outside the province of québec, francophones are often marginalized with regard to availability of products in their language. the internet, a growing phenomenon, is marketed as a tool, which provides information and products as well as being a method of bridging social and global gaps. the purpose of this thesis is to find out how the internet impacts francophone communities in northwestern ontario. since the thesis is preliminary in nature with regards to the topic and relevance of the area, the focus of the thesis must concentrate on finding the impact of the mother tongue, education and social capital on both internet use and french-language internet use. -- introduction