An ethnic mosaic
Reflecting its history, Quebec's population is ethnoculturally diverse, a face that has been shaped by numerous waves of migration, starting with the Aboriginals, whose presence dates back thousands of years. Then came the first Europeans with colonization, mainly from France and the British Isles. It wasn't until the first decades of the 20th century that immigration began to diversify, with the arrival of Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Ukrainian communities. From 1930 to 1950, immigration slowed sharply due to the Depression and the Second World War, before picking up again with an influx of immigrants from the Mediterranean Basin and Central Europe. This was followed in the 1970s by a large group from Southeast Asia, and in the 1980s by Latin Americans, Haitians and Lebanese. Since the 1990s, Eastern Europe, China, South Asia, the Middle East, the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa have added their touch to Quebec's cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic character.
Indigenous Peoples
According to the latest census data (2021), 2.3% of the Quebec population is of Aboriginal origin, or 193,365 people of Amerindian, Métis or Inuit ancestry registered with the federal government (residents and non-residents). Aboriginals include First Nations (Amerindians), Métis and Inuit peoples. A day is dedicated to them from coast to coast: June 21, National Aboriginal Peoples' Day.
Eleven nations, divided into three major linguistic families, represent the Aboriginal peoples of Quebec: the Algonquins of the boreal forest, the Iroquois of the St. Lawrence plain and the Inuit of Nunavik. The Algonquins, the most numerous, include the Anishinabe, Cree, Micmac, Malecite, Innu (or Montagnais, not to be confused with the Inuit), Naskapi, Abenaki and Atikamekw. The Iroquois are represented by the Huron-Wendat and the Mohawk. These eleven Aboriginal nations are scattered in some sixty communities throughout Quebec, some with fewer than 200 inhabitants, others more than 5,000, located near major urban centers or in remote areas. On the Ungava Peninsula, north of the 55th parallel, some fifteen Inuit villages populate the Nunavik territory in the heart of the Arctic tundra.
Today's Canada is making a greater effort than in the past to take care of its Aboriginal peoples. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in May 2015 on the subject of residential schools (and the acculturation that resulted from them since the late 19th century), enjoining the government to implement the Commission's recommendations, including its unqualified endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which it has done. And after years of lobbying the previous government, Justin Trudeau's Liberals launched an independent national inquiry into the more than 1,200 missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. Its hard-hitting report, released in June 2019, concludes that "numerous violations of the rights of Aboriginal women and girls" occurred across the country, including in Quebec, even using the word "genocide" dozens of times throughout the final 1,200-page report.
The English-speaking community
Although English is the dominant language in North America, Quebec's 840,000 or so English-speakers are in the minority in the province. Following the Conquest of 1759-60, immigrants from the British Isles became the colony's first English-speaking Quebecers. As subjects of the British Empire, they enjoyed a privileged status that allowed them to remain on the bangs of French-speaking institutions controlled by the Catholic Church until the 20th century. As a result, they founded and maintained numerous public and private English-language institutions: they have their own school boards under the Quebec English School Boards Association, not to mention colleges and universities, private institutes, hospitals and clinics, community centers and other places dedicated to the community. English-speaking Quebecers live mainly in the southwest of the province, notably near the U.S. border and on the north shore of the Ottawa River, as well as on the Lower North Shore near Labrador. Although there are still descendants of immigrants from the British Isles, it is recent immigration that now makes up the majority of Quebec's English-speaking population.
Quebec French
It is called "Quebec French", but also "Quebec French", "Quebecois" and even "Canadian French". All these names represent the variety of French spoken by the majority of French-speaking Canadians, mainly by Quebecers (although it should be distinguished from Acadian). Although its origins lie in the Parisian language of the 18th century, Quebec French has undoubtedly retained elements of regional languages such as Norman, Saintongeais or Gallo.
What strikes you when you arrive in Quebec is of course the accent, but also the pronunciation, the particular expressions and the sometimes surprising syntax. And like everywhere else in the French-speaking world, these elements vary from one region to another. Then there is a certain local colour. In this regard, because of their geographical location, Quebecers use a lot of anglicisms while defending the French language. While some words were invented to avoid using an English word, such as "magasinage" instead of shopping, "ferry" instead of ferry, or "fin de semaine" instead of week-end, Anglicisms are commonplace. Many of them have even found their way into the Office québécois de la langue française with the adoption of the Politique des emprunts linguistiques. What a paradox !
