Demographics of the English-speaking community of the Gaspé Coast in Quebec

1. DEMOGRAPHICS
The English-speaking
Community of the Gaspé Coast

2. CASA
Established in 1975, CASA works to build and strengthen
the vitality of the English-speaking community of the
Gaspé Coast by:
 representing the English-speaking community’s interests and
designing and delivering programming that respond to its needs
 working in collaboration with local, regional, provincial and
national government, institutions, organizations and partners.

3. English speakers in Quebec
In the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-
Madeleine region, the English-
speaking community is
comprised of 9,945 individuals
and makes up 10.7% of the
regional population.

4. English speakers in the Gaspésie

5. Measured against other Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC),
the OLMC of Gaspésie has the poorest socio-economic status in Canada.

6. The community has the highest
rate of unemployment in Quebec
28.4%
14.3%
9.4%
6.9%
Gapesie English speakers
Gaspesie French speakers
Quebec English speakers
Quebec French speakers

7. The English-speaking community in Avignon has
the highest rate of unemployment in the region,
while Côte-de-Gaspé has the lowest.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Gaspésie-Îles
Bonaventure
Avignon
Rocher-Percé
Côte-de-Gaspé
Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Unemployment (% of the population age 15 and over)
French-speaking English-speaking

8. Educational attainment
Population without high school
certificate
In GIM, English are more likely to have
low levels of educational attainment as
compared to Francophones…
Population with university B.A. or
higher
…and are much less likely to attain
higher levels of education.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Gaspésie-Îles
Bonaventure
Avignon
Rocher-Percé
Côte-de-Gaspé
Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Low educational attainment
(% of population age 15 and over)
French-speaking English-speaking
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Gaspésie-Îles
Bonaventure
Avignon
Rocher-Percé
Côte-de-Gaspé
Îles-de-la-Madeleine
High educational attainment
(% of population age 15 and over)
French-speaking English-speaking

9. Population with low income
In GIM, the tendency is much
higher among English
speakers.
Population with high income
In GIM, English speakers are
much less likely than French
speakers to be living with a
high income.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Gaspésie-Îles
Bonaventure
Avignon
Rocher-Percé
Côte-de-Gaspé
Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Population with low income
(% with less than $20,000)
French-speaking English-speaking
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Gaspésie-Îles
Bonaventure
Avignon
Rocher-Percé
Côte-de-Gaspé
Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Population with high income
(% with $55,000 and over)
French-speaking English-speaking
Income

10. Other challenges:
 A diminishing leadership base
 Dependency on government assistance
 Low rate of bilingualism
 Social isolation due to language barrier
 Few formal institutions
 Lack of access to services in English

11. Despite these challenging demographics
and issues, English-speakers in the Gaspésie
are very proud of their roots and wish to
remain in the region.
How can we work to increase the participation of the community
in theTourism Industry? Specifically, the following groups…

12. English-speaking seniors
 The proportion of seniors in the English-speaking
population (19.9%) is similar to that of the French-
speaking population (20%).
 The total number of English-speaking seniors is 1,980.
 Senior have identified the importance of feeling valued,
reducing social isolation, having access to cognitive,
social and physical activities and participation in the
broader community as priority issues.

13. English-speaking Seniors
 English-speaking
seniors have:
o A strong sense of
belonging
o A high rate of
volunteerism and
engagement with local
community
organizations
o A strong sense of
identity
o Unique talents
(storytellers, artisans,
traditional skills)

14. English-speaking Youth 15-29
21.2
17.5
18.7
14.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
Province of Quebec Gaspésie-Îles
Proportion of youth 15-29 in
the English- and French-
speaking population
English-speakers French-speakers
51.9
73.6
51.9
57.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Province of Quebec Gaspésie-Îles
Low educational attainment
among English- and French-
speaking youth aged 15-29
English speakers French speakers
13.7
34.4
9.9
15.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Province of Quebec Gaspésie-Îles
Unemployment rate among
English- and French-speaking
youth aged 15-29
English speakers French speakers
Compared to their French-speaking neighbours, English-speaking youth
aged 15-29 in the Gaspe and Magdalen Islands are more likely to:
• have a high school diploma or less (and less likely to have a university degree)
• be unemployed (34.4% vs 15.3%)
• be living on less than $20,000 a year
• be living below the low-income cut-off

15. English-speaking Youth
 English-speaking youth have a strong sense of
attachment to their communities.
 In a recent regional consultation, youth
identified lack of French language as a major
barrier to employment - only 13% of youth felt
they had sufficient reading and writing skills in
French.
 Bilingualism is not a major issue in Côte-de-
Gaspé, where the majority of secondary
students are bilingual.

16. Museums and Interpretation Centres
 The English-speaking community has a very
rich history to share. English-language heritage
organizations struggle to market this history,
including:
 Cascapedia River Museum, Duthie Point, Kempffer
Cultural Centre, Chaleur Bay Military Museum,
Kempt Road Interpretation Centre, Gaspé Jersey-
Guernsey Association, Heritage Gaspé, unmarked
heritage buildings, historical cemeteries and others.

17. Discussion
 How can English-speaking seniors benefit from
the tourism industry? How can the tourism
industry benefit from the participation of
seniors?
 What can be done to encourage the
participation of English-speaking youth in the
industry?
 What strategies would enable English language
heritage organizations to increase their
tourism potential?