Francophone/ Anglophone border in New Brunswick? (live in, move, bill)

[Sam-IE]

Is English the main language in most of New Brunswick? Being officially bilingual, I guess NB is different from northern Maine, where English has a higher status than French, even in Franco-majority areas, and even when English isn't the official language of Maine.

thanks for your answers!

[Acajack]

The francophone and anglophone populations of NB are not spread out evenly across the province.

French speakers are in the NW, NE and SE, and in many cases their towns can be almost 100% francophone.

English speakers tend to be in the central, southern and SW of the province.

The two groups do overlap a bit in the central-northern region (Campbellton-Bathurst) and in the Moncton area.

[QuebecOpec]

This map shows the percentagge and distribution of francophones in NB.
Green means, that they make up less than 10% of the population, while purple means that they make up more than 70%.

As you can see, francophones live in the North, while anglophones live in the Centre and South. The language border is the sparsely populated white area.
And yes, English is the main language, but in general, you have either French-majority or English-majority areas. It would be a wise and smart move of northern NB to join Québec and get Bill 101 protection (albeit it's a weak law), to prevent the francophone population from further shrinking.

[Sam-IE]

Insteresting map! So, is Edmunston the only urban area in New Brunswick where French is primary and dominant over English, as well as the expected common language?

Are English and French treated equally in Campbellton and Bathurst?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Sam-IE

Insteresting map! So, is Edmunston the only urban area in New Brunswick where French is primary and dominant over English, as well as the expected common language?

Yes, Edmundston is the biggest place that is totally French dominant. Caraquet and Tracadie in the NE are also totally French but they are smaller towns of maybe 5,000-10,000 people.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Sam-IE

Are English and French treated equally in Campbellton and Bathurst?

It depends on who you talk to. Some people say they're fairly balanced, others say English dominates and others say French dominates.

I'd probably give a very slight edge to English in both places, though both of them are regional centres for many 100% francophone towns and villages nearby so that means the local francophone population (about 50$ in both Bathurst and Campbellton) is supplemented by lots of francophones (sometimes with limited English skills) out and about in town.