French Canadian

[I-90 W]

Canadian folks, please help me out with something. My wife and mother in law think that French Canadian is a different ethnicity than French, but I think it’s the same, just with Canadian nationality. 

Am I wrong? This came up when mentioning that my grandmother's side was French Canadian. 

[miles]

Wouldn't french Canadian be Canadian that lives in a predominantly french speaking area?

What do i know though

[NoSleeves_McGee]

I'm French Canadian. Born and raised.

The culture is as different as Americans are to British. As for ethnicity. It's still Caucasian. 

We share a language but that's about it. It's even a different dialect.

Folk music sounds Irish, traditional food is comfort food closer to Irish food than French.

[Curt]

I don’t think it’s an ethnicity at all.  It’s a culture probably.  A language definitely.

The classic French Canadian person has ancestry of immigrants from northern/western France.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

2 hours ago, I-90 W said:

Canadian folks, please help me out with something. My wife and mother in law think that French Canadian is a different ethnicity than French, but I think it’s the same, just with Canadian nationality. 

Am I wrong? This came up when mentioning that my grandmother's side was French Canadian. 

Vous êtes grosse, vous êtes laid et votre mère vous habille étrangement. 😛

[SwampD]

6 minutes ago, Curt said:

I don’t think it’s an ethnicity at all.  It’s a culture probably.  A language definitely.

The classic French Canadian person has ancestry of immigrants from northern/western France.

I often watch the French feed of hockey games on NHL.TV. I’ve notice that just like American-English is somewhat harsh and staccato compared to English-English, so to is Canadian-French compared to French-French.

This has nothing to do with this conversation. I just find it interesting.

[dudacek]

Quebecois culture has diverged significantly from European French over the past 500 years, so definite difference there.

If you're talking genetics, French Canadian would have a similar profile as, say, Irish American.

[miles]

6 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I often watch the French feed of hockey games on NHL.TV. I’ve notice that just like American-English is somewhat harsh and staccato compared to English-English, so to is Canadian-French compared to French-French.

This has nothing to do with this conversation. I just find it interesting.

We had a client that was from England and it took me a couple of meetings with him where i needed to listen closely to what he was saying. After that i had no issues and after a bit i no longer heard the accent. 

Same with when i used to follow baseball. i watched the red sox and their announcer, jerry remy has a big boston accent. it took a few games for me to get used to it and eventually I didn't hear the accent anymore 

 

Not related to the post topic at all, just saying 

Edited January 6, 2021 by miles

[French Collection]

I am not an authority on this but I am French Canadian.

The colonization of Canada was begun by the French. Canada was a French colony for almost 200 years. The defeat by the British changed the landlord but most French speaking people remained. Subsequent waves of immigration reduced the majority of the “french Canadians” but they still have a decent population ( about 10-20%)

The majority of French Canadians live in the province of Quebec but there are many in New Brunswick and Ontario.

Canada has two official languages, English and French , due to this history.

Most French Canadians have deep roots in this country, although nowhere near the depth of First Nations people. My ancestors have lived in Canada for nearly 400 years and this is common with french speaking Canadians as immigration from France basically stopped in the mid 1700’s.

[Curt]

I’ll just add because it’s interesting, French-Canadien American here.

My family is from extreme upstate NY, literally right on the Canadian border.  Most people there have French Canadian ancestry.  My grandfather spoke only French in the home as a child.

My sister took a DNA test and it came back about 95 percent French-Canadian, which is kinda boring, but it was interesting because it was able to go into specifics about what area of France our ancestors immigrated from, where they immigrated to, when they likely immigrated.

French Canadian is different from French as a language, a culture, and genetic makeup.  Most of the immigrants were from north-western France.  Few from the south or east.  The passage of time has formed the Quebec culture into its own separate thing.

I wouldn’t call it an ethnicity, but I would say the cultures of Quebec and France are different.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Curt

[PromoTheRobot]

34 minutes ago, Curt said:

I’ll just add because it’s interesting, French-Canadian American here.

My family is from extreme upstate NY, literally right on the Canadian border.  Most people there have French Canadian ancestry.  My grandfather spoke only French in the home as a child.

My sister took a DNA test and it came back about 95 percent French-Canadian, which is kinda boring, but it was interesting because it was able to go into specifics about what area of France our ancestors immigrated from, where they immigrated to, when they likely immigrated.

French Canadian is different from French as a language, a culture, and genetic makeup.  Most of the immigrants were from north-western France.  Few from the south or east.  The passage of time has formed the Quebec culture into its own separate thing.

I wouldn’t call it an ethnicity, but I would say the cultures of Quebec and France are different.

And New Hampshire, where I live, has a sizable French Canadian immigrant population. Many came down from Quebec to work in the linen mills along the Merrimack River. The west side of Manchester is like a Little Quebec. Also don't forget the Acadians (or Cajuns) who migrated from Quebec when the British expelled them for refusing to pledge loyalty to the Crown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Acadians

[Taro T]

10 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

And New Hampshire, where I live, has a sizable French Canadian immigrant population. Many came down from Quebec to work in the linen mills along the Merrimack River. The west side of Manchester is like a Little Quebec. Also don't forget the Acadians (or Cajuns) who migrated from Quebec when the British expelled them for refusing to pledge loyalty to the Crown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Acadians

They're ALL trying to forget the Cajuns.  😉

[bob_sauve28]

The French colonized all throughout the rivers and lakes in North America. The French and Indian War happened in large measure as the Brits pushed inland towards Pittsburg and ran into the French, who were not there in great numbers. The fur trade is actually what the French were big in. From New Orleans, to Louisville Kentucky, Dunkirk NY, up into Canada, the French had scattered settlements. Lots of French names in our area of the country. The Griffon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Griffon was a French ship