Mapping (In)Formal Francophone Spaces: Exploring Community Cohesion Through a Mobilities Lens

Immigration is being used as a policy lever to sustain the demography of Canadian Francophone minority communities (FMCs). As FMCs become increasingly diverse, concerns have been raised regarding their capacity to develop and sustain a sense of community cohesion. This study draws on the mobilities paradigm to examine how community members within three different FMCs engaged within and beyond formal and informal Francophone spaces within the cities of Metro Vancouver, Winnipeg and Moncton. Using an occupational mapping method to elicit spatial and dialogic data, we analyze the descriptions of maps from 62 French-speaking participants who were born in, or who immigrated to, Canada in order to obtain diverse perspectives on community cohesion. Our findings are presented according to three themes. The first addresses socio-geographically shaped mobilities within the three FMCs, the second examines participants’ engagement in a range of (in)formal Francophone spaces, and the third explores their convergent and divergent mobilities as shaped by local dynamics. We contribute insights into the relationship between forms of spatial and social mobility that shape experiences of community cohesion within FMCs.