A. Interprovincial Migration

Canada’s 2001 Census showed that the Anglophone population declined by 7.5 percent or 30,000 people. The decrease was largely attributable to net losses from interprovincial migration between 1996 and 2001. The gap between those leaving and new people moving into Quebec was 57,000, accounting for the highest net population loss in Canada between 1996 and 2001. The departures were from all language communities, with those between the ages of 20 and 40 being most inclined to leave. Still, Quebec Anglophones suffered the biggest net loss, with more than 28,730 persons leaving, accounting for 50 percent of the overall decline. Table 5 shows that the losses in the 1996-2001 period were greater than those of the two previous five-year periods, but remain substantially lower than those witnessed in the quinquennial periods between 1971 and 1986.

As Quebec does not attract considerable numbers of migrants from other provinces, it is safe to assume that the share of Anglophones born elsewhere in Canada is not a source of growth for the community. In 2001, of the near 490,000 non-immigrant mother-tongue Anglophones, about one-fifth were born elsewhere in the country.

Most of those Anglophones born outside the province reside on the Island of Montréal and in the Outaouais region. Indeed, non-immigrant Anglophones born in the rest of Canada outnumber Quebec-born Anglophones in the Outaouais by two to one.

Some of the migratory loss of Quebec Anglophones was due to the secondary or interprovincial migration of the province’s English-speaking immigrants. Between 1980 and 1995, there was a loss of nearly 25 percent of immigrants who spoke English only upon arrival in the province. Of those immigrants speaking both official languages, the net loss was just under 7 percent (IMDB, 2000).

Factors motivating non-immigrant Anglophones to leave the province are generally similar to those influencing the immigrant population. A CROP-Missisquoi Institute survey conducted in 2000 reveals that English-speaking immigrants expressing an intention to leave cited a lack of educational and economic opportunities (31 percent), while non-immigrant English speakers more frequently cited political considerations (26 percent). A greater share of Anglophone immigrants suggests that discrimination was a factor in the decision to leave the province (15 percent), a sentiment shared by few non-immigrants (5 percent).

A survey conducted late in 2002 shows that 12 percent of Quebec Anglophones felt they would not be living in the province in the next five years (GPC-Canadian Heritage, 2002). Most Anglophones expressing such an intention were urban residents (14 percent in Montréal and 4 percent outside Montréal). When asked to give reasons why they might leave, there was no dominant consideration, although one-third said it was to look for work and one-fifth cited linguistic concerns.

There are signs, however, that the situation may be changing. Figures released early in 2004 on quarterly numbers of interprovincial migrants reveal that, during 2003, about the same number of people entered Quebec from other provinces as left. Should the trend continue in the next few years, it is possible there will be some stabilization by 2006 in overall numbers of mother-tongue Quebec Anglophones.

B. International Immigration

Considering the important net losses of Anglophones from interprovincial migration, English speakers arriving from overseas have played a crucial role in curbing declines in community numbers. Between the Second World War and the early 1970s, the growth of the Anglophone community in Quebec was primarily from an influx of immigrants arriving from Europe, and their children, who for the most part were integrated in English-language institutions. Quebec’s Anglophone population represents a microcosm of Canada’s mosaic. In 2001, nearly one of out of five Canadians was foreign-born.

Because most English-language immigrants settle on the Island of Montréal, the share they represent within that group rises considerably, compared with the rest of the province. On the basis of mother tongue, nearly one out of five Montréal Anglophones is foreign-born. When using the criterion of first official language spoken, the foreign-born portion of Montréal’s English-speaking community rises by about 40 percent.

In the 1960s, the Quebec government recognized the importance of immigration to the demographic vitality of the province’s Francophone population, introducing measures to ensure that immigrants possess knowledge of French. Almost all immigrant children arriving after the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) was enacted in 1977 would be directed to French-language schools.

Federal-provincial agreements on immigration in 1978 and 1990 supported Quebec’s efforts at recruiting immigrants from French-speaking countries. In the early 1990s, responsibility for immigrant integration was transferred from federal to Quebec authorities.

Since the 1970s, the percentage of mother-tongue-English immigrants as a proportion of Quebec’s total immigration has declined in both numbers and percentage. Once accounting for as much as one-fifth of all Quebec immigrants, today they are closer to one of out 40 new arrivals in the province. Between 1998 and 2002, the percentage of mother-tongue-English immigrants dropped, while there was nearly a 20-percent increase in their real numbers (from 744 to 904 persons). This was consistent with the overall rise in Quebec’s annual intake over that period. Indeed, there was a similar increase in the number of mother-tongue-French immigrants (3,706 to 4,654). Most Quebec immigrants are neither mother-tongue-English nor mother-tongue-French and, from 1998 through 2002, Allophones represented about
85 percent of new arrivals.

Still, many of the Allophone immigrants speak English as a second language and would qualify as members of the English-speaking community when using the first-official-language-spoken criterion. In the 2001 census, as many as 138,000 immigrants possessed knowledge of English as a second language (the difference between first official language spoken at 225,000 persons and mother tongue at 87,000 persons). In addition to the near 225,000 immigrants with English as first official language spoken, another 119,000 declared speaking both English and French upon arrival. Using the method for distributing such individuals, another 60,000 would be identified as English-language immigrants and thus bolster the overall number of Quebec Anglophones. Of those immigrants arriving in Quebec between 1991 and 2001, over 65,000 had English as first official language spoken and approximately 17,000 identified English as their mother tongue. Therefore, some 48,000 immigrants arriving in Quebec during the 1990s spoke English as a second language.

In the early 1990s, more than one out of five immigrants spoke English only upon arrival. By 1998, the percentage of such immigrants declined to 17.5 percent and, by 2002, 15.8 percent of immigrants arriving that year spoke English only. Between 1998 and 2002 those speaking French only upon arrival decreased from 26.9 to 24.4 percent. Immigrants who reported speaking both English and French upon arrival saw their share increase between 1998 and 2002 from 13.3 to 24.7 percent, thus surpassing the number who spoke French only.

To arrive at the Quebec government’s expressed goal for half of all arriving immigrants to speak French, the provincial administration combines the numbers of new arrivals who declare French only upon arrival with those speaking both English and French. In doing so, for 2002, 49.1 percent of all immigrants reported knowledge of French. Combining those immigrants speaking English only upon arrival with those speaking both English and French would yield slightly over 40 percent for English speakers.

As mentioned, the majority of Anglophone immigrants settle in the Montréal region, particularly on the Island of Montréal. For the most part, immigrants taking up residence outside Montréal remain within the broader Montréal region in such places as Laval and the Montérégie. The geographic proximity of these areas to the Island of Montréal generally results in the availability of services in English similar to that on the Island. When looking at the period from 1996 to 2001, some four-fifths of mother-tongue-English immigrants initially settled on the Island of Montréal, representing a growth in such concentration.

Mother-tongue-English immigrants represent less than 10 percent of the Anglophone population outside Montréal. In the Gaspé, immigrant Anglophones represent less than 1 percent of the community. Still, they account for 13.7 percent of the Québec City Anglophone population and 9 percent of those in the Sherbrooke region.