Census in Brief
Linguistic integration of immigrants and official language populations in Canada


Release date: October 25, 2017

Highlights

  • In 2016, 72.5% of immigrants reported having a mother tongue other than English or French (a non‑official language).
  • A larger proportion of recent immigrants (i.e., those who arrived between 2011 and 2016) reported having French as their mother tongue than immigrants who arrived before 2011.
  • Over three‑quarters (76.4%) of immigrants reported knowing more than one language, compared with 27.5% of Canadian‑born people.
  • More than half of the immigrant population spoke English or French most often at home in 2016.

Introduction

The ability of immigrants to speak one of the official languages is considered an important condition for their full participation in Canadian society.

In the 1921 Census of Canada, more than 70% of the foreign‑born population reported English or French as a mother tongue, and less than 30% reported another language. In contrast, in the 2016 Census, more than 70% of immigrants reported a language other than English or French as their mother tongue, and less than 30% reported English or French.

The 2016 Census provides further insight into the language profile of immigrants in Canada and their integration into the country’s official language populations.

Seven in 10 immigrants report a language other than English or French as their mother tongue

In Quebec, where the majority of the population is French‑speaking, 70.5% of immigrants reported having an “other” language as their mother tongue in the 2016 Census. The remaining immigrants reported French (22.0%) and English (7.5%) as their mother tongue.

In the rest of Canada, a slightly higher proportion (72.9%) of immigrants reported an “other” language as their mother tongue. More than one‑quarter (26.0%) of immigrants reported English and only 1.1% reported French as their mother tongue.

A larger proportion of recent immigrants than established immigrants report French as their mother tongue

In Quebec, the proportion of immigrants with French as their mother tongue has increased over the periods of immigration, rising from 20.9% for immigrants who arrived before 1981 to 26.6% for recent immigrants, i.e., those who immigrated between 2011 and 2016.

The opposite trend was observed among the immigrant population with English as a mother tongue: the proportion was 13.8% for people who immigrated before 1981 and 5.1% for recent immigrants.

Furthermore, in Quebec, 68.3% of recent immigrants reported an “other” mother tongue. However, this proportion was slightly higher among immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1981 and 2010 (between 72% and 75%), but lower among immigrants who arrived before 1981 (65.3%).

In Canada outside Quebec, 80.7% of recent immigrants reported that they had an “other” mother tongue, or a higher proportion than observed among established immigrants. Among individuals who immigrated before 1981, 56.2% reported an “other” mother tongue, while 42.7% reported English as their mother tongue.

Table 1
Distribution of the immigrant population, by mother tongue and period of immigration, Canada, Quebec and Canada outside Quebec, 2016
Table summary
This table displays the results of Distribution of the immigrant population. The information is grouped by Mother tongue (appearing as row headers), Period of immigration, Before 1981, 1981 to 2000, 2001 to 2010, 2011 to 2016 and Total, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Mother tongue Period of immigration
Before 1981 1981 to 2000 2001 to 2010 2011 to 2016 Total
percent
Canada
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 39.1 19.9 16.7 15.7 23.3
French 3.5 3.2 4.8 5.9 4.1
Other language 57.3 76.9 78.5 78.5 72.5
Quebec
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 13.8 6.9 4.9 5.1 7.5
French 20.9 18.8 22.9 26.6 22.0
Other language 65.3 74.3 72.2 68.3 70.5
Canada outside Quebec
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 42.7 21.9 19.0 17.9 26.0
French 1.1 0.9 1.3 1.4 1.1
Other language 56.2 77.3 79.7 80.7 72.9

Over three‑quarters of immigrants report knowing more than one language

Although a large proportion of the 7.5 million immigrants reported neither English nor French as their mother tongue, the vast majority (93.2%) of them were able to conduct a conversation in English or French. In other words, 6.8% of immigrants reported being unable to conduct a conversation in either official language.

