More and more Albertans are speaking French these days, and now the province is taking the first steps in developing a policy on French-language services.
Starting later this month, the province will hold nine targeted sessions in French for a broad cross-section of the francophone community, with the goal of improving access to government services in French.
“Alberta’s rich and vibrant French-speaking community is an integral part of our cultural fabric,” Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda said.
“This will enhance Alberta’s competitive advantage, strengthen our relationship with the francophone community, and leverage Alberta’s fair share of francophone funding from the federal government.”
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The province said it won’t cost anything extra to develop a French-language services policy because any policy implementation would be covered by federal funding. Alberta is one of only two provinces to have neither a policy nor legislation on services in French.
Alberta has the fastest-growing francophone population outside of Quebec, increasing 40 per cent in the past 20 years. French is the second-most spoken language in Alberta, after English. According to 2011 census data, there were 81,085 Francophones in Alberta, or 2.1 per cent of the population. Edmonton has the largest francophone population of any centre in the province.
The consultation process will be carried out by the Culture and Tourism ministry’s Francophone Secretariat: a liaison between the Alberta government and Alberta’s Francophone community. The process will also include other government ministries and representatives from select agencies.
Albertans who do not participate in the consultations can fill out an online survey.
While French and English are Canada’s official languages, only 17.5 per cent of Canadians say they can carry on a conversation in both.
New Brunswick is the only official bilingual province. All three federal territories are also officially bilingual.
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