The two official languages Languages of Canada

1 2 official languages

1.1 home language: rates of language use 1971–2006
1.2 use of english
1.3 use of french
1.4 bilingualism , multilingualism versus english–french bilingualism

1.4.1 geographic distribution of english–french bilingualism


1.5 english–french bilingualism highest among members of local linguistic minorities

1.5.1 outside quebec, french language continuity low

the 2 official languages
home language: rates of language use 1971–2006

the percentage of population speaking english, french or both languages @ home has declined since 1986; decline has been greatest french. proportion of population speak neither english nor french in home has increased. geographically, trend remains constant, usage of english , french have declined in both english , french speaking regions of country, french has declined more rapidly both inside , outside of quebec. table below shows percentage of total canadian population speak canada s official languages @ home 1971–2006. note there nuances between language spoken @ home , mother-language , first official language : data collected three, provide more detailed , complete picture of language-use in canada.

languages – statistics canada.


use of english

in 2011, under 21.5 million canadians, representing 65% of population, spoke english of time @ home, while 58% declared mother language. english major language everywhere in canada except quebec , nunavut, , canadians (85%) can speak english. while english not preferred language in quebec, 36.1% of québécois can speak english. nationally, francophones 5 times more speak english anglophones speak french – 44% , 9% respectively. 3.2% of canada s english-speaking population resides in quebec—mostly in montreal.

in 2011, 28.4 million canadians had knowledge of english while 21.6 million canadians spoke @ home.

use of french

in 2011, on 7.1 million canadians spoke french @ home, rise of 4.2%, although proportion of people in canada spoke french @ home fell 21.7% 21.5% . of these, 6.1 million or 85% resided in quebec. outside quebec, largest french-speaking populations found in new brunswick (which home 3.1% of canada s francophones) , ontario (4.2%, residing in eastern , northeastern parts of province , in toronto , ottawa). overall, 22% of people in canada declare french mother language, while 1 in 3 canadians speak french , 70% unilingual anglophones. smaller indigenous french-speaking communities exist in other provinces. example, vestigial community exists on newfoundland s port au port peninsula; remnant of french shore along island s west coast.

the percentage of population speak french both mother tongue , home language has decreased on past 3 decades. whereas number of speak english @ home higher number of people mother tongue english, opposite true francophones. there fewer people speak french @ home, learned french after birth.

ethnic diversity growing in french canada still lags behind english-speaking parts of country. in 2006, 91.5% of quebecers considered of either french or canadian origin. result of growth in immigration, since 1970s, countries in french used language, 3.4% of quebecers indicated of haitian, belgian, swiss, lebanese or moroccan origin. other groups of non-francophone immigrants (irish catholics, italian, portuguese, etc.) have assimilated french on generations. irish, started arriving in large numbers in quebec in 1830s, first such group, explains why has been possible quebec have had 5 premiers of irish ethnic origin: john jones ross (1884–87), edmund james flynn (1896–97), daniel johnson sr. (1966–68), pierre-marc johnson (1985), , daniel johnson jr. (1994).

in 1991, due linguistic assimilation of francophones outside quebec, on 1 million canadians claimed english mother tongue of french ethnic origin (1991 census).

bilingualism , multilingualism versus english–french bilingualism

according 2011 census, 98.2% of canadian residents have knowledge of 1 or both of country s 2 official languages, between 2006 , 2011, number of persons reported being able conduct conversation in both of canada s official languages increased 350,000 5.8 million. bilingualism rate of canadian population edged 17.4% in 2006 17.5% in 2011. growth of english-french bilingualism in canada due increased number of quebecers reported being able conduct conversation in english , french.

bilingualism regard nonofficial languages increased, individuals speaking english plus immigrant language such punjabi or mandarin.

geographic distribution of english–french bilingualism

according 2011 census, 94.3% of quebecers have knowledge of french, , 47.2% have knowledge of english. bilingualism (of 2 official languages) largely limited quebec itself, , strip of territory referred bilingual belt , stretches east quebec northern new brunswick , west parts of ottawa , northeastern ontario. 85% of bilingual canadians live within quebec, ontario , new brunswick. majority of bilingual canadians, (57.4%) quebecers, , high percentage of bilingual population in rest of canada resides in close proximity quebec border.

similarly, rate of bilingualism in quebec has risen higher, , more in rest of canada. in quebec, rate of bilingualism has increased 26% of population being able speak english , french in 1951 42.5% in 2011. of 2011, in rest of canada (excluding quebec) rate of bilingualism 7.5%.

english–french bilingualism highest among members of local linguistic minorities

it uncommon canadians capable of speaking minority official language of region (french outside of quebec or english in quebec). 1.5% of canadians able speak minority official language, , of these (90%) live in bilingual belt.

as table below shows, rates of bilingualism higher among individuals belong linguistic minority group region of canada, among members of local linguistic majority. example, within quebec around 37% of bilingual canadians francophones, whereas francophones represent 4.5% of population outside of quebec.

outside quebec, french language continuity low

the language continuity index represents relationship between number of people speak french @ home , number whom french mother tongue. continuity index of less 1 indicates french has more losses gains – more people french mother tongue speak language @ home. outside of quebec, new brunswick has highest french language continuity ratio. british columbia , saskatchewan have lowest french language continuity ratio , lowest retention of french. 1971 2011, overall ratio french language continuity outside of quebec declined 0.73 0.45. declines greatest manitoba, saskatchewan, , newfoundland.

cite error: there <ref group=nb> tags on page, references not show without {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see page).