Intergenerational transmission of French to the children of French-speaking immigrant couples outside Quebec

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French-speaking immigrant couples and their children outside Quebec

French-speaking immigrant couples consist of partnerships in which at least one partner is an immigrant for whom French is a first official language spoken. The 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) indicates that there were approximately 61,800 French-speaking immigrant couples outside Quebec, and 55,080 children under the age of 18 living in such families.

The transmission of French to the children of French-speaking immigrant couples is related to the type of couple such children have as parents. As illustrated in Chart 1, in 2011, six types of couples accounted for 95.4% of all families in which children with at least one French-speaking immigrant parent outside Quebec lived. The largest share of children lived with a French-English FOLS immigrants and a non-francophone immigrant (31.8%), while the smallest share lived with French FOLS immigrant and Canadian-born francophone (5.2%).

Outside Quebec, French is most often transmitted to the children of French-speaking immigrant couples when both partners have only French as their first official language spoken. Hence, French is primarily transmitted to the children of families comprising two French FOLS immigrants (20.4%), or a French FOLS immigrant and a native-born French FOLS (5.2%), which represented a relatively small proportion of all children of French-speaking immigrant couples outside Quebec in 2011. Overall, the intergenerational transmission of language among French-speaking immigrant couples outside Quebec favoured English in 2011.

Comparable share of children of French-speaking immigrant couples have French as a mother tongue as English

In 2011, French was transmitted as a mother tongue to 28.3% (when also including those who were transmitted both French and English) of all children under the age of 18 living in a French-speaking immigrant family outside Quebec. The proportion of children whose mother tongue was only English was comparable (29.0%) to the share who were transmitted French as a mother tongue. This is because children of French-speaking immigrant couples were most likely to acquire a language other than French or English as their mother tongue. In 2011, 43.0% of all children living with a French-speaking immigrant couple outside Quebec had a non-official language as their mother tongue.

Small share of children of French-speaking immigrant couples have French as their first official language spoken

Outside Quebec, French is transmitted as the first official language considerably less often than English to the children of French-speaking immigrant couples. In 2011, 28.6% of all children bellow the age of 18 who were brought up in a French-speaking immigrant family had learned only French as their first official language spoken, while the majority (54.1%) had learned only English. However, 12.2% of children had also learned both French and English as their first official language spoken.

In 2011, French was the first official language spoken for most children who had a French FOLS immigrant and Canadian-born francophone (94.0%), or two French FOLS immigrants (78.3%) as parents. About 17.5% of children living with a French-English FOLS immigrant and FOLS other immigrant had French as a first official language spoken, while 89.8% had English.

Fewer children of French-speaking immigrant families speak French most often at home

In 2011, French was the language most often spoken at home by 24.0% of all children of French-speaking immigrant couples outside Quebec, while a higher share spoke English (37.0%) or a non-official language (36.0%). However, when children who spoke both French and English are considered, the proportion speaking French at home on a regular basis in 2011 rises to 27.0%.

French is transmitted as the language most often spoken at home to children when both partners only have French as their first official language spoken. In 2011, 86.4% of children from couples consisting of a French FOLS immigrants and Canadian-born francophone mainly spoke French at their family residence, while the share was 69.3% among the children of couples with two French FOLS immigrants. On the other hand, only 14.2% of children from couples with two French-English FOLS immigrants and 2.1% of children from couples with a French-English FOLS immigrant and non-francophone immigrant spoke French most frequently, or regularly, at home in 2011.

Chart 1: Children under 18 years of age living with a French-speaking immigrant couple, Canada less Quebec, 2011

Chart 2: First official language spoken by children under 18 years of age from French-speaking immigrant couples, Canada less Quebec, 2011

Source: Houle, R., Pereira, D., & Corbeil, J. P. (2014). Statistical Portrait of the French-speaking Immigrant Population Outside Quebec (1991-2011). Ottawa: CIC.