Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:03:44.219Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Ethnocultural and Linguistic Diversity

New Challenges to Canada’s Language Regime

from Part III - The Canadian Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2019

Thomas Ricento
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Get access

Summary

The chapter explores the relationship between official and “non-official” languages in Canada by taking as its starting point two Statistics Canada reports on ethnocultural and linguistic diversity released in 2017. Its goal is to examine how demographic trends, combined with recent debates and policy initiatives, are going to impact Canada’s language regime. The first section discusses international immigration. The second section focuses on Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, and Ottawa. The third section reflects on how Canada’s language regime will respond to the challenges raised by the projected expansion of linguistic diversity in the population. The chapter concludes that, while Canada’s language regime shifted from Anglo-conformity to equality between English and French starting in the late 1960s, the projected increase in ethnocultural and linguistic diversity cannot render invisible the persistent pull of English, which could lend support to old Anglo-conformist attitudes and tendencies around language policy and planning in the country as a whole.

Type
Chapter
Information
Language Politics and Policies
Perspectives from Canada and the United States
, pp. 298 - 315
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abu-Laban, Y. & Gabriel, C. (2002). Selling Diversity: Immigration, Multiculturalism, Employment Equity, and Globalization. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Abu-Laban, Y. & Stasiulis, D. (1992). Ethnic pluralism under siege: Popular and partisan opposition to multiculturalism. Canadian Public Policy, 28(4), 365–86.Google Scholar
Anctil, P. (2005). Défi et gestion de l’immigration internationale au Québec. Cités, 23(3), 4355.Google Scholar
Becklumb, P. (2008). Immigration: The Canada-Québec Accord. Ottawa: Library of Parliament. Retrieved from https://bdp.parl.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/bp252-e.pdf [Last accessed March 12, 2019].Google Scholar
Berger, T. (1970). The Sense of Power: Studies in the Ideas of Canadian Imperialism, 1867–1914. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Bilodeau, A. & Turgeon, L. (2014). L’immigration: Une menace pour la culture québécoise? Portrait et analyses des perceptions régionales. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 47(2), 281305.Google Scholar
Bloemraad, I. (2015). Theorizing and analyzing citizenship in multicultural societies. The Sociological Quarterly, 56(4), 591606.Google Scholar
Breton, R., Reitz, J. & Valentine, F. (1981). Cultural Boundaries and the Cohesion of Canada. Montréal: Institute for Research on Public Policy.Google Scholar
Cardinal, L. (2015). State tradition and language regime in Canada. In Sonntag, S. & Cardinal, L. (eds.), State Traditions and Language Regimes. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.Google Scholar
Cardinal, L. & Couture, C. (1999). La Révolution tranquille à l’épreuve de la « nouvelle » historiographie et de l’approche post-coloniale: une démarche exploratoire. Globe, 2(1), 7595.Google Scholar
Cardinal, L. & Léger, R. (2018). The politics of multilingualism in Canada: A neo-institutional approach. In Kraus, P. & Grin, F. (eds.), The Politics of Multilingualism: Europeanisation, Globalisation and Linguistic Governance. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Cardinal, L., Gaspard, H. & Léger, R. (2015). The politics of language roadmaps in Canada: Understanding the Conservative Government’s approach to official languages. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 48(3), 577–99.Google Scholar
Castonguay, C. (2017, 10 October). Statistiques Canada masque le déclin du français. Le Devoir. Retrieved from www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/509961/statistique-canada-masque-le-declin-du-francais-au-quebec [Last accessed March 12, 2019].Google Scholar
News, CBC (2007, 8 March). The term ‘visible minorities’ may be discriminatory, UN body warns Canada. Retrieved from www.cbc.ca/news/canada/term-visible-minorities-may-be-discriminatory-un-body-warns-canada-1.690247 [Last accessed March 12, 2019].Google Scholar
Champagne, S. & Caillou, A. (2017, 3 August). Le français en perte de vitesse au Québec: L’anglais à la hause chez les nouveaux arrivants allophones. Le Devoir. Retrieved from www.ledevoir.com/societe/actualites-en-societe/504771/recensement-2016-le-quebec-est-plus-anglophone-le-canada-est-plus-bilingue [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Duff, P.A. (2008). Heritage language education in Canada. In Brinton, D.M., Kagan, O. & Bauckus, S. (eds.), Heritage Language Education: A New Field Emerging. London: Routledge, pp. 7190.Google Scholar
Feith, Jesse (2017, 17 August). Corrected StatsCan figures show decrease in percentage of Quebec anglophones. Montreal Gazette. Retrieved from http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/statistics-canada-releases-new-numbers-on-english-speaking-quebecers [Last accessed March 12, 2019].Google Scholar
