Culture

Because of the Canadian and North American context, the experience of French immigrants has been unique among immigrant groups. On the one hand, they speak one of Canada’s two major and official languages and yet, contrary to most immigrants from Britain and other English-speaking nations, French immigrants have tended to have upon arrival, or to acquire relatively quickly, a significant degree of bilingualism. In this regard, their linguistic behaviour has resembled that of members of non-official language groups, most of whom have rapidly acquired a knowledge of English after settling in Canada. On the other hand, at least for French immigrants who chose Quebec, the mother tongue could remain to a large extent the language of daily use. Even in Quebec, however, studies have shown that recent French immigrants have tended to know English as well, particularly those intending to work in the business world. Indeed, a major source of disappointment for many unilingual French immigrants after World War II was that employers in Quebec commonly demanded knowledge of English as a condition of employment.

For French immigrants who settled outside Quebec, language maintenance was soon challenged by the English-speaking environment. Close-knit agricultural colonies established primarily by immigrants from France and often reinforced by the arrival of French-Canadian settlers were able to continue to use French in daily life. But these colonies eventually began to disintegrate under economic and social pressures, as immigrants of other linguistic groups arrived and often acquired majority status. English was the language of communications with the outside world and, generally, of schooling. For those French who settled immediately in urban environments, often isolated from other francophones, English had to be used in most daily activities. By the second or third generations, often through increasing intermarriage, knowledge of French declined. In other words, the experience of French immigrants outside Quebec has in many respects been similar to that of French Canadians outside Quebec. There is, however, no specific statistical information available on langauge use by the descendants of French immigrants who established themselves in Canada after 1760.

For those immigrants who settled in Quebec, language retention was almost universal. Still, studies have shown that recent French immigrants have tended to know English as well, particularly those intending to work in the business world.

Though indigenous French-Canadian culture differs from French culture, links with France have become more pronounced since 1945 and French cultural products are widely available, particularly in Quebec. Books, magazines, and even newspapers from France are easily obtainable, at least in cities. Since the advent of television, programs from France have been regularly shown on French-language channels in Canada and cable subscribers, at least in Quebec, have had access to French television since 1978. Many programs shown on TV-5, the international francophone television network, originate in France. A host of cultural exchanges have brought artists and performers of all types from France to Quebec. French singers from Gilbert Bécaud and Charles Aznavour to Barbara and Renaud are virtually as well known in Quebec as they are in France. From this perspective, adjustment to life, at least in the French-speaking areas of Canada, has not meant a sharp rupture with the homeland for French immigrants. Nor have major French cultural figures sought to live permanently in Quebec with its much smaller market.