What is the official language of Ontario?
Language policies of Canada's provinces and territories
Ontario has a regionalized language policy, where part of the province is English-only and other areas are bilingual. Province-wide services (such as websites and toll-free telephone numbers) are provided in both English and French. However individuals only have a right to French-language services in certain designated regions of the province under the French Language Services Act (1986). There are 25 regions so designated. These are: areas with 10% or more Francophones; urban centres with 5,000 or more Francophones; and areas previously designated by the Government of Ontario between 1978 and 1985.[7] Notably this includes Toronto, the provincial capital and Canada's largest municipality (although not all of the regional municipalities of the GTA are included), and the National Capital Region including Ottawa, the national capital, as well as many other cities, counties, districts, townships, and towns.[8] For the purposes of the policy, the definition of a "Francophone" was broadened in 2009. Previously it included only mother-tongue speakers, however it now includes allophones (people whose first language is neither French or English) who "have particular knowledge of French as an official language and use French at home, including many recent immigrants to Ontario for whom French is the language of integration".[7]
Languages of Canada
Alongside ASL, Quebec Sign Language or LSQ ("Langue des signes québécoise") is the second most spoken sign language in the country. Centred mainly around and within Quebec, LSQ can also be found in Ontario, New Brunswick and various other parts of the country, generally around francophone communities due to historical ties to the French language. Although approximately 10% of the population of Quebec is deaf or hard-of-hearing, it is estimated that only 50,000 to 60,000 children use LSQ as their native language. LSQ is part of the Francosign family with ASL. As such, both languages are mutually intelligible.