Tim, So far I haven't seen what I believe to be the correct answer as to WHY, so here it is. . .

The French were the first to colonize what is now Canada (and a goodly part of the states too). The first English settlements were in the eastern states, as I'm sure that you know.

France and England often warred. In one of those, round about 1759, The English General Wolfe defeated the French General Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City. The result was that the French conceded (ceded, lost, pick your term) all of their northerly holdings (can't tell you exact details, but it was mainly where they had colonized in (present day) Canada.
The Brits, now "owning" the territory, had primary interests along the east coast, more or less leaving the French population in what is now Quebec alone.
As commerce grew, and as "Loyalists" moved from the States to populate more of Canada, Quebec City and Montreal became more and more important.
Now, here comes the zinger... In the early 1840s (I believe) the Queen commissioned a study to 'decide' how best to 'handle' the situation of a preponderance of French-speakers in "lower Canada" (as Quebec was called at the time). The study, called "Lord Durham's Report" recommended (in a nut shell) French was well entrenched and SHOULD REMAIN SO.
That is the genesis of the CONTINUED usage of French in Canada to this day. Other later documents (BNA Act, Constitution) continued Lord Durham's recommendations and further refined them to add protection. For instance it was the Constitution (early 1970s) that made Frenc and English the two official languages ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

Cheers,

Jim N

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>>The "Why" part could lead to a hot debate here :) Are you asking why we still speak french and not convert to english or a lesson in history? :)
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>I guess I want to know why Canada has 2 official languages. I gather from what you are saying is because some Canadians don't want to give up their French Heritage.