The social and historical context of minority French language education in Ontario

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of the minority French‐speaking population in Ontario from its origins in the seventeenth century to the present day, focussing on the changing circumstances affecting minority French‐language education. Political, economic and demographic processes are shown to influence the role French‐language schools have been expected to and have been able to play in contributing to the maintenance of French language and culture. The authors conclude that the schools will not be able to achieve their objectives without a higher level of community and government support and without the further development of strategies adapted to the prevalent sociolinguistic reality.