Census in Brief
Linguistic diversity and multilingualism in Canadian homesCensus in Brief
Linguistic diversity and multilingualism in Canadian homes Update of the 2016 Census language data

Introduction

Linguistic diversity is on the rise in Canada. More and more Canadians are reporting a mother tongue or language spoken at home^{Note 1} other than English or French.

Languages other than English and French, referred to as “other languages”,^{Note 2} can be divided into two broad categories: Aboriginal languages and immigrant languages. Aboriginal languages refer to languages (other than English and French) traditionally spoken by the Aboriginal peoples of Canada, i.e., First Nations (North American Indians), Métis and Inuit. Immigrant languages refer to languages whose presence is initially due to immigration after English and French colonization.

The growth of linguistic diversity does not necessarily mean that more and more languages are being reported in the Census as a mother tongue or language spoken at home. Instead, it means that more and more respondents are reporting a language other than English or French. Many languages were reported in the 2016 Census; statistics are presented on 215 of them.

There are more people who speak an Aboriginal language at home than people with an Aboriginal mother tongue

Linguistic diversity in Canada is reflected first in the presence of many Aboriginal languages. The 2016 Census of Population provides data on close to 70 of these languages.

In addition to Cree languages, seven Aboriginal languages had at least 5,000 people who reported one of them as their mother tongue in 2016: Inuktitut, Ojibway, Oji‑Cree, Dene, Montagnais (Innu), Mi’kmaq and Atikamekw.

A great many people with Inuktitut, Atikamekw or Montagnais (Innu) as their mother tongue speak that language at home. The eight Aboriginal languages presented all had a retention rate in excess of 70%. The term “retention” refers to people with a given mother tongue who speak that language at home.^{Note 3}

While some people with an Aboriginal mother tongue do not speak that language at home, others adopt those languages without them being their mother tongue. Overall, the number of people who speak an Aboriginal language at home (228,770 people) is higher than the number of people who have an Aboriginal mother tongue (213,225 people). There were 137,520 people who reported an Aboriginal language as the main language spoken at home, and 91,250 people who reported an Aboriginal language as a secondary language.

Strong increase in immigrant languages

The increase in other languages in Canada is mostly due to the increase in immigrant languages, international migration being the main driver of population growth in the country.

The number of people who reported an immigrant mother tongue rose from 6,838,715 in 2011 to 7,749,115 in 2016. This is an increase of 910,400 people or 13.3%.

In 2016, 22 immigrant mother tongues each had a population of more than 100,000 people. This is the same number of languages as in 2011.^{Note 4} Combined, these 22 mother tongues comprised more than 6.3 million people in 2016, or 81.5% of the population with an immigrant mother tongue. In 2011, the 22 languages with each more than 100,000 people totalled close to 5.6 million people.

Of the mother tongue population that had more than 100,000 people each in 2016, Tagalog (Pilipino) (+32.9%), Arabic (+29.9%), Persian (Farsi) (+27.2%), Hindi (+26.0%), and Urdu (+25.2%) saw increases in excess of 25%.^{Note 5} On the other hand, fewer people reported Greek (-1.2%), Polish (-4.7%), German (-5.9%), Italian (-6.9%), Ukrainian (-8.1%) and Dutch (-10.1%) as their mother tongue in 2016 than in 2011.

In 2016, 75.5% of people with an immigrant mother tongue lived in one of the six largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs): Montréal, Ottawa–Gatineau, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

In Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, the five main immigrant mother tongues are primarily Asian languages.

In Vancouver, the population of the three most‑reported immigrant mother tongues (Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi) represents 49.2% of all people who reported an immigrant mother tongue in 2016. These mother tongues are also the top three in Toronto, where people who reported them made up 24.8% of the population with an immigrant mother tongue.

In Calgary and Edmonton, Tagalog, Punjabi and Cantonese were in the top spots, in that order.

In Montréal and Ottawa–Gatineau, Arabic is the main immigrant mother tongue. Mandarin is the only Asian language in the top five in the Montréal CMA.

The retention rates, i.e., speaking one’s mother tongue at home, are generally quite high for the 22 main immigrant mother tongues. This rate is above 80% for 16 languages, including all Asian languages. However, some European languages have much lower retention rates. For seven of these languages, the full retention rate is either below or barely above 50%.

