Outside Quebec, francophone Canada is concentrated rather than evenly spread. Knowing where changes how you hire.
Ontario
The largest francophone minority community in the country. Concentrated in the east around Ottawa, the northeast around Sudbury and Timmins, and the southwest near Windsor.
New Brunswick
The only officially bilingual province, roughly a third French-speaking. The Acadian communities are in the north and east — the Acadian Peninsula, Moncton, Dieppe, Edmundston.
Manitoba
Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg is the historic centre, with francophone communities through the province's south.
Alberta
Growing, concentrated in Edmonton and Calgary. Edmonton has Campus Saint-Jean and an established francophone quarter.
Nova Scotia
Acadian communities in Clare, Argyle and Chéticamp, with long histories and their own institutions.
Saskatchewan and British Columbia
Smaller Fransaskois and francophone communities, present but dispersed.
Why this matters for hiring
Two reasons. Where a community already exists, a francophone newcomer finds schools, services and people who speak their language — and retention follows.
And where a community exists, some local hiring may be possible before you look further afield.
The limit of local hiring
In shortage sectors these pools are already fully employed. Statistics Canada found that among establishments requiring bilingualism, more than one in six expected difficulty hiring.
That is the point at which employers look outside Canada.
FrancoBridge publishes to French-speaking candidates in five overseas markets and across Canada.
This is general information for employers.