Francophone community outside Quebec) are concentrated in eastern Ontario along the Quebec border (the Ottawa-Sudbury corridor, with concentrations in Ottawa, Cornwall, Alexandria, Hawkesbury, North Bay, and Sudbury), in north-central Ontario (Hearst, Kapuskasing, Timmins), and in southwestern Ontario (Welland, Penetanguishene, Tilbury). The Franco-Ontarian flag (designed 1975, official Ontario emblem since 2001) and the September 25 Franco-Ontarian Day celebrate the community.

Franco-Manitobans (about 45,000 people) are concentrated in the Saint-Boniface area of Winnipeg and several rural communities in southeastern Manitoba (Sainte-Anne, Saint-Pierre-Jolys, La Broquerie, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes). Saint-Boniface is the cultural and historic centre, with the University of Saint-Boniface, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, and the historic burial place of Louis Riel. Other prairie French communities include Fransaskois (Saskatchewan, about 15,000) and Franco-Albertans (about 80,000). All Francophone communities are protected under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (minority-language education) and supported by the federal Official Languages Act (since 1969, modernised 2023). The federal Action Plan for Official Languages provides about $4 billion over 2023 to 2028 for minority-language education and community development. The Federation des communautes francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) represents Francophone communities outside Quebec at the national level.