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Non-francophones in Quebec are more likely to be living in poverty than French-speakers, shows a study by the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) based on the 2016 Census.

The findings — released three weeks after Premier Philippe Couillard unveiled a $3-billion program to lift 100,000 destitute people out of poverty by the end of 2023 — contradict the deeply entrenched image of Quebec anglophones as a well-off minority, said ACS president Jack Jedwab.

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“It goes against the historic notion that anglophones are privileged and francophones are more vulnerable economically,” he said.

Once stereotyped as “white Rhodesians” who enjoy disproportionate economic influence, the English-speaking minority is increasingly diverse, with significant pockets of poverty, Jedwab said.

Yet the reality still hasn’t dispelled the myth, he added.

“Underlying this there is a misunderstanding of who the anglophone community is and how it’s evolved,” Jedwab said.