French Canadians
Province or territory % Total population responding
Canada - Total 15.8% 5,174,050
British Columbia 11.6% 361,000
Alberta 11.9% 388,210
Saskatchewan 16.4% 161,603
Manitoba 13.1% 150,440
Ontario 11.2% 1,351,765
Quebec 30.38% 2,906,475
New Brunswick 30.1% ( including Acadians ) 220,000
Nova Scotia 16.2% 152,548
Prince Edward Island 23.1% 31,381
Newfoundland and Labrador 5.5% 27,800
Nunavut 1.27% 370
Northwest Territories 2.4% 975
Yukon 3.69% 1,105
Population -- Distribution in Canada
In Canada , 85% of French Canadians reside in Quebec where they constitute the majority of the population in all regions except the far North . Most cities and villages in this province were built and settled by the French or French Canadians during the French colonial rule . There are various urban and small centres in Canada outside Quebec that have long-standing populations of French Canadians , going back to the late 19th century , due to interprovincial migration . Eastern and Northern Ontario have large populations of francophones in communities such as Ottawa , Cornwall , Hawkesbury , Sudbury , Welland , Timmins and Windsor . Many also pioneered the Canadian Prairies in the late 18th century , founding the towns of Saint Boniface , Manitoba and in Alberta 's Peace Country , including the region of Grande Prairie . The following table shows the population of Canada 's that is of French ancestry . The data is from Statistics Canada . The French-speaking population have massively chosen the `` Canadian '' ( `` Canadien '' ) ethnic group since the government made it possible ( 1986 ) , which has made the current statistics misleading . The term Canadien historically referred only to a French-speaker , though today it is used in French to describe any Canadian citizen . It is estimated that roughly 70–75% of Quebec 's population descend from the French pioneers of the 17th and 18th century . The fleur-de-lis , symbol of French Canada
French Canadians (also referred to as Franco-Canadians or Canadiens; or ) are an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to French colonists who settled in Canada from the 17th century onward. Today, people of French heritage make up the majority of native speakers of French in Canada, who in turn account for about 22 per cent of the country's total population. The majority of French Canadians reside in Quebec, where they constitute the majority of the province's population, although French-Canadian and francophone minority communities exist in all other Canadian provinces and territories as well. Besides the , distinct French speaking ethnic groups in Canada include the Acadians of the Maritime Provinces, the Brayons of New Brunswick, and the Métis of the Prairie Provinces, among other smaller groups. During the mid-18th century, Canadian colonists born in French Canada expanded across North America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns; the French Canadian settlers originated primarily from districts in the west of France, such as Normandy, Perche, Beauce, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, Poitou, Aunis, Angoumois, Saintonge and Gascony. Today, French Canadians live across North America. Most French Canadians reside in Quebec, and are more commonly referred to as Quebecers and , although smaller communities exist throughout Canada and in the United States. Between 1840 and 1930, roughly 900,000 French Canadians emigrated to the United States, mostly to the New England region. Acadians (Acadiens), who reside in the Maritimes, may be included among the French Canadian group in linguistic contexts, but are considered a separate group from the French Canadians in a cultural sense due to their distinct history, much of which predates the admission of the Maritime Provinces to Canadian Confederation in 1867. French Canadians (including those who are no longer French-speaking) constitute the second largest ethnic group in Canada, behind those of English ancestry, and ahead of those of Scottish and Irish heritage; there is nevertheless a distinction between those identifying as French Canadians and those simply identifying as French. In total, those whose ethnic origins are French Canadian, French, Québécois and Acadian number up to 11.9 million people or comprising 33.78% of the Canadian population. Not all francophone Canadians are of French-Canadian descent or heritage.