Increase in multiple responses

Census data provide several ways to measure multilingualism. There has been an increase in the number of multiple responses to the questions on mother tongue and languages spoken at home.

In 2016, 2.4% of Canadians reported having more than one mother tongue, compared with 1.9% in 2011. Three‑quarters of the increase in multiple responses between 2011 and 2016 is due to the increase in the number of people who reported an “other” mother tongue along with English.

In 2016, 19.4% of Canadians reported speaking more than one language at home,^{Note 6} up from 2011 (17.5%). This gain is primarily driven by an increase in multiple responses to the question on the language spoken most often at home.

Languages intermingle in Canadian homes

Multilingualism can also mean speaking a different language from the mother tongue^{Note 7} at home. Almost 7.6 million Canadians reported speaking a language other than their mother tongue at home at least on a regular basis.

Across Canada, 1.1 million people whose mother tongue is English (5.7%) speak a language other than their mother tongue at home. In most cases, it is a secondary language in addition to English, which is the main language.

Proportionally, people whose mother tongue is French are three times more likely (16.9%) than English‑mother‑tongue individuals to speak a language other than their mother tongue at home, or 1.2 million people. In this case, the main language spoken is English.

People with a mother tongue other than English or French are much more likely to speak a language other than their mother tongue at home. In 2016, 5.3 million people with a non‑official mother tongue reported speaking a language other than their mother tongue at least on a regular basis at home (without necessarily having abandoned their mother tongue).

Only 28.0% of people with an “other” mother tongue spoke only their mother tongue at home. By comparison, 94.3% of people with English as their mother tongue and 83.1% of people with French as their mother tongue speak only their mother tongue at home.

People with a non‑official mother tongue who use a language other than their mother tongue at home usually adopt English or French as their main language or as a secondary language. In 2016, 7 in 10 people with a mother tongue other than English or French spoke one of these languages at home.

In a context of large‑scale immigration, multilingualism is evidence of the official languages making their way into the homes of Canadians of all origins. It also shows that Canada’s official languages continue to be important as the country’s linguistic landscape diversifies.

The importance of the majority language

English‑mother‑tongue individuals (single responses) in Quebec (34.6%) are much more likely to speak a language other than their mother tongue at home than those in other provinces and territories (4.7%). In Quebec, 29.4% of people whose mother tongue is English speak French at home: 12.0% as the main language and 17.4% as a secondary language. Outside Quebec, 3.5% of people with English as their mother tongue speak an “other” language at home.

Similarly, 9.4% of people whose mother tongue is French in Quebec speak a language other than their mother tongue at home (7.9% speak English). Outside Quebec, 65.6% of people whose mother tongue is French speak another language at home, primarily English (64.5%).

Overall, 72.0% of people with a non‑official mother tongue speak a language other than their mother tongue at home. This proportion is similar in Quebec and in all other provinces and territories. However, the language spoken, as applicable, differs by area of residence.

In Quebec, 21.9% of people with a mother tongue other than English or French reported English as their main home language, and 13.5% as a secondary language. French is spoken by 48.3% of people with an “other” mother tongue (29.6% as their main home language and 18.7% as a secondary language). These proportions include 12.0% who speak both English and French at home.

In Canada outside Quebec, 48.1% of people with a mother tongue other than English or French speak primarily English, and 21.2% speak it as a secondary language. Only 1.1% of people with an “other” mother tongue speak French at home.

These statistics show the attraction that the majority official language has on other mother tongue groups.

Additional information

Additional analyses on language can be found in The Daily of August 17, 2017, and in the Census in Brief articles entitled English–French bilingualism reaches new heights, Catalogue no. 98‑200‑X2016009 and English, French and official language minorities in Canada, Catalogue no. 98‑200‑X2016011.

Additional information on language can be found in the Highlight tables, Catalogue no. 98‑402‑X2016005; the Data tables, Catalogue nos. 98‑400‑X2016045 to 98‑400‑X2016079 and 98‑400‑X2016343 to 98‑400‑X2016345; the Census Profile, Catalogue no. 98‑316‑X2016001; and the Focus on Geography Series, Catalogue no. 98‑404‑X2016001.

An infographic entitled Immigrant languages in Canada, 2016 Census of Population also illustrates some key findings on immigrant languages in Canada.

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 data quality information, 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 Jean‑François Lepage 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 of the Census Subject Matter Secretariat, Census Operations Division, and Communications and Dissemination Branch.

Notes