Portrait of Official Languages Groups in the Gatineau Area

1.1.1. Population by mother tongue in 2011

In 2011, French was the mother tongue of a large majority (78.4%) of Gatineau’s population. The percentages of the population whose mother tongue was English and whose mother tongue was neither English nor French were lower, at 12.0% and 9.5% respectively (see Table 1).^{Footnote 1}

1.1.2. Population by mother tongue

The overall population of Gatineau increased by 58.5% between 1981 and 2011, from just over 166,000 to over 263,000 (see Tables Table 2 and Table 3).

The number of people whose mother tongue was French increased by 48.0% between 1981 and 2011, totalling 206,500 in 2011. The number of people in Gatineau whose mother tongue was English increased by almost the same amount (46.5%), reaching 31,700 in 2011. In contrast, the number of people in Gatineau whose mother tongue was neither English nor French more than quintupled (408.2%), reaching 25,100 in 2011.

1.1.3. Proportion of the population by mother tongue from 1981 to 2011

Between 1981 and 2011, the proportion of the Gatineau population whose mother tongue was French decreased from 84.0% to 78.4%, while the proportion of those whose mother tongue was English remained stable, dropping slightly from 13.0% to 12.0% (see Table 4). In contrast, the proportion of people in Gatineau whose mother tongue was neither English nor French more than tripled over the same period, increasing from 3.0% to 9.5%.

1.2.1. Population by first official language spoken in 2011

In 2011, French was the first official language spoken (FOLS) among a large majority (83.7%) of Gatineau’s population (see Table 5). In contrast, English was the FOLS for 15.7% of the population. The percentage of the population whose FOLS was neither English nor French was 0.6%. However, other data (not shown here) indicate that French was the FOLS for 53% of people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French, and English was the FOLS for 41% of the same population.^{Footnote 2}

1.2.2. Population by first official language spoken, from 1981 to 2011

The number of people in Gatineau whose FOLS was French grew by 54.8% between 1981 and 2011, reaching 220,400 in 2011 (see tables Table 6 and Table 7). The population whose FOLS was English increased by 80.1%, for a total of 41,400 in 2011, and the population whose FOLS was neither English nor French, although much smaller, almost doubled (99.7%), reaching 1,500 in 2011.

1.2.3. Proportion of the population by first official language spoken

In Gatineau, the proportion of the population whose FOLS was French decreased slightly between 1981 and 2011, from 85.7% to 83.7% (see Table 8). Conversely, the proportion of the population whose FOLS was English slightly over the same period, from 13.8% to 15.7%. The proportion of the population whose FOLS was neither English nor French showed an increase from 0.4% to 0.6%.

1.4.1. Official languages spoken at home

Between 2001 and 2011,^{Footnote 3} the proportion of people in Gatineau who reported French as the only language they speak at home, or as the language they most often speak at home, decreased from 83.4% to 80.5% (see Table 11). In contrast, the proportion of people who reported English as the only language spoken at home, or as the language they most often speak at home, increased from 13.0% to 14.5%. Similarly, the proportion of people who reported speaking English and French equally at home or speaking only another language increased slightly over this period, from 1.8% to 2.6% and from 1.8% to 2.5%, respectively.

The proportion of people who reported speaking only French at home decreased from 72.0% in 2001 to 67.4% in 2011. In contrast, the proportion of people who reported speaking mostly French at home increased from 11.3% to 13.0% over the same period.

Between 2001 and 2011, the proportion of people in Gatineau who reported English as the only language they speak at home increased slightly, from 9.2% to 10.2%, as did the proportion of people who reported English as the language they most often speak at home (from 3.9% to 4.3%).

1.4.2. Language spoken most often at home

Between 1981 and 2011, the proportion of people in Gatineau who reported speaking French most often at home dropped from 83.4% to 79.7%, while the proportion of people who reported speaking English most often at home remained relatively stable (see Table 12). In contrast, the proportion of people who reported speaking another language most often at home tripled, from 1.9% in 1981 to 5.7% in 2011.

2.1.1. Sex

In 2011, 48.6% of Gatineau residents were men and 51.4% were women. Among the population whose mother tongue was French, the distribution was 48.2% men and 51.8% women, while for those whose mother tongue was English, it was 49.9% men 50.1% women. Among those whose mother tongue was neither English nor French, the distribution was 49.7% men and 50.5% women.