Immigrants were more likely than Canadian‑born people (non‑immigrants) to report knowing more than one language. In 2016, 76.4% of immigrants reported knowing at least two languages, compared with 27.5% of non‑immigrants.

However, immigrants’ knowledge of languages varied from region to region. In Canada outside Quebec, the majority of the immigrant population knew English, either alone (19.4%) or with at least one language other than English or French (72.0%). A lower proportion reported being able to conduct a conversation in French (5.9%).

On the other hand, half (50.3%) of immigrants in Quebec were able to conduct a conversation in both official languages, in addition to any other languages.

Quebec also had the largest proportion of the immigrant population with knowledge of French. Specifically, 80.5% of immigrants living in Quebec reported being able to conduct a conversation in French.

The proportion of immigrants with knowledge of at least one of Canada’s official languages is high (93.2%) largely because knowledge of English or French is one of the selection criteria for economic immigrants admitted to Canada and because these are the two languages of convergence in the public sphere. Furthermore, Quebec’s immigration policies specifically promote admission of immigrants with knowledge of French.

Table 2
Distribution of the population, by immigrant status and number of languages known, Canada, Quebec and Canada outside Quebec, 2016
Table summary
This table displays the results of Distribution of the population. The information is grouped by Number of languages known (appearing as row headers), Canada, Quebec, Canada outside Quebec, Non-immigrant and Immigrant, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Number of languages known Canada Quebec Canada outside Quebec
Non‑immigrant Immigrant Non‑immigrant Immigrant Non‑immigrant Immigrant
percent
Total population 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Knowledge of one language 72.5 23.6 53.9 12.5 78.9 25.5
English only 58.5 16.9 2.0 2.5 78.1 19.4
French only 13.6 0.9 51.6 6.1 0.5 0.0
Other language only 0.4 5.8 0.3 3.9 0.4 6.1
Knowledge of more than one language 27.5 76.4 46.1 87.5 21.1 74.5
English and French only 16.7 2.5 36.9 8.8 9.8 1.4
English, French and at least one other language 3.0 9.6 6.9 41.5 1.6 4.3
English and at least one other language 7.4 59.6 0.7 12.5 9.7 67.6
French and at least one other language 0.4 3.6 1.7 24.2 0.0 0.2
Several other languages only 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.1

Over half of immigrants speak English or French most often at home

Data from the 2016 Census showed that there were more immigrants who reported speaking English or French most often at home than who reported having either language as a mother tongue.

In Canada outside Quebec, 26.0% of immigrants reported English as their mother tongue in 2016, while 51.5%, or nearly twice the number, spoke English most often at home. In Quebec, French plays an important part as a language immigrants speak most often at home. Specifically, 38.7% of the immigrant population in this province said that they spoke French most often at home in 2016, compared with 22.0% who reported French as their mother tongue. Furthermore, 16.2% of individuals reported speaking English most often at home, compared with 7.5% who reported it as their mother tongue.

The percentage of recent immigrants who spoke a language other than English or French most often at home was much lower in Quebec than in the rest of Canada. In 2016, 62.6% of new immigrants in Canada outside Quebec spoke a language other than English or French most often at home, compared with 48.8% of recent immigrants in Quebec, a difference of 13.8 percentage points.

This difference can be explained by the large number of immigrants from French‑speaking African countries (such as Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and countries in Northern Africa (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) who are settling in Quebec and who tend to adopt French at home.Note 1

