Ontario’s francophone demographic needs support

A new report is urging the Ontario government to better support francophones in the province as statistics indicate the demographic is shrinking at an alarming rate.

French Language Services Commissioner Francois Boileau said if nothing is done to address the issue, Ontario’s francophone demographic may decrease to the point where it becomes insignificant and public services for the population are hard to come by.

“These findings are alarming,” Boileau said in an interview. “I think we need to have a serious debate on the place of francophones and francophiles in Ontario.”

According to Statistics Canada, the proportion of francophones in Ontario went from 5.2 per cent of the population in 1996, to 4.7 per cent in 2016 — a decrease Boileau said was troubling.

“It’s disturbing because it is one thing to be a little under five per cent, but if in 20 years we are under two per cent, then it really starts to have an impact on public policies,” he said.

The latest census figures show there were 622,415 francophones in Ontario.

In the report, seven experts studied several issues that affect or will affect the delivery of French language services. Boileau found that despite foreseeable growth of the francophone population’s actual numbers, francophones will continue to decline in proportion to the rest of the province’s population.

Boileau made 14 recommendations, including suggesting the province adopt an action plan.