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Location : Publications > Statistical Profiles 2005 > Highlights – Profile of Francophones in Eastern Ontario

Highlights From the Profile of Francophones in Eastern Ontario

Demographics

There are 226,705 Francophones in Eastern Ontario, which represents 41.3% of the province-wide Francophone population.
Francophones make up 14.7% of the population of Eastern Ontario, which is one out of seven people in the region.
The Francophone population increased in the region between 1996 and 2001: it went up from 221,100 to 226,705, which is an increase of 5,605 (2.5%) in five years.
Between 1996 and 2001, the proportion of Francophones aged 65 and over decreased from 38.5 % to 37% in Eastern Ontario. Since the French population in the Ottawa region is on the increase, the aging of the population is less marked than in other regions.

Mobility and Place of Birth

Of the Francophones that moved to Ontario between the 1996 and 2001 censuses, more than one-third of those aged 20 and older from Québec moved to the Ottawa region. Of the Francophones from outside the country, 35.9% have settled in Eastern Ontario.
In Eastern Ontario, more than two out of three Francophones were born in Ontario (68.3%), close to one-quarter in the province of Québec (23.4%) and 4.8% outside of the country.

Language Spoken at Home/At Work

Even though Francophones in Eastern Ontario represent a lower proportion of the general population than in the Northeast, the rate of preservation of the French language is higher in Eastern Ontario. A greater proportion of Francophones in this region also use French at work.
However, as in the other regions, the rate of preservation of French continues to decline: French is the language most often used at home for 69.8% of Francophones in Eastern Ontario (71.1% in 1996).
French is the language most often spoken at work by 45.1% of Francophones in Eastern Ontario. If Francophones who use French at work on a regular basis are included in this number, the proportion using their mother tongue in work environments reaches 83.3% in the region.

Socio-Economic Profile

The level of education of Francophones in the region is relatively high: 17.6% of Francophones have a B.A., compared to 14.7% for all Francophones in the province. This proportion, however, is lower than that of the regional population (20.1%).
The rate of activity for Francophones in the region is higher than that of Francophones in the province (66.7% compared to 64.6%). The rate of activity for Francophones is similar to that of the general population in the region (66.7% compared to 66.8%).
In Eastern Ontario, the rate of unemployment among Francophones is lower than in the other regions of the province. It is also lower than the rate for the whole regional population (4.7% compared to 6.1%).
As in the general population, a relatively high proportion of Francophones in the region work in the area of sales and services (20.8% compared to 22.9%). A higher proportion of Francophones work in the areas of business, finance and administration (22.3% compared to 17.4%), and that is true for both genders. One-third of Francophone women and 11.7% of Francophone men work in these occupations, compared to 26.5% of women and 9.4% of men out of the whole population of the region.
In Eastern Ontario, Francophone men are over-represented in the area of trades, transport and equipment operators (22.1% compared to 20.5% among the general population), but are under-represented in those occupations related to the natural and applied sciences (12.4% compared to 15%). As in all regions, Francophone women are over-represented in occupations involving social science, education, government service and religion (15.2% compared to 12.8%), but under-represented in the health sector (7.5% compared to 8.9%).
The average employment income of Francophones in Eastern Ontario is higher than that of the general population of the region ($35,517 compared to $34,613). It is similar to the average income of Francophones across the whole province ($35,517 compared to $35,796).
The average family income of Francophones in the region is higher than that of the provincial Francophone average ($71,890 compared to $70,033). However, it is lower than the average for the overall regional population ($71,780 compared to $73,272).
The proportion of Francophones living below the low-income threshold is comparable to that of the region's population (13.7% compared to 13.9%). Apart from the Northwest, this proportion is lower than that of Francophones in the other regions of the province.

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