Table 3
Distribution of the immigrant population, by language spoken most often at home and period of immigration, Canada, Quebec and Canada outside Quebec, 2016
Table summary
This table displays the results of Distribution of the immigrant population. The information is grouped by Language spoken most often at home (appearing as row headers), Period of immigration, Before 1981, 1981 to 2000, 2001 to 2010, 2011 to 2016 and Total, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Language spoken most often at home Period of immigration
Before 1981 1981 to 2000 2001 to 2010 2011 to 2016 Total
percent
Canada
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 69.0 44.3 36.0 31.4 46.4
French 4.5 5.6 7.8 8.5 6.4
Other language 26.4 50.1 56.2 60.1 47.2
Quebec
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 30.1 16.0 10.6 9.6 16.2
French 33.0 37.9 41.7 41.6 38.7
Other language 36.9 46.2 47.7 48.8 45.1
Canada outside Quebec
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 74.5 48.6 40.9 36.1 51.5
French 0.5 0.7 1.2 1.3 0.9
Other language 25.0 50.7 57.8 62.6 47.6

The majority of immigrants in Canada outside Quebec have English as a first official language spoken

The knowledge or predominant use of English or French generally leads immigrants to one of Canada’s two official language communities in the public sphere, and even the private sphere. First official language spoken (FOLS) is a general indicator of this linguistic orientation.

According to the 2016 Census, 90.8% of immigrants in Canada outside Quebec had English as FOLS, compared with 2.0% for French.

In Quebec, the percentage of immigrants with French as FOLS was 62.5% in 2016, while one‑third had English as FOLS. The distribution also changes depending on the period of immigration. Specifically, among immigrants who arrived before 1981, 44.0% had English as FOLS and 51.2% had French. Among recent immigrants, 26.0% had English as FOLS, while 68.1% had French.

Table 4
Distribution of the immigrant population, by first official language spoken and period of immigration, Canada, Quebec and Canada outside Quebec, 2016
Table summary
This table displays the results of Distribution of the immigrant population. The information is grouped by First official language spoken (FOLS) (appearing as row headers), Period of immigration, Before 1981, 1981 to 2000, 2001 to 2010, 2011 to 2016 and Total, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
First official language spoken (FOLS) Period of immigration
Before 1981 1981 to 2000 2001 to 2010 2011 to 2016 Total
percent
Canada
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 88.6 83.0 80.1 75.5 82.5
French 7.5 9.4 13.5 14.3 10.8
Neither English nor French 3.8 7.6 6.5 10.3 6.8
Quebec
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 44.0 34.5 28.4 26.0 33.1
French 51.2 60.7 69.0 68.1 62.5
Neither English nor French 4.8 4.9 2.6 5.9 4.4
Canada outside Quebec
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
English 94.9 90.3 90.1 86.2 90.8
French 1.4 1.7 2.7 2.6 2.0
Neither English nor French 3.7 8.0 7.2 11.2 7.2

Immigrants comprise 23.9% of the English FOLS population and 10.4% of the French FOLS population

The orientation of immigrants towards one of the two official languages influences the composition of the first official language spoken (FOLS) populations and the growing proportion of immigrants in these populations.

In 2016, immigrants represented a larger proportion of the French‑speaking population in Canada outside Quebec than in previous censuses. Specifically, this proportion rose from 9.9% in 2006 to 12.8% in 2016, an increase of 2.9 percentage points. An increase of 2.4 percentage points was also observed for the French FOLS population in Quebec.

On the other hand, immigrants represented a larger percentage of the English‑speaking population. In Quebec, immigrants comprised almost one‑third (32.9%) of the English FOLS population. However, this percentage was slightly lower than the percentages observed in 2006 and 2011. In the rest of Canada, immigrants represented 23.5% of the English FOLS population in 2016, an increase of almost 2 percentage points since 2006.

