cent of all Franco-Albertans migrated to Alberta from another Canadian province or territory, whereas 24 per cent of francophones in Alberta were born outside of Canada. Among the Franco-Albertans that were born outside Canada, approximately half originated from Africa, 23 per cent from Europe, 15 per cent from other countries in the Americas, and 13 per cent were from Asia. In the 2016 census, 411,315 Albertans, or 10.5 per cent of the provincial population, reported having partial or full French ancestry. French is the sixth most commonly reported ethnic group in Alberta after Canadian, English, German, Scottish, and Irish. Communities The majority of Franco-Albertans reside within the Alberta's two largest metropolitan areas, Greater Edmonton, and the Calgary Region. The former holds 39 per cent of all francophone residents in the province, whereas the latter holds 33 per cent of all francophone residents in the province. The remaining Franco-Albertans are spread throughout the other regions of Alberta. There are four municipalities in Alberta are officially bilingual and offer municipal services in French, Beaumont, Falher, Legal, and Plamondon. The four communities, in addition to Morinville, St. Albert, St. Paul, Bonnyville, and Smoky River also form a part of the Alberta Bilingual Municipalities Association (ABMA). Thirteen communities formed a part of the AMBA in 2018 History The first Europeans to visit Alberta were French Canadians during the late 18th century, working as fur traders and voyageurs for the Hudson's Bay Company, or the North West Company. French was the predominant language used in some early fur trading forts in the region, such as the first Fort Edmonton (in present day Fort Saskatchewan). The early 19th century saw the introduction of French language education in the region, when French missionaries of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate were dispatched to evangelize the First Nations in the area. Roman Catholic French Canadian settlers were present in Calgary, Edmonton, Lac La Biche, Lac Saint-Anne, and St. Albert by the mid 1860s; with colonizing clerics actively recruiting farmers from Quebec in the late 19th century. In 1870, the Hudson's Bay Company ceded Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to the government of Canada, most of which was administered as the North-West Territories. Although English and French were official languages in the North-West Territories, the latter was quickly relegated in status; as the influx of anglophone settlers made English the predominant language of the territory by the 1890s. In