2.1.2. Age

The distribution among the various age groups varied slightly between the language groups (see Table 13). The population whose mother tongue was French had relatively few young people (aged 0 to 44) and a greater proportion of older people (aged 45 to 64 and aged 65 and over). The population whose mother tongue was neither English nor French had a greater proportion of people aged 35 to 44 than the other two populations.

2.1.3. Knowledge of both official languages and trilingualism

In 2011, almost two thirds (64.4%) of people in Gatineau reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages.

The proportions of people whose mother tongue was English or French and who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages were about the same, 62.2% and 66.3%, respectively. In comparison, this proportion was 51.8% for people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French.

The proportion of people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French and who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages as well as at least one other language (24.4%) was greater than the corresponding proportions for the French-speaking (11.7%) and English-speaking (3.8%) populations.

Nearly everyone whose mother tongue was neither English nor French and who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages also reported being able to conduct a conversation in a third language.

2.1.4. Province of work

In 2011, the majority (60.5%) of Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was English were employed in Ontario, as were 50.7% of workers whose mother tongue was neither English nor French. In comparison, only 32.4% of Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was French were employed in Ontario.

2.1.5. Language of work

In 2011, a large majority (88.0%) of workers in Gatineau reported using French most often and regularly at work, 70.5% of workers reported using English, and 1.3% reported using another language.

The vast majority (95.6%) of Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was French reported using French at work in 2011: 70.1% used it most often, 7.8% used it equally with English and 17.6% used it regularly as a secondary language. Among Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was French, nearly two thirds (65.9%) reported using English at work, with 22.0% using it most often, 7.8% using it equally with French and 36.0% using it regularly as a secondary language.

The vast majority (95.1%) of Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was English reported using English at work in 2011: 75.8% used it most often, 8.7% used it equally with French and 10.6% used it regularly as a secondary language.^{Footnote 4} Among Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was English, 54.6% reported using French at work, with 15.3% using it most often, 8.7% using it equally with English and 30.6% using it regularly as a secondary language.

The majority (68.4%) of Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was neither English nor French reported using French at work in 2011: 38.0% used it most often, 13.4% used it equally with English and 17.0% used it regularly as a secondary language. Among Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was neither English nor French, 78.1% reported using English at work, with 45.9% using it most often, 13.4% using it equally with French and 18.9% using it regularly as a secondary language.^{Footnote 5}

2.1.6. Interprovincial migration

According to statistics from 2011, 4.2% of Gatineau’s population resided in a province or territory other than Quebec at the time of the 2006 Census. This proportion was 2.5% among people whose mother tongue was French, compared with 13.3% among people whose mother tongue was English and 7.2% among people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French.

Interprovincial migrants came to Gatineau mainly from three provinces: Ontario (78.6%), New Brunswick (5.7%) and Alberta (5.0%).

Interprovincial migrants whose mother tongue was French came to Gatineau mainly from three provinces: Ontario (77.1%), New Brunswick (8.8%) and Alberta (3.8%).

Interprovincial migrants whose mother tongue was English came to Gatineau mainly from three provinces: Ontario (77.9%), Alberta (6.2%) and British Columbia (3.7%).

Interprovincial migrants whose mother tongue was neither English nor French came to Gatineau mainly from Ontario (84.2%), Alberta (5.9%) and Manitoba (4.3%).

2.1.7. Immigrant status and period of immigration

In 2011, 10.9% of Gatineau’s population were immigrants. The proportions among the English-speaking and French speaking populations were 7.2% and 2.9%, respectively. In contrast, more than three quarters (78.6%) of people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French were born outside of Canada.

In 2011, nearly three quarters (71.7%) of Gatineau’s immigrant population reported that their mother tongue was neither English nor French, while French was the mother tongue of 20.7% of Gatineau immigrants and English was the mother tongue of 7.6% of newcomers to Gatineau.

In Gatineau, nearly half (47.1%) of immigrants had arrived in Canada less than 10 years ago. This proportion was similar among Gatineau’s French-speaking immigrants (52.1%) and among immigrants whose mother tongue was neither English nor French (47.1%). In contrast, just upwards of a third (33.6%) of immigrants whose mother tongue was English settled in Canada during the same period.