Hayday, M. (2015). So They Want Us to Learn French: Promoting and Opposing Bilingualism in English-Speaking Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Heritage Canada (2012). Appreciation and Perception of Canada’s Two Official Languages. Ottawa: Department of Canadian Heritage.Google Scholar
Hughes, G. (2017, 24 March). Immigrants will comprise growing share of Canada’s population by 2036: Statscan. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/immigrant-nation-newcomers-will-comprise-a-growing-share-of-canadas-population/article33755105/ [Last accessed March 12, 2019].Google Scholar
Kymlicka, W. (1998). Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ethnocultural Relations in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Léger, R. (2015, 20 March). Opinion: B.C. has no official language. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from www.vancouversun.com/life/Opinion+official+language/10907405/story.html [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Le Goff, P. (2004). Immigration to Canada: What policy for what purposes? Ottawa: Library of Parliament. Retrieved from https://lop.parl.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublicationsArchive/bp1000/prb0350-e.asp [Last accessed January 11, 2018].Google Scholar
Levine, M. (1990). The Reconquest of Montreal: Language Policy and Social Change in a Bilingual City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Marwah, I., Triadafilopoulos, T. & White, S. (2013). Immigration, citizenship, and Canada’s new Conservative Party. In Farney, J. & Rayside, D. (eds.), Conservatism in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 95119.Google Scholar
McAndrew, M., Helly, D. & Tessier, C. (2005). Pour un débat éclairé sur la politique canadienne du multiculturalisme: une analyse de la nature des organismes et des projets subventionnés (1983–2002). Politique et sociétés, 24(1), 4971.Google Scholar
Morissette, P. (2006, 24 August). Les immigrants et le français – Quand la politique officielle bute sur la réalité. Le Devoir. Retrieved from www.ledevoir.com/non-classe/116533/les-immigrants-et-le-francais-quand-la-politique-officielle-bute-sur-la-realite [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Orfali, P. (2016). Une cible de 5% d’immigrants Francophones à l’extérieur du Québec. Le Devoir. Retrieved from www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/476171/une-cible-de-5-d-immigrants-francophones-a-l-exterieur-du-quebec [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Paquet, M. (2016). La Fédéralisation de l’immigration au Canada. Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Paquet, M. (2017, 22 April). Entrevue avec Mireille Paquet de l’Université Concordia. Radio-Canada. Retrieved from http://ici.radio-canada.ca/emissions/faut_pas_croire_tout_ce_qu_on_dit/2016-2017/archives.asp?date=2017-04-22 [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Richards, J. (2007). Breaking the “vicious cycle”: A retrospective and prospective examination of Quebec/Canada relations. In Murphy, M. (ed.), Canada: The State of the Federation 2005. Quebec and Canada in the New Century. New Dynamics, New Opportunities. Montréal, Institute of Intergovernmental Relations and McGill-Queen’s University Press, pp. 233–54.Google Scholar
Rocher, F., Labelle, M., Field, A.-M. & Icart, J.-C. (2007). Le Concept d’interculturalisme en Contexte Québécois: Généalogie d’un Néologisme. Montréal: Centre de recherche sur l’immigration, l’ethnicité et la citoyenneté.Google Scholar
Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. (1967). Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. General Introduction: The Official Languages (Volume 1). Ottawa: Queen’s Printer.Google Scholar
Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. (1970). The Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. The Cultural Contributions of the Other Ethnic Groups (Volume 4). Ottawa: Queen’s Printer.Google Scholar
Smith, D. (2017). The Constitution in a Hall of Mirrors: Canada at 150. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Soroka, S., Johnston, R. & Banting, K. (2007). Ethnicity, trust and the welfare state. In Kay, F. & Johnston, R. (eds.), Social Capital, Diversity and the Welfare State. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp. 279304.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (2017a). Immigration and Diversity: Population Projections for Canada and its Regions, 2011 to 2036. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2017b). Language Projections for Canada, 2011 to 2036. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Stevenson, G. (2014) Building Nations From Diversity: Canadian and American Experience Compared. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.Google Scholar
Thomson, S. (2017, 3 February). Alberta’s population will only get more diverse as immigration fuels population growth, Stats Can reports. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved from http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/albertas-population-will-only-get-more-diverse-as-immigration-fuels-population-growth-stats-can-reports [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Trudeau, J. (2015, 26 November). Diversity is Canada’s strength. Retrieved from https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/11/26/diversity-canadas-strength [Last accessed March 13, 2019].Google Scholar
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.Google Scholar
Vipond, R. (2017) Making a Global City: How One Toronto School Embraced Diversity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×