Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census

Canada

Most common mother tongue languages other than English or French, Canada, 2016

Language	Number	Percentage of population with a mother tongue other than English or French	Percentage of total population
Mandarin	610,830	7.7	1.8
Cantonese	594,035	7.4	1.7
Punjabi (Panjabi)	543,500	6.8	1.6
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	510,425	6.4	1.5
Spanish	495,090	6.2	1.4

Most common languages other than English or French spoken at home¹, Canada, 2016

Language	Number	Percentage of population who spoke at least one language other than English or French at home	Percentage of total population
Mandarin	641,100	8.4	1.8
Cantonese	594,705	7.8	1.7
Punjabi (Panjabi)	568,375	7.5	1.6
Spanish	553,495	7.3	1.6
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)	525,380	6.9	1.5

Figure 1.1 Official language minority (number and proportion), Canada, 1991 to 2016

Figure 1.1 description Figure 1.1 Official language minority (number and proportion), Canada, 1991 to 2016

Figure 1.2 Rate of English-French bilingualism, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Figure 1.2 description Long description for Figure 1.2 Rate of English-French bilingualism, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Knowledge of official languages, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Language	2016		2011
Language	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	34,767,250	100	33,121,175	100
English	23,757,525	68.3	22,564,670	68.1
French	4,144,690	11.9	4,165,015	12.6
English and French	6,216,070	17.9	5,795,570	17.5
Neither English nor French	648,970	1.9	595,920	1.8

Mother tongue⁴, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Language	2016		2011
Language	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	34,767,255	100	33,121,175	100
English	20,193,340	58.1	19,424,090	58.6
French	7,452,075	21.4	7,298,180	22.0
Other languages	7,974,375	22.9	7,062,535	21.3
Aboriginal languages	213,230	0.6	213,490	0.6
Immigrant languages	7,749,120	22.3	6,838,705	20.6

Figure 1.3 Mother tongue other than English or French, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Figure 1.3 description Long description for Figure 1.3 Mother tongue other than English or French, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Language spoken at home¹, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Language	Only⁵	Mostly⁶	Equally⁷	Regularly⁸	Total
2016
English	19,756,515	2,406,355	1,514,475	2,220,470	25,897,810
French	6,081,030	862,775	378,410	829,905	8,152,115
Other languages	2,295,560	1,701,640	1,503,205	2,090,920	7,591,325
Aboriginal languages	55,420	63,050	19,050	91,250	228,765
Immigrant languages	2,230,640	1,637,640	1,476,895	1,990,565	7,335,740
2011
English	19,224,945	2,232,135	1,052,670	2,002,145	24,511,890
French	6,043,305	784,555	287,235	777,090	7,892,190
Other languages	2,145,245	1,528,620	1,031,165	1,925,365	6,630,395
Aboriginal languages	56,225	65,590	11,105	80,430	213,350
Immigrant languages	2,080,695	1,462,175	1,014,250	1,835,825	6,392,935

Language of work

English used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

English used at work	2016		2006
English used at work	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All instances	17,127,700	85.8	15,589,500	85.0
Only	14,099,735	70.7	12,883,155	70.2
Mostly	1,165,600	5.8	1,133,255	6.2
Equally with another language	582,445	2.9	348,495	1.9
Regularly (in addition to the main language)	1,279,920	6.4	1,224,595	6.7
No mention	2,828,555	14.2	2,754,150	15.0
Total population⁹	19,956,255	100	18,343,650	100

French used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

French used at work	2016		2006
French used at work	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All instances	4,986,895	25.0	4,709,885	25.7
Only	2,645,920	13.3	2,584,060	14.1
Mostly	1,179,295	5.9	1,129,975	6.2
Equally with another language	435,985	2.2	267,575	1.5
Regularly (in addition to the main language)	725,700	3.6	728,280	4.0
No mention	14,969,355	75.0	13,633,765	74.3
Total population⁹	19,956,255	100	18,343,650	100

Languages other than English or French used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

Languages other than English or French used at work	2016		2006
Languages other than English or French used at work	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All instances	970,910	4.9	850,360	4.6
Only	151,750	0.8	141,565	0.8
Mostly	123,680	0.6	118,140	0.6
Equally with another language	177,595	0.9	101,925	0.6
Regularly (in addition to the main language)	517,880	2.6	488,730	2.7
No mention	18,985,350	95.1	17,493,290	95.4
Total population⁹	19,956,255	100	18,343,650	100

Symbols:

···: not applicable
··: incompletely enumerated Indian reserve or Indian settlement
r: revised
E: use with caution

Note(s):

Footnote 1

The languages spoken most often at home (Part A of the question) and on a regular basis (Part B of the question), as well as multiple responses, are considered.

Footnote 2

The official-language minority population is defined using the variable derived from the first official language spoken (FOLS), i.e., individuals in Quebec whose FOLS is English and individuals in the rest of the country whose FOLS is French.

Footnote 3

English–French bilingualism is defined using the variable “knowledge of official languages.”

Footnote 4

The categories include all individuals who reported a specific language in a single or multiple response.

Footnote 5

The 'Only' category includes persons who reported only this language to Part A of the language spoken at home question (spoken most often) and did not report a language to Part B (spoken regularly).

Footnote 6

The 'Mostly' category includes persons who reported this language to Part A of the language spoken at home question (spoken most often) and reported at least one other language to Part B (spoken regularly).

Footnote 7

The 'Equally' category includes persons who reported this language and another one to Part A of the language spoken at home question (spoken most often).

Footnote 8

The 'Regularly' category includes persons who reported this language only to the Part B of the language spoken at home question (spoken regularly), in addition to another language reported to the Part A (spoken most often).

Footnote 9

In 2006, this population refers to those aged 15 years and over who worked between January 1, 2005 and May 16th, 2006. In 2016, this population refers to those aged 15 years and over who worked since 2015.

Source:

Statistics Canada. 2017. Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-404-X2016001. Ottawa, Ontario. Data products, 2016 Census.

Date modified:: 2019-04-18

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Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census

Canada

Most common mother tongue languages other than English or French, Canada, 2016

Most common languages other than English or French spoken at home¹, Canada, 2016

Figure 1.1 Official language minority (number and proportion), Canada, 1991 to 2016

Figure 1.2 Rate of English-French bilingualism, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Knowledge of official languages, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Mother tongue⁴, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Figure 1.3 Mother tongue other than English or French, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Language spoken at home¹, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Language of work

English used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

French used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

Languages other than English or French used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

Symbols:

Source:

Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census

Canada

Most common mother tongue languages other than English or French, Canada, 2016

Most common languages other than English or French spoken at home1, Canada, 2016

Figure 1.1 Official language minority (number and proportion), Canada, 1991 to 2016

Figure 1.2 Rate of English-French bilingualism, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Knowledge of official languages, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Mother tongue4, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Figure 1.3 Mother tongue other than English or French, Canada, 1991 to 2016

Language spoken at home1, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Language of work

English used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

French used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

Languages other than English or French used at work, Canada, 2006 and 2016

Symbols:

Source:

Most common languages other than English or French spoken at home¹, Canada, 2016

Mother tongue⁴, Canada, 2011 and 2016

Language spoken at home¹, Canada, 2011 and 2016