French content in Carney's speeches rises from 17% to 23%

A new analysis shows some progress in Prime Minister Mark Carney's use of French in public addresses.

Prime Minister's Office now sets targets for amount of French during speeches: sources

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In the 2025 year-end broadcast of Radio-Canada's comedy show Infoman, Prime Minister Mark Carney was given a coffee mug meant as a satirical nod to the amount of French in his speeches.

It read "17% café / 83% coffee"— a reference to the breakdown of French and English spoken during official remarks by the prime minister, as calculated by Radio-Canada. Carney then jokingly signed a decree to speak more French in 2026. 

A new analysis by Radio-Canada indeed shows some progress. Armed with a stopwatch, Radio-Canada tracked 172 of his speeches and statements over the past year, from Sept. 16, 2025, to Oct. 8, 2026.

For these remarks, Carney spoke 448 minutes in French and 1,488 minutes in English, amounting to 23 per cent of the time in the language of Molière. That's a six percentage point increase compared to the start of his mandate.

• Carney speaks far less French than English in speeches, analysis shows

Radio-Canada previously calculated that between April 29, 2025, and Sept. 14, 2025, the prime minister used French only 17 per cent of the time in his addresses.

Behind the scenes, insiders acknowledged that reporting highlighted the need for more French in Carney's speeches. 

"We told ourselves, yes, we are going to increase the French portion," said a source in Carney's inner circle.

"The article's release gave ammunition to those in his circle who were saying that more needs to be done for French," a second source said.

Carney said on Wednesday that although he doesn't have a specific goal to work 50/50 in French and English, he often speaks French in the office and in meetings with staff, ministers and outside organizations. He said he has a "very capable" French teacher.

"It is a prime minister's responsibility to express himself in both official languages," he said in French at a news conference in Ottawa.

"I am far from perfect in French, but I try to get by."

Variation based on speech location 

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) now sets targets for French content depending on where Carney is located in the country or abroad, sources told Radio-Canada.

In his speeches in Quebec over the past 12 months, Carney used French an average of nearly 55 per cent of the time, according to Radio-Canada's new analysis.

For example, during his speech at the Citadelle of Quebec City on Jan. 22, in which he framed the Battle of the Plains of Abraham as the historical starting point toward partnership rather than assimilation, he spoke in French 48 per cent of the time.

In New Brunswick — Canada's only officially bilingual province — French is used an average of 38 per cent of the time. In Alberta and British Columbia, it drops to 14 per cent.

Abroad, the proportion of Carney's speeches in French remains modest; it went from an average of 13 per cent last year to 14.5 per cent this year. His Davos speech, praised by the international community, was delivered nearly 93 per cent in English.

As was the case for the first compilation, Radio-Canada excluded the time spent answering journalists' questions during news conferences, since the amount of French largely depends on the number of francophone reporters at the event.

Striving toward 50%

"As long as we observe an improvement, it is undeniable progress," said François Larocque, Canadian Francophonie Research Chair in Language Rights. But the University of Ottawa professor added that the proportion should be higher.

Le Journal de Montréal also reported last November that Carney had paused his French lessons for three months following the departure of his teacher. However, according to his office, he is again consistently taking classes.

"The prime minister takes special care in preparing his own speeches, in all their forms," said a statement from the PMO to Radio-Canada. "This includes, in particular, a commitment to communicating in both official languages, which involves taking French lessons." 

The PMO says Carney has surrounded himself with a group of Quebec and francophone advisers within his cabinet, which includes francophones in leadership roles and on his communications team.

Historical comparisons 

Carney's predecessor, Justin Trudeau, set a baseline threshold of 30 per cent French for speeches delivered in English-speaking regions of the country, and 80 per cent when in Quebec, according to a source within his government at the time. 

Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper generally delivered his speeches entirely in French before repeating them in English, even when abroad.

Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau handled the use of French in their speeches differently than Carney. (The Canadian Press)

At the time of the first compilation's publication in October 2025, Steven Guilbeault, who was then the minister responsible for official languages, predicted that Carney would try to raise the bar. 

"I suspect that we will see an improvement in the coming months … I think he wants to do better on this issue," he said.

Following the release of Radio-Canada's first compilation, the standing committee on official languages examined the use of French in the prime minister's speeches and remarks. Members of the committee are expected to finalize their report on the matter this week.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marie Chabot-Johnson is an associate producer in Radio-Canada's parliamentary bureau.