What is the official language of Ontario?
22218#29
Ontario's official language is English. Numerous French-language services are available under the "French Language Services Act of 1990 in designated areas where sizeable francophone populations exist.
Ontario
1110171#57
Ontario has no official language, but English is considered the "de facto" language. Numerous French language services are available under the French Language Services Act of 1990 in designated areas where sizable francophone populations exist.
History of Ontario
3408603#2
"Whereas the French language is a historic and honoured language in Ontario and recognized by the Constitution as an official language in Canada; and whereas in Ontario the French language is recognized as an official language in the courts and in education; and whereas the Legislative Assembly recognizes the contribution of the cultural heritage of the French speaking population and wishes to preserve it for future generations; and whereas it is desirable to guarantee the use of the French language in institutions of the Legislature and the Government of Ontario, as provided in this Act."
French Language Services Act
33657371#15
On January 29, 1990, Sault Ste. Marie became a flashpoint in the Meech Lake Accord constitutional debate when council passed a resolution declaring English as the city's official language and the sole language for provision of municipal services. The city had a sizable French-speaking population and these residents objected strongly to the council's action. The Sault Ste. Marie language resolution was not the first of its kind in Ontario, but the municipality was the largest to have passed such a resolution and the first to do so despite its sizable Franco-Ontarian population.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
1733987#5
LSQ is recognized as an official language in Ontario only in domains of education, legislation and judicial activities after the passing of Bill 213 within the Ontario Legislative Assembly. Across the rest of Canada, there is no protection or oversight for the language as neither federal, provincial nor territorial governments recognize LSQ as a language other than Ontario.
Quebec Sign Language
144743#43
Since 1968, French has been one of Canada's two official languages. It is the sole official language of Quebec and one of the official languages of New Brunswick, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The province of Ontario has no official languages defined in law, although the provincial government provides French language services in many parts of the province under the French Language Services Act.
French Canadians
3408603#11
In order for an area to obtain designation, Francophones must make up at least 10% of its population, and urban centres must have at least 5,000 francophones. Previous to 2009, the definition of a francophone in Ontario included only native French speakers. This definition was broadened by the Government of Ontario in June 2009 "to better reflect the changing face and diversity of Ontario's Francophone communities." The new Inclusive Definition of Francophones (IDF) now includes allophones, "those whose mother tongue is neither French nor English but have particular knowledge of French as an official language and use French at home, including many recent immigrants to Ontario for whom French is the language of integration."
Brampton was designated as the province's 24th bilingual service centre in 2004, and the designation officially came into effect in March 2007. Kingston was designated as the 25th bilingual service centre in May 2006, and French services officially came into effect in 2009.
French Language Services Act
2000294#182
In 2011 in Edwardsburgh/Cardinal, 92.0% of the population spoke only English as a mother tongue; 4.5% of the population reported French, and 2.9% a non-official language, as a mother tongue. 97.6% of the population reportedly spoke mostly English while at home. The most common non-official language mother-tongue was Dutch, which accounted for 27.9% of the non-official language speaking population. In comparison, the most commonly reported non-official mother-tongue in Ontario was reportedly Italian.
Upon the Loyalists first arrival in 1784, there was already two missionaries belonging to the Roman Catholic church in what would later be Upper Canada. Shortly after settlement, the British appointed chaplains to attend to the needs of both Anglican and Presbyterian Loyalists. Later on, Methodism was introduced to the area by ancestral German Protestants. These four religious denominations maintained strong influence in Edwardsburgh/Cardinal into the modern age.
In 2011, 81.5% of the population of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal associated themselves with a religion, according to NHS data. The most common religion stated was Roman Catholic.
Edwardsburgh/Cardinal
21139#45
The French language has historically played a significant role in North America and now retains a distinctive presence in some regions. Canada is officially bilingual. French is the official language of the Province of Quebec, where 95% of the people speak it as either their first or second language, and it is co-official with English in the Province of New Brunswick. Other French-speaking locales include the Province of Ontario (the official language is English, but there are an estimated 600,000 Franco-Ontarians), the Province of Manitoba (co-official as "de jure" with English), the French West Indies and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, as well as the US state of Louisiana, where French is also an official language. Haiti is included with this group based on historical association but Haitians speak both Creole and French. Similarly, French and French Antillean Creole is spoken in Saint Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica alongside English.
North America
22218#43
The principal language of Ontario is English, the province's de facto official language, which is spoken natively by about 70% of the province's population, according to the 2011 census. There is also a French-speaking population concentrated in the northeastern, eastern, and extreme Southern parts of the province, where under the "French Language Services Act", provincial government services are required to be available in French if at least 10% of a designated area's population report French as their native language. Roughly 4% of Ontarians speak French as their mother tongue, and 11% are bilingual, speaking both English and French, according to the 2011 census. Other languages spoken by residents include Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Dutch, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Malayalam, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Sinhalese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Tibetan, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Ontario