Thank you for your question.
When we try to understand trends in language groups in demographics, we take a number of factors into account. You mentioned the birth rate or what is known as the fertility rate. Francophones are not necessarily having fewer children than anglophones. There are other factors that have an impact on the trends we see in language groups. Among francophones outside Quebec, the factor that has a direct impact is interprovincial migration. You may recall that between 1996 and 2001, the number of francophones outside Quebec increased by 10,000, and most of this growth was attributable to the migration of francophones outside Quebec. Most of these francophones went to Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. So interprovincial migration is a significant factor, as it is for anglophones in Quebec.
For a number of years, francophones outside Quebec had been relying on immigration. The thinking is that if the birth rate is not high enough, they will rely more on immigrants from abroad.
We must remember that outside Quebec, approximately 1% of immigrants speak French as their first official language. So, as you can imagine, any attempt to change the situation is a significant challenge. We know that the age structure, language transfers, that is the non-transmission of the language, the fact that English is the language most often spoken at home and inter-generational language transfer, that is,—whether or not French is passed on to children—also result in a reduced number of francophones outside Quebec. A number of factors come into play, but, outside Quebec, the fact that French is not being passed on to children, the fact that few immigrants outside Quebec speak French and the significant mobility of francophones between the provinces account for this trend in large part.