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A new study shows that demographic forces are slowly eroding the French character of Ottawa.

The growth of Ottawa’s francophone community has not kept pace with the English-speaking community, which has been bolstered by a steady influx of immigrants, the vast majority of whom adopt English after their arrival. English is now the first official language spoken by 82.3 per cent of the 872,000 people in the Ottawa census area, according to the study published by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

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French is the first official language for 16.4 per cent of residents — down from 19.5 per cent in 1981.

A small percentage of people report that they speak neither official language.

The federal study, Portrait of Official Languages Groups in the Ottawa Area, is based on an analysis of Statistics Canada census data. It shows that the city’s overall population increased by more than 330,000 between 1981 and 2011.