2.1.8. Visible minorities

In 2011, 10.3% of people living in Gatineau were members of a visible minority. This proportion was 9.1% among people whose mother tongue was English and 3.7% among people whose mother tongue was French. Nearly two thirds (63.3%) of people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French were members of a visible minority.

In 2011, the mother tongue for the majority (61.3%) of the visible minority population of Gatineau was a language other than English or French. This proportion was much lower for people whose mother tongue was French (28.5%) and those whose mother tongue was English (10.2%).

In 2011, the three largest groups of visible minorities in Gatineau were Black, Arab and Latin American, which represented 37.7%, 24.0% and 14.3% of the visible minority population, respectively.

Among the visible minorities whose mother tongue was French, the three largest groups were Black (64.3%), Arab (14.1%) and Chinese (5.2%). Among the visible minorities whose mother tongue was English, the three largest groups were Black (46.4%), Arab (16.5%) and South Asian (8.4%). And Among the visible minorities whose mother tongue was neither English nor French, the three largest groups were Arab (29.8%), Black (24.0%) and Latin American (21.1%).

2.1.9. Highest level of education attained

In 2011, 21.1% of Gatineau’s population aged 15 and over had no certificate, diploma or degree.

A little over one fifth (21.9%) of the population aged 15 and over whose mother tongue was French had no certificate, diploma or degree. The corresponding proportions for those whose mother tongue was English and those whose mother tongue was neither English nor French were slightly lower: 18.7% and 17.3%, respectively.

In 2011, 57.0% of Gatineau’s population aged 15 and older had post-secondary qualifications.

Among Gatineau’s population aged 15 and older whose mother tongue was neither English nor French, nearly two thirds (64.4%) had post-secondary qualifications. The corresponding proportions were somewhat lower for those whose mother tongue was French (56.3%) and those whose mother tongue was English (54.9%).

In 2011, nearly a quarter (22.9%) of Gatineau’s population aged 15 and older had post-secondary qualifications at a bachelor level or above.

Among those aged 15 and over whose official language was neither English nor French, a little over a third (36.5%) had post-secondary qualifications at a bachelor level or above. Again, proportions were lower for those whose mother tongue was English (22.8%) and those whose mother tongue was French (21.1%).

2.1.10. Unemployment rate

In 2011, the unemployment rate^{Footnote 6} in Gatineau was 5.7%.

Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was French had the lowest unemployment rate (5.2%), followed by those whose mother tongue was English (6.7%) and those whose mother tongue was neither English nor French (8.7%).

2.1.11. Income and employment income^{Footnote 7}

In 2011, the mean and median incomes^{Footnote 8} of people living in Gatineau whose mother tongue was French (approximately $42,400 and $36,500) were practically identical to those whose mother tongue was English (approximately $42,300 and $36,400).

People living in Gatineau whose mother tongue was neither English nor French had a mean income that was $7,500 lower than that of the Francophone population and $7,400 lower than that of the Anglophone population. Their median income was $9,300 lower than that of the Francophone population and $9,200 lower than that of the Anglophone population.

The mean employment income people living in Gatineau whose mother tongue was English ($44,200) was slightly higher than that of people whose mother tongue was French ($43,300). The median employment income of these two populations was very similar: $39,100 and $39,000, respectively.

People living in Gatineau whose mother tongue was neither English nor French had a mean employment income that was $6,400 lower than that of the Anglophone population and $5,500 lower than that of the Francophone population. Their median employment income was $8,100 lower than that of the Anglophone population and $8,000 lower than that of the Francophone population.

2.1.12. Employment sectors

In 2011, nearly half (49.5%) of Gatineau’s labour force was employed in the following sectors: public administration (27.7%), retail trade (11.0%) and health care and social assistance (10.7%).

Similarly, just upwards of half (50.8%) of Gatineau’s French-speaking workers were employed in public administration (28.2%), retail trade (11.4%) and health care and social assistance (11.1%).

Nearly half (44.6%) of Gatineau’s English-speaking workers were employed in public administration (26.6%), retail trade (10.2%) and accommodation and food services (7.8%).

And almost half (46.4%) of Gatineau workers whose mother tongue is neither English nor French were employed in public administration (25.2%), health care and social assistance (11.9%) and accommodation and food services (9.4%).

