A French-language institution serves only a small minority, since French is less important than other languages in Alberta. It’s a dying language all over the world.
In Alberta, French ranks 3rd as mother tongue and 2nd in knowledge of languages. On a world scale, French ranks as the 5th most spoken language, in addition to being spoken on all continents. French is also the 2nd most learned language by citizens around the world.
During Canada’s 2016 census, 86,705 Albertans identified French as their mother tongue, placing it 3rd among mother tongues; English ranked 1st (3,080,875), and Tagalog ranked 2nd (99,035). However, when we consider knowledge of languages, 268,615 Albertans (6.7%) know French, one of the two official languages in Canada. Therefore, French is the 2nd highest ranking language in Alberta, after English.
Regarding the state of French, there is a worldwide craze for learning the language. Even though French ranks 5th as a language of use around the world, it i ranks 2nd in terms of the learning rate. On average, the use of French has increased by 10% and it is estimated that the world’s population of French speakers will increase from a current 300 million to 500 million by 2060. French is therefore not endangered or dying off in any sense; quite the contrary!