Table 5
Percentage of immigrants in the French first official language spoken population and in the English first official language spoken population, Canada, Quebec and Canada outside Quebec, 2006 to 2016
Table summary
This table displays the results of Percentage of immigrants in the French first official language spoken population and in the English first official language spoken population. The information is grouped by First official language spoken (FOLS) (appearing as row headers), Census year, 2006, 2011 and 2016, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
First official language spoken (FOLS) Census year
2006 2011 2016
percent
Canada
Total 19.8 20.6 21.9
English 22.3 22.9 23.9
French 8.0 9.2 10.4
Neither English nor French 77.4 79.9 80.8
Quebec
Total 11.5 12.6 13.7
English 32.5 33.6 32.9
French 7.6 8.8 10.0
Neither English nor French 60.9 62.1 66.2
Canada outside Quebec
Total 22.4 23.1 24.3
English 21.8 22.4 23.5
French 9.9 11.7 12.8
Neither English nor French 79.9 82.4 82.7

Data sources, methods and definitions

Data sources

The data in this analysis are from censuses of population and the 2011 National Household Survey. Further information on the 2016 Census of Population can be found in the Guide to the Census of Population, 2016, Catalogue no. 98‑304‑X.

Additional information on the quality and comparability of census data on immigration and ethnocultural diversity can be found in the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016, Catalogue no. 98‑500‑X2016007.

Methods

Random rounding and percentage distributions: To ensure the confidentiality of responses collected for the 2016 Census, a random rounding process is used to alter the values reported in individual cells. As a result, when these data are summed or grouped, the total value may not match the sum of the individual values, since the total and subtotals are independently rounded. Similarly, percentage distributions, which are calculated on rounded data, may not necessarily add up to 100%.

Because of random rounding, counts and percentages may vary slightly between different census products, such as the analytical documents, highlight tables and data tables.

Definitions

Recent immigrant refers to an immigrant who first obtained his or her landed immigrant or permanent resident status between January 1, 2011, and May 10, 2016. Established immigrant refers to an immigrant who obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status before 2011.

The first official language spoken variable was developed by Statistics Canada in 1989 at the request of the federal government to help estimate the potential demand for government services in either official language. Statistics Canada proposed two methods (methods I and II) to estimate first official language spoken. Method I was adopted in the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations. Under Method I, first official language spoken is derived successively from answers to the questions on knowledge of official languages, mother tongue and language spoken most often at home. For more information, see Population Estimates by First Official Language Spoken, Ottawa, Statistics Canada, Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division and Language Studies, 1989.

Please refer to the Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016, Catalogue no. 98‑301‑X, for additional information on the other census variables.

Additional information

Additional analysis on immigration and ethnocultural diversity can be found in The Daily of October 25, 2017, and in the Census in Brief articles entitled Children with an immigrant background: Bridging cultures, Catalogue no. 98‑200‑X2016015, and Ethnic and cultural origins of Canadians: Portrait of a rich heritage, Catalogue no. 98‑200‑X2016016.

Additional information on immigration and ethnocultural diversity can be found in the Highlight tables, Catalogue no. 98‑402‑X2016007; the Data tables, Catalogue nos. 98‑400‑X2016184 to 98‑400‑X2016215; the Census Profile, Catalogue no. 98‑316‑X2016001; and the Focus on Geography Series, Catalogue no. 98‑404‑X2016001.

A brief historical picture of changes in Canada’s immigration source countries can be found in the Video centre.

Two infographics are also available. Immigrant population in Canada shows some of the key findings, mainly on the place of birth of immigrants and recent immigrants to Canada. The second infographic, Gateways to Immigration in Canada, shows the main admission programs under which immigrants have come to Canada since 1980.

For details on the concepts, definitions and variables used in the 2016 Census of Population, please consult the Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016, Catalogue no. 98‑301‑X.

In addition to response rates and other information on data quality, the Guide to the Census of Population, 2016, Catalogue no. 98‑304‑X, provides an overview of the various phases of the census, including content determination, sampling design, collection, data processing, data quality assessment, confidentiality guidelines and dissemination.

Acknowledgments

This report was prepared by René Houle, Hélène Maheux and Jean‑Pierre Corbeil of Statistics Canada’s Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, with the assistance of other staff members of that division, and the collaboration of staff members from the Census Subject Matter Secretariat, the Census Operations Division, and the Communications and Dissemination Branch.

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