In 2011, workers whose mother tongue was French made up 78.2% of Gatineau’s labour force. This segment of the population was overrepresented in the utilities sector (91.9%) and underrepresented in the sectors of accommodation and food services (70.0%) and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (69.7%).

Workers whose mother tongue was English constituted 11.6% of Gatineau’s labour force. This group was overrepresented in arts, entertainment and recreation (16.1%) finance and insurance (15.8%) and wholesale trade (15.5%), and underrepresented in utilities (5.0%), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (5.7%) and health care and social assistance (7.8%).

Workers whose mother tongue was neither English nor French represented 10.2% of Gatineau’s labour force and was overrepresented in administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (15.8%) and accommodation and food services (15.4%), and underrepresented in sectors such as utilities (2.5%) and arts and entertainment (6.8%).

2.1.13. Occupations

In 2011, the most common occupations among workers in Gatineau whose mother tongue was French were associated with business, finance and administration (23.5%) and sales and service (23.0%), as well as education, law and social, community and government services (14.6%).

The most common occupations in Gatineau for workers whose mother tongue was English were related to sales and service (24.0%), business, finance and administration (22.7%) and education, law and social, community and government services (12.8%).

The most common occupations for Gatineau workers whose mother tongue was neither English nor French were in sales and service (26.3%), business, finance and administration (20.2%) and education, law and social, community and government services (16.5%).

2.1.14. English-French exogamous couples

In 2011, of the 9,965 Gatineau couples in which the mother tongue of at least one spouse was English, 6,420 (64.4%) were English-French exogamous couples.

2.2.1. Sex

In 2011, 48.6% of Gatineau residents were men and 51.4% were women. Among the population whose FOLS was French, the distribution was nearly identical to that of the general population, with 48.3% men and 51.7% women. However, among the population whose FOLS was English, there were slightly fewer women (49.9%) than men (50.1%). Among people whose FOLS was neither English nor French, there was a significant difference between men (42%) and women (58%).

2.2.2. Age

The distribution among the various age groups differed between the language groups. The population whose FOLS was English had more young people (except for the youngest group aged 0 to 14) and fewer older people (see Table 14). The most notable differences were between the general population and the population whose FOLS was neither English nor French. The latter population had a very high number of youth under the age of 14 (36.8%) and people over the age of 65 (26.4%). However, this is a very small population.

2.2.3. Knowledge of both official languages and trilingualism

In 2011, the proportion of people in Gatineau whose FOLS was French and who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages (65.8%) was greater than that of people whose FOLS was English (58.8%).

The proportion of people in Gatineau whose FOLS was French and who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both official languages and at least one other language (8.7%) was relatively low compared to that of people whose FOLS was English (16.9%).

2.2.4. Province of work

In 2011, almost two thirds (61.6%) of Gatineau workers whose FOLS was English were employed in Ontario, compared with nearly one third of workers whose FOLS was French (32.9%).

2.2.5. Language of work

In 2011, the vast majority (95.3%) of Gatineau workers whose FOLS was French reported using French at work: 69.3% used it most often, 8.4% used it equally with English and 17.6% used it regularly as a secondary language. Among Gatineau workers whose FOLS was French, two thirds (66.0%) reported using English at work, with 22.2% using it most often, 8.4% using it equally with French and 35.4% using it regularly as a secondary language.

The vast majority (94.6%) of Gatineau workers whose FOLS was English reported using English at work: 75.0% used it most often, 9.1% used it equally with French and 10.5% used it regularly as a secondary language.^{Footnote 9} Among Gatineau workers whose FOLS was English, 51.1% reported using French at work, with 15.2% using it most often, 9.1% using it equally with English and 26.9% using it regularly as a secondary language.

2.2.6. Interprovincial migration

In 2011, 2.6% of people in Gatineau whose FOLS was French reported having lived in a province or territory other than Quebec in 2006. However, there was a higher proportion (12.7%) of interprovincial migrants among the population whose FOLS was English.

Interprovincial migrants whose FOLS was French came to Gatineau mainly from three provinces: Ontario (78.9%), New Brunswick (8.1%) and Alberta (4.1%).

