French Canadians
North American ethnic group / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century; French: Canadiens français, pronounced [kanadjɛ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛ]; feminine form: Canadiennes françaises, pronounced [kanadjɛn fʁɑ̃sɛːz]), or Franco-Canadians (French: Franco-Canadiens),[4][5][6][7] are an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to French colonists who settled in France's colony of Canada beginning in the 17th century.
Canadiens français | |
---|---|
Total population | |
4,995,040 in Canada (by ancestry)[1][nb 1] 14.5% of the total Canadian population (2016) c. 10.56 million (French-speaking Canadians)[2] 29.1% of the total Canadian population (2021) 1,998,012 in the United States (2020)[3] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Canada: majority in Quebec, large minority in New Brunswick, small minorities in Northern Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. United States: small French Canadian American minorities in New England, New York, Michigan and Louisiana. | |
Languages | |
Canadian French, Canadian English, Franglais | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholic, minority Protestant, Irreligious | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Quebecois, other French, Acadians, Cajuns, Métis, Brayons, Breton Canadians, Old Stock Canadians |
During the 17th century, French settlers originating mainly from the west and north of France settled Canada.[8] It is from them that the French Canadian ethnicity was born. During the 17th to 18th centuries, French Canadians expanded across North America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns.[9] As a result, people of French Canadian descent can be found across North America. Between 1840 and 1930, many French Canadians immigrated to New England, an event known as the Grande Hémorragie.[10]