The impact of immigration on local ethnic groups' demographic representativeness: The case study of ethnic French Canadians in Quebec

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of immigration on local ethnic groups' demographic weight (DW) by presenting a case study. In this study, the ethnic French Canadians (EFC), a group that makes up the majority of the Province of Quebec, were studied to evaluate the impact of immigration on their DW. It was found that EFC transitioned from a DW of 79% in 1971 to a DW of 64.5% in 2014; projections predict that EFC would decrease to a DW of 45% in 2050. Moreover, 45 immigration rate scenarios and total fertility rates were projected; it was found that immigration level and fertility level could be jointly classified into three categories related to their effect on ethno‐demographic decrease; one of these categories may help suggest a quantitative definition for the concept of mass immigration.

Transformations in contemporary Quebec nationalism, 1960–2020: A shift in the sources of collective animosities

“…The decline of the historic French‐speaking majority, particularly in the Montreal area where immigrants are settling, will only feed their anxiety. According to a study by Gaudreault (2020, p. 938), this majority only represented 64.5% of the population in 2014 and could fall below 50% by mid‐century. It is easy to imagine that language and immigration issues will become more important and that the “Other”, consisting of religious and linguistic minorities, will be at the heart of the concerns of nationalist elites.…”