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The francophone share of the Canadian population has declined dramatically over time. Francophones outnumbered anglophones in the territory that would become Canada by a count of eight to one in 1763, but comprise just 22 percent of Canada’s total population today. The vast majority of francophones live in Quebec.
The key turning point in Quebec society was the Quiet Revolution, which began in the 1960s. After this time the birth rate in Quebec fell from being the highest in Canada, to being the lowest. During the Quiet Revolution, traditional French Canadian nationalism was replaced by a new nationalism. Traditional nationalism, characterized by conservation or self-defense, was anchored on the Catholic religion and the French language. In contrast, the new nationalism was anchored on the understanding of the history of Quebec as characterized by language and dependency. The new nationalism was secular and looked to the Quebec state to take control of its political and economic destiny.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Quebec began to implement reforms including the establishment of a provincial ministry of education and the creation of several Crown corporations. Quebec also introduced Bill 101, a law designed to protect and promote the dominance of the French language. For its part, Ottawa took a different approach to language, introducing official bilingualism in 1969. The Official Languages Act ensured that both French and English were protected and used in government, and gave funding both to organizations seeking to protect or promote official languages and for second-language instruction and minority language instruction in the provinces.
The demand for constitutional recognition of Quebec as a “distinct society” began in the 1980s. The main justification is Quebec’s unique history as one of “two founding peoples.” Many Canadians do not favour such recognition, mainly out of fear that it will give Quebec special powers not available to the other provinces. Many English Canadians believe that a “distinct society” designation offends their understanding of equality. Still, the pursuit of recognition of Quebec as distinct or different carried on for number of years from the failed Meech Lake Accord on through to the Calgary Declaration in 1997. The failure of the Bloc Québécois in the 2011 federal election and the defeat of the Parti Québécois in the 2014 provincial election find the sovereignty movement in a precarious position.