Interprovincial migrants whose FOLS was English came to Gatineau mainly from three provinces: Ontario (79.9%), Alberta (6.0%) and British Columbia (3.6%).

2.2.7. Immigrant status and period of immigration

In 2011, 59.6% of Gatineau’s immigrant population reported French as their FOLS and 36.4% reported English as their FOLS, while the percentage of Gatineau immigrants whose FOLS was neither English nor French was 4%.

In 2011, about half (51.8%) of immigrants to Gatineau whose FOLS was French came to Canada during the past 10 years. In contrast, 39.1% of immigrants whose FOLS was English FOLS came to Canada during the past 10 years.

2.2.8. Visible minorities

In 2011, 10.3% of people living in Gatineau were members of a visible minority. This proportion was 22.2% among people whose FOLS was English and 7.7% among people whose FOLS was French.

In 2011, nearly two thirds (62.8%) of Gatineau’s visible minority population comprised people whose FOLS was French. The proportion was nearly half this size for people whose FOLS was English (33.3%).

In 2011, among the visible minorities whose FOLS was French, the three largest groups in Gatineau were Black (46.9%), Arab (23.5%) and Latin American (13.9%). Among the visible minorities whose FOLS was English, the three largest groups were the same, but in a different order: Arab (24.5%), Black (22.7%) and Latin American (14.3%).

2.2.9. Highest level of education attained

Among Gatineau residents, 16.8% of the population whose FOLS was English and 21.6% of the population whose FOLS was French had no certificate, diploma or degree.

Over two thirds (68.7%) of Gatineau’s population aged 15 and older whose FOLS was neither English nor French had no certificate, diploma, or degree.

The majority (58.9%) of people living in Gatineau aged 15 and older whose FOLS was English had post-secondary qualifications, as did the majority (56.8%) of those whose FOLS was French. In contrast, only 15.4% of people in Gatineau aged 15 and older whose FOLS was neither English nor French had post-secondary qualifications.

In 2011, just over a quarter (27.8%) of the population aged 15 and older whose FOLS was English and just under a quarter (22.0%) of those whose FOLS was French had post-secondary qualifications at a bachelor level or above. In contrast, only 4.6% of those whose FOLS was neither English nor French had the same qualifications.

2.2.10. Unemployment rate

In 2011, people whose FOLS was French had the lowest unemployment rate (5.5%) in Gatineau, followed by those whose FOLS was English FOLS (7.2%) and those whose FOLS was neither English nor French (8.0%).^{Footnote 10}

2.2.11. Income and employment income

In 2011, in Gatineau, the mean and median incomes of people living in Gatineau whose FOLS was French ($41,900 and $35,900, respectively) were higher than the mean and median incomes of those whose FOLS was English ($40,600 and $34,800, respectively).

The mean and median employment incomes for people living in Gatineau whose FOLS was French ($42,900 and $38,300, respectively) were similar to those of people whose FOLS was English ($42,700 and $38,200, respectively).

2.2.12. Employment sectors

In 2011, half (50.5%) of Gatineau workers whose FOLS was French were employed in the following sectors: public administration (28.0%), health care and social assistance (11.3%) and retail trade (11.2%).

Nearly half (44.9%) of Gatineau workers whole FOLS was English were employed in public administration (26.5%), retail trade (9.7%) and accommodation and food services (8.7%).

In 2011, workers whose FOLS was French constituted 83.7% of Gatineau’s labour force. This segment of the population was overrepresented in utilities (93.8%) and underrepresented in accommodation and food services (77.4%) and professional, scientific and technical services (78.5%).

Workers whose FOLS was English represented 16.1% of Gatineau’s labour force. This group was overrepresented in sectors such as accommodation and food services (22.4%), professional, technical and scientific services (21.4%) and finance and insurance (20.5%) and underrepresented in sectors such as utilities (6.2%), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (10.0%) and health care and social assistance (11.5%).

2.2.13. Occupations

In 2011, most common occupations among workers in Gatineau whose FOLS was French were related to sales and service (23.3%), business, finance and administration (23.2%) and education, law and social, community and governments services (14.9%).

The most common occupations in Gatineau among workers whose FOLS was English were in sales and service (24.4%), business, finance and administration (22.5%), and education, law and social, community and governments services (13.0%).