[The emigration of English-speaking Quebecers]

It is generally stated that Bill 101 (The French Language Charter) passed in 1977 provoked an exodus of the English speaking population in Quebec. A review of past data from the Canadian Censuses shows that the propensity to leave Quebec has always been greater for the Anglophones than for the Francophones. Family allowance records have enabled Canada to retrace the outgoing population since 1974. Although it is true that between 1977-79 both the proportion and the number of English speaking migrants were greater than before, the levels then dropped and for the next 4 years became camparable to the ones observed in the past, although Bill 101 is still in force.