although francophones in ontario represent the largest population of french-canadians outside quebec, little is known about this population, and especially about the older members of this ethno-linguistic group. the scarce literature reports that french-canadians generally have lower service utilization, lower health status and are at risk of psychological distress compared with anglo-canadians. one could postulate that these disparities would be present to a greater extent in ontario because francophones are more of a minority.