French language in Canada French language in Canada French is the mother tongue of about 7.2 million Canadians (20.6% of the Canadian population, second to English at 56%) according to Census Canada 2016. Most native speakers of the French language in Canada live in Quebec, where French is the majority official language. 77% of Quebec's population are native francophones, and 95% of the population speak French as their first or second language. Additionally, about one million native francophones live in other provinces, forming a sizable minority in New Brunswick, which is officially a bilingual province, where about one-third of the population are francophone. There
Section 17 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 17 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 17 of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" is one of the provisions of the "Charter" that addresses rights relating to Canada's two official languages, English and French. While the section 17 right to use either language within the Parliament of Canada repeats a right already anchored in section 133 of the "Constitution Act, 1867", section 17 also guarantees the right to use both languages in the legislature of New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province under section 16 of the "Charter". Section 17 reads, As noted in