Release peace: the magazine
Release peace: the magazine
Analysis & Background Stories on International Affairs
The world needs to stop equating Francophone Canada with Québec.

Starting with misconceptions
Whether you like maple syrup or not, you will probably instantly associate it with Canada, and maybe on second thought with Québec. By contrast, you will probably associate the French language in Canada simply with Québec, not with Canada as a whole. Well, let’s try to rectify that.
Canada’s biggest ‘Anglophone’ province: Ontario
First things first: Canada’s capital, Ottawa, is situated in Ontario, the country’s most populous province. Unlike in the US and some other countries, Ottawa is not a special territory, but simply a regular city that sits in the same province as Toronto and the world-famous Niagara Falls. Hence, it is in a supposedly Anglophone part of the country. Yet, walk into any store in the city and you will be greeted by a friendly “Bonjour, Hi”. It’s a phrase locals use to give you the opportunity to reply with “Bonjour” if you prefer to speak French or “Hi” if you prefer English. In fact, there are large swathes of Ontario where people identify French as their first language. The map below by Canada’s statistics agency illustrates that impressively. The areas in shades of orange indicate counties in which between 10-50% of the population speak French as a first language.
