Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census

Province of Quebec

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

Language	Number	Percentage of population with a mother tongue other than English or French	Percentage of total population
Arabic	202,520	17.3	2.5
Spanish	157,135	13.4	1.9
Italian	113,155	9.6	1.4
Creole, n.o.s.	65,275	5.6	0.8
Mandarin	45,530	3.9	0.6

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

Language	Number	Percentage of population who spoke at least one language other than English or French at home	Percentage of total population
Arabic	213,055	18.1	2.6
Spanish	181,045	15.4	2.2
Italian	92,135	7.8	1.1
Creole, n.o.s.	78,050	6.6	1.0
Mandarin	48,030	4.1	0.6

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

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

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

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

Knowledge of official languages, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Language	2016		2011
Language	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	8,066,560	100	7,815,955	100
English	372,450	4.6	363,860	4.7
French	4,032,635	50.0	4,047,175	51.8
English and French	3,586,410	44.5	3,328,725	42.6
Neither English nor French	75,065	0.9	76,195	1.0

Mother tongue⁴, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Language	2016		2011
Language	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	8,066,555	100	7,815,955	100
English	718,985	8.9	700,410	9.0
French	6,377,080	79.1	6,231,600	79.7
Other languages	1,173,345	14.5	1,049,715	13.4
Aboriginal languages	47,025	0.6	44,535	0.6
Immigrant languages	1,124,020	13.9	1,003,390	12.8

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

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

Language spoken at home¹, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Language	Only⁵	Mostly⁶	Equally⁷	Regularly⁸	Total
2016
English	483,295	298,895	183,430	579,695	1,545,310
French	5,741,620	634,045	268,420	381,495	7,025,580
Other languages	316,865	269,020	236,105	353,440	1,175,430
Aboriginal languages	21,335	18,855	2,405	5,955	48,550
Immigrant languages	293,930	249,995	232,020	346,385	1,122,335
2011
English	481,675	285,745	144,945	515,495	1,427,855
French	5,687,000	562,080	201,290	351,525	6,801,900
Other languages	309,900	244,505	173,500	321,670	1,049,575
Aboriginal languages	23,205	15,790	1,075	4,860	44,925
Immigrant languages	285,330	228,565	171,180	315,630	1,000,700

Language of work

English used at work, Quebec, 2006 and 2016

English used at work	2016		2006
English used at work	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All instances	1,924,635	42.5	1,719,705	40.4
Only	207,820	4.6	197,545	4.6
Mostly	333,895	7.4	333,110	7.8
Equally with another language	334,375	7.4	199,040	4.7
Regularly (in addition to the main language)	1,048,540	23.1	990,005	23.3
No mention	2,605,135	57.5	2,535,225	59.6
Total population⁹	4,529,770	100	4,254,925	100

French used at work, Quebec, 2006 and 2016

French used at work	2016		2006
French used at work	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All instances	4,273,935	94.4	4,012,740	94.3
Only	2,560,465	56.5	2,492,505	58.6
Mostly	1,051,520	23.2	995,890	23.4
Equally with another language	335,355	7.4	198,635	4.7
Regularly (in addition to the main language)	326,590	7.2	325,710	7.7
No mention	255,835	5.6	242,180	5.7
Total population⁹	4,529,770	100	4,254,925	100

Languages other than English or French used at work, Quebec, 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	130,690	2.9	118,135	2.8
Only	14,610	0.3	15,495	0.4
Mostly	19,550	0.4	16,825	0.4
Equally with another language	26,280	0.6	18,275	0.4
Regularly (in addition to the main language)	70,255	1.6	67,545	1.6
No mention	4,399,075	97.1	4,136,795	97.2
Total population⁹	4,529,770	100	4,254,925	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.

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Date modified:: 2019-04-10

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Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census

Province of Quebec

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

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

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

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

Knowledge of official languages, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Mother tongue⁴, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

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

Language spoken at home¹, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Language of work

English used at work, Quebec, 2006 and 2016

French used at work, Quebec, 2006 and 2016

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

Symbols:

Source:

Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census

Province of Quebec

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

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

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

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

Knowledge of official languages, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Mother tongue4, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

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

Language spoken at home1, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Language of work

English used at work, Quebec, 2006 and 2016

French used at work, Quebec, 2006 and 2016

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

Symbols:

Source:

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

Mother tongue⁴, Quebec, 2011 and 2016

Language spoken at home¹, Quebec, 2011 and 2016