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2006 Census: The Evolving Linguistic Portrait, 2006 Census: Sharp increase in population with a mother tongue other than English or French

Allophones tend to live in census metropolitan areas

A large majority (87%) of allophones live in census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Most of them (72%) reside in six CMAs: Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa ‑ Gatineau. The CMAs of Hamilton, Winnipeg and Kitchener together represent 6% of allophones in Canada.

Toronto: The most allophone census metropolitan area

Toronto has the largest proportion of allophones among CMAs. More than four residents in 10 (44%) have a mother tongue other than English or French, compared with 40% in 2001. The dominant languages other than English or French in this CMA are the Chinese languages: they were reported as mother tongue by 420,000 people, or 19% of the CMA's allophone population. Italian ranks second with 195,000 people, followed by Punjabi (138,000), Tagalog (114,000) and Portuguese and Spanish (113,000 each).

Vancouver: Chinese languages and other Asian languages

Just over four out of 10 residents (41%) of the Vancouver census metropolitan area are allophones, compared with 38% in 2001. Of those allophones, 332,000, or 38%, have a Chinese language as their mother tongue. The three other largest language groups are also Asian: Punjabi, with 122,000 people; Tagalog, with 52,000; and Korean, with 42,000.

Montréal: Several Romance languages

The Montréal CMA has proportionally far fewer allophones (22%) than Toronto and Vancouver. The corresponding figure in 2001 was 19%. Five of the 10 top non-official mother tongues belong to the Romance family. Their similarity to French is probably one of the factors that led Italian, Spanish, Creole, Portuguese and Romanian immigrants to settle there. Italian heads the list with 126,000 people, or 3.5% of the Montréal CMA's population. Second and third are Arabic and Spanish, with 110,000 and 95,000 respectively.

Calgary: Chinese languages rank first, followed by Punjabi and Tagalog

In Calgary, roughly one resident in five (23%) was allophone in 2006, up from 20% in 2001. The Calgary CMA has proportionally more people whose mother tongue is a language other than English or French than Montréal, Ottawa - Gatineau and Edmonton. It attracts fast-growing language groups, especially the Chinese languages, which, at 56,000 people, is the largest allophone group. The next largest groups are Punjabi, with 22,000 persons, and Tagalog, with 17,000 persons.

Edmonton: Chinese languages lead, followed by German and Ukrainian

In the Edmonton census metropolitan area, the proportion of allophones rose from 19% in 2001 to 21% in 2006. As in several other large CMAs, the Chinese languages are the dominant mother tongues other than English or French, with 39,000 people. Ranking second and third are two language groups associated with traditional immigration: German, with 20,000 people, and Ukrainian, with 17,000. These two groups are declining. The Punjabi, Tagalog, Spanish and Arabic groups are growing, as they are in other CMAs.

Ottawa - Gatineau: Allophones live mostly in the Ontario part

The population of the Ottawa - Gatineau census metropolitan area has a smaller proportion of allophones (17%) than the other large CMAss. The corresponding figure in 2001 was 16%. Nearly 90% of the allophones live in the Ontario part. Arabic is the leading non-official mother tongue, with 31,000 persons, followed by the Chinese languages with 27,000, and Spanish with 13,000.

Allophones are in the majority in three municipalities with a population of more than 200,000 persons

Although allophones tend to concentrate in the larger central municipalities of CMAs, a growing number of them are settling in the suburbs, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver. In three cities with a population of more than 200,000, half the residents are allophones: Markham, a suburb of Toronto, with 57.4%; Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, with 55.5%; and Vaughan, a suburb of Toronto, with 52.3%. Not far behind are Mississauga (also in the Toronto CMA), with 48.9%, and Surrey (a suburb of Vancouver), with 43.2%. The percentages are much lower for the suburbs of the Montréal CMA. Outside the Montréal Island, one out of four Laval residents has a mother tongue other than English or French, as does one in 10 Longueuil residents.

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