What is the history of British Columbian Francophone community?

Question: What is the history of British Columbian Francophone community!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

The population of British Columbia is linguistically very homogeneous!. Of the 3,689,755 inhabitants of the province, fewer than 900,000 have a mother tongue other than English!. Francophones account for 1!.5 percent of the total population, while 823,603 British Columbians have a non-official mother tongue!.

An increase in numbers!.!.!.
The number of people with French as their mother tongue went up from 51,585 in 1991 to 56,755 in 1996!. In 1981, the number was 43,415!. This increase came on the heels of the strong growth of the franco-British Columbian population during the 1960s due to a strong economy!. For over fifty years, many francophones from all over Canada have been drawn to British Columbia where they have formed an extensive network of institutions, both in major centers and in small towns!.

!.!.!.Which is not reflected in the percentages
Since 1951, the percentage of francophones in British Columbia dropped from 1!.7 percent to 1!.5 percent!. Their proportion of the total population thus remained essentially the same despite a significant increase in the number of people with French as their mother tongue!. Widely dispersed throughout British Columbia, franco-phones do not constitute a high percentage of the population anywhere in the province!.

A male majority
In the francophone population of British Columbia, there are slightly more males than females: 30,540 males to 30,135 females!. However, in the group of francophones with both French and English as their mother tongues, women are 52 percent of the total!.

A mostly adult population
A large majority of franco-British Columbians are adults!. Under 15s make up only 6!.8 percent of the total franco-British Columbian population compared to 19!.9 percent for the population of the province as a whole!. Francophones in British Columbia are not replenishing their numbers at the same rate as other population groups in the province!. A larger percentage of them are, however, of working age and able to actively participate in the economic life of the province!.

A variety of roots
Only one franco-British Columbian in ten was born in British Columbia!. People born elsewhere in Canada make up the great majority of British Columbia franco-phones!. The francophone community in British Columbia thus has roots all across the country and for this reason has developed close ties with francophone communities in the other provinces and territories!. More than 12!.8 percent of franco-British Columbians were born outside the country, thus adding to the diversity of this community in the province!. Two thirds come from western and northern Europe!.

A mobile population
Less than 40 percent of franco-British Columbians lived at the same address in 1996 as in 1991!. Another quarter of the population lived in the same municipality!. These figures, while indicating that a large part of the population is stable, still show significant migration within the province!. Several thousand franco-phones also came from other provinces during the five years preceding the last census!. British Columbia has proven very attractive to other Canadian francophones!.
http://franco!.ca/atlas/francophonie/engl!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

here's what i found on wikipedia:

Franco-Columbians or Franco-Colombiens are French Canadians or French speaking Canadians (Francophones) living in the Pacific province of British Columbia!.

British Columbia is, geographically, the farthest-removed province from Canada's historic francophone population, thus it is not surprising to find that francophone British Columbians are few in number!. The 2001 census placed the number of British Columbians with French as a mother tongue at 54,400, a figure well below English (2,825,780), 'other Chinese' (130,330), Cantonese (127,120), Punjabi (121,740) and German (84,605)!. A good number of these listed francophones would be European and African immigrants or migrants from eastern Canada, and therefore not members of the Franco-Columbian community per se!. The popularity of French immersion education programmes have also meant that the French-speaking population outnumbers the Francophone population!.Www@QuestionHome@Com