A new report from Ontario's French Language Services Commissioner is sounding the alarm. 

It says the number of people in the province who speak French as a first-language is less than it used to be and the report recommends swift action from the government to reverse the trend.

While the percentage of Francophones in Ontario has shrunk to just under 5%, and is projected to be less than 4% in a decade, the reason may surprise you.

The MPP representing one of largest French language populations in Ontario, France Gelinas of Nickel Belt, issues a dire warning.

"You may very well be looking at one of the last generations of Franco-Ontarian. And I can't accept that." said Gelinas.

The panic comes from a new report showing Ontario's Francophone population is shrinking, fast.

"The Francophones that you talk to, that I talk to every day, we could be the last ones." said Gelinas.

But if you talk to the director of Northern Ontario's French-language school board, you wouldn't know it.

Marc Gauthier is the Director of Education Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario.

"We've had increases in student population for the past five years, but little increases. I'm not saying a large increase, 2% - 3%." said Gauthier.

French-immersion enrolment is holding steady or growing too, year over year.

So what's the problem?

The problem is immigration.

Ontario welcomes half a million new Canadians each year, more than any other province. Most of them speak English, but few have French as their first language, if at all.

So, as the English population grows, Franco-Ontarians make up a smaller and smaller piece of the pie.

And that's a threat to services like French education.

"It is important to offer a choice and to make sure that those students have the ability to attend school and be able to succeed in their native language." said Gauthier.

"It will become almost impossible for Francophone to live in French." said Gelinas.

There is a simple solution to the problem, instituting a policy of 5% Francophone immigration.

"This is how you maintain your Francophone population. You make sure that there are people who already speak French and people who will send their kids to French school." said Gelinas.

In a city where 30% of citizens speak French at home, it's an easy sell, but it still has to play at Queen's Park.