STATISTICAL PROFILE OF THE FRANCOPHONIE IN ALBERTA

According to the 2011 Census from Statistics Canada1 (specifically looking at French Mother
tongue and Knowledge of French indicators and including multiple responses):
- French is the mother tongue of 81,085 Albertans. The population of Albertans with French as a
mother tongue has grown by 18.5% since 2006, and 39% since 1996, and currently represents
2.2% of the total Alberta population.
- 238,800 Albertans were able to speak French, which represents 6.6% of the total Albertan
population, making French the second-largest language group after English. This includes the
French mother tongue population (81,085).
- 3,205 Albertans report speaking only French as an official language: this population is spread
throughout every constituency, but concentrated in urban centres such as Edmonton, Calgary,
Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie.
- In general, urban regions (mainly Edmonton and Calgary) are home to 83.9% of the
francophone population in Alberta.

Alberta Education statistics reveal that nearly one in three students in Alberta is enrolled in a
French-language education program. After English, French is the most learned language in Alberta.

Based on the 2014 Statistical Portrait of the French-speaking Immigrant Population Outside of
Quebec (1991-2011):
- Alberta ranks third with its share of the French-speaking immigrant population with almost
12,000 individuals, increasing from 8.0% of the immigrant population in 2006, to 10.3% in
2011.
- The francophone immigrant population, as a proportion of the entire francophone population
was 17.5% in Alberta, ranking second behind British Columbia at 25% and ahead of Ontario at
14.8%. The Francophone immigrant population comes from approximately 80 countries around
the world, particularly from francophone Africa and Europe.

There are 31 “francophone communities” in Alberta where there exists at least a francophone
school (S) or cluster of francophone organizations/facilities (O) such as a local chapter of the
ACFA and/or a francophone cultural center2:
1. Airdrie (S)
2. Beaumont (S/O)
3. Bonnyville (S/O)
4. Brooks (S/O)
5. Calgary (S/O)
6. Camrose (S/O)
7. Canmore (S/O)
8. Cochrane (S)
9. Cold Lake (S)
10. Edmonton (S/O)
11. Falher (S/O)
1
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Fort McMurray (S/O)
Girouxville (O)
Grande Prairie (S/O)
Jasper (S/O)
Lac La Biche (S/O)
Legal (S/O)
Lethbridge (S/O)
Lloydminster (S)
McLennan (O)
Medicine Hat (S)
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
Morinville (O)
Okotoks (S)
Peace River (S)
Plamondon (S/O)
Red Deer (S/O)
Sherwood Park (S)
St-Albert (S/O)
St-Isidore (O)
St-Paul (S/O)
Wainwright (S)
Census 2016 data will be released by topic over the course of 2017-18; language data is expected in August 2017; immigration and ethnocultural
diversity by October 2017; and language at work, mobility and migration in November 2017.
2
Sources: Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta (ACFA), 2016 and Fédération des conseils scolaires francophones de l’Alberta, 2016.

In geographical areas where the Francophone population is concentrated, people continue to
speak French at home and are able to obtain a greater number of services in French through
francophone non-profit groups (e.g., employment, settlement, early childhood services) or the
private sector (e.g., French-speaking entrepreneurs).
Alberta’s French-speaking population (2011 Census unless otherwise stated)
Total Alberta Population: 3.6 million
Definition of terms
French/Acadian
origins (2006):
390,895
(12 percent)
French-speaking:
238,770
(6.6 percent)
Francophone:
81,085
(2.2 percent)
Unilingual
French-speakers:
3,205
(0.0 percent)
 Refers to the ethnic or
cultural origins of the
respondent's ancestors and
does not take into account
knowledge of language.
 Refers to the individual’s
self-identified ability to
conduct a conversation in
French.
 Refers to the first language
learned at home in
childhood and still
understood by the individual.
 Refers to individuals who do
not speak any English.
Ranking
 Provincially, 3rd largest cultural origin
after British/Scottish and Germans.
 Provincially, 2nd largest language group
after English.
 Provincially, 3rd largest mother tongue
language group after English and
German.
 Excluding Québec, 3rd largest
Francophone population after Ontario
and New Brunswick.
 Provincially, there are 5 other
languages with more speakers who
cannot speak either English or French
(Chinese, Punjabi, Cantonese, German
and Vietnamese).