French Canadians
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century; French: Canadiens français, pronounced [kanadjɛ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛ]; feminine form: Canadiennes françaises, pronounced [kanadjɛn fʁɑ̃sɛːz]), or Franco-Canadians (French: Franco-Canadiens), are an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to French colonists who settled in France's colony of Canada beginning in the 17th century.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 4,995,040 in Canada (by ancestry) 14.5% of the total Canadian population (2016) c. 10.56 million (French-speaking Canadians) 29.1% of the total Canadian population (2021) 1,998,012 in the United States (2020) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Canada: majority in Quebec, large minority in New Brunswick, small minorities in Northern Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. United States: small French Canadian American minorities in New England, New York, Michigan and Louisiana. | |
| Languages | |
| Canadian French, Canadian English, Franglais | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Roman Catholic, minority Protestant, Irreligious | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Quebecois, other French, Acadians, Cajuns, Métis, Brayons, Breton Canadians, Old Stock Canadians |
| Part of a series of articles on the |
| French people |
|---|
During the 17th century, French settlers originating mainly from the west and north of France settled Canada. It is from them that the French Canadian ethnicity was born. During the 17th to 18th centuries, French Canadians expanded across North America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns. As a result, people of French Canadian descent can be found across North America. Between 1840 and 1930, many French Canadians immigrated to New England, an event known as the Grande Hémorragie.