The Daily — While English and French are still the main languages spoken in Canada, the country's linguistic diversity continues to grow (2024)

Released:2022-08-17

Despite the impact that the COVID-19pandemic has had on arrivals to the country, immigration has continued to enrich Canada's linguistic diversity.

English and French remain by far the most commonly spoken languages in Canada. More than9in10Canadians speak one of the two official languages at home at least on a regular basis.

The2021Census also found that4.6million Canadians speak predominantly a language other than English or French at home (in other words, they speak this language most often at home, without speaking other languages equally often; see the box "Languages known and spoken: Understanding the concepts"). These individuals represent12.7% of the Canadian population, a proportion that has been increasing for30years. By comparison, the proportion was7.7% in1991, when immigration levels were rising.

In addition, one in four Canadians in2021—or9million people—had a mother tongue other than English or French. This is a record high since the1901Census, when a question on mother tongue was first added.

Canada has a rich linguistic diversity. The languages known and spoken here are closely linked to the identity and culture of Canadians and to their relationship with their community. Languages are an integral part of the everyday lives of Canadians—be it in early childhood, at home, at school or at work—and extend beyond the country's borders into broader cultural and historical contexts. For example, in2022, the Observatoire démographique et statistique de l'espace francophone (link is in French only) estimated that321million people around the world spoke French, with half living in Africa.

The vast majority of the Canadian population commonly uses English and French, Canada's official languages, to communicate and access services. Although both are spoken throughout the country, English is a minority language in Quebec, while French is a minority language in the other provinces and territories, as well as in Canada as a whole.

Indigenous languages existed long before Canada was formed. As the International Decade of Indigenous Languages kicks off, the preservation, vitality and growth of the more than70distinct Indigenous languages spoken in the country remain as relevant and important as ever.

Today, Statistics Canada is releasing a fourth set of2021Census results, on mother tongue, languages spoken at home and languages known by Canadians.

Census data on languages are essential to understanding how Canada's linguistic profile has changed, as well as for developing and improving programs and services for all Canadians. They are also used in the development, application and administration of various federal and provincial laws, such as the federal Official Languages Act and Indigenous Languages Act, New Brunswick's Official Languages Act, Ontario's French Language Services Act and Quebec's Charter of the French Language.

The proportion of Canadians with English as their first official language spoken rises, while those with French decreases

The vast majority of Canadians know and speak at least one of Canada's two official languages. In2021,98.1% of the Canadian population could have a conversation in English or French, and92.9% spoke one of these languages at home at least on a regular basis.

Of the two official languages, most Canadians spoke English at home at least on a regular basis (74.2%) or predominantly (63.8%), and English was the mother tongue of more than half of the country's population (54.9%). From2016to2021, the number of Canadians with English as their first official language spoken rose from26.0million to27.6million. The proportion they represent also increased during this period, from74.8% to75.5%.

In fact, the number and proportion of Canadians with English as their first official language spoken have been rising since1971, the first year the census collected information on first official language spoken.

As in the past, immigration contributed to this trend, given that most immigrants turn to using English after they arrive in Canada. For example, in2021,80.6% of Canadians with a mother tongue other than English or French (referred to as "non-official languages" hereinafter) had English as their first official language spoken, compared with6.1% who had French. Canadians with a non-official mother tongue include a significant proportion of immigrants.

French was the first official language spoken by more than7.8million Canadians in2021, up from7.7million in2016. However, since this growth (+1.6%) was slower than the growth of the population overall (+5.2%), the proportion of the Canadian population whose first official language spoken is French decreased from22.2% in2016to21.4% in2021, continuing the downward trend seen in recent decades. In1971, French was the first official language spoken by27.2% of Canadians.

Most indicators of the evolution of French in Canada follow this same trend, where the absolute numbers increase whereas the percentage of the population decreases. This is because the number of speakers of languages other than French increases faster in proportion.

In2021, more than one in five Canadians (22.6%) spoke French at home at least on a regular basis. In addition, from2016to2021, the number of Canadians who spoke predominantly French at home rose from6.9million to7.0million, but their proportion in the population fell from20.0% to19.2%. Similarly, the number of Canadians whose mother tongue was French rose slightly (from7,167,000to7,189,000), but their proportion in the population decreased (from20.6% to19.6%). This was also observed for the number of people who could have a conversation in French, reaching10.7million in2021, continuing the decrease in proportion that began in1981. Back then,31.8% of Canadians could have a conversation in French, compared with29.1% in2021.

In Quebec, the proportion of the population who speak predominantly French at home has been decreasing since2001

Echoing the situation at the national level, the number of French speakers in Quebec is increasing, but their proportion in Quebec's population is decreasing.

In2021,85.5% of the Quebec population reported speaking French at home at least on a regular basis. The number of people who spoke predominantly French at home increased from6.4million in2016to6.5million in2021, but their proportion in the population fell from79.0% to77.5%. Meanwhile, the proportion of the Quebec population who spoke French most often at home equally with another language rose slightly from2016(3.3%) to2021(3.5%).

Furthermore, while the number of people in Quebec with French as their mother tongue rose from2016to2021, their proportion in Quebec's population decreased from77.1% to74.8%. Increasing numbers and declining proportions were also observed for people in Quebec with French as their first official language spoken (down from83.7% to82.2%) or who could have a conversation in French (down from94.5% to93.7%).

In most of Quebec's17regions, French remained the first official language spoken by more than90% of the population (for instance,91.3% in the Laurentides,97.9% in Mauricie,99.1% in Bas-Saint-Laurent). However, the situation was different in Montérégie (84.6%), in Outaouais (77.1%), in Laval (68.9%), on Montréal Island (58.4%) and in Nord-du-Québec (31.1%).

From2016to2021, the proportion of the population with French as their first official language spoken decreased in all regions of Quebec, except in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine (+1.1percentage points). The largest declines were observed in Nord-du-Québec (-3.6percentage points), in Laval (-3.0percentage points), in Outaouais (-2.4percentage points) and on Montréal Island (-2.4percentage points).

Outside Quebec and the territories, the number of Canadians with French as their only first official language spoken is decreasing in all provinces, except British Columbia

In its Action Plan for Official Languages –2018-2023: Investing in Our Future, the Government of Canada stressed the importance of the vitality of official language minority communities in the country's social fabric, while recognizing a decline in the percentage of French-speaking people in Canada outside Quebec.

In Canada outside Quebec, French remained the second most common language in2021, after English. More than2.7million people (or1in10) could have a conversation in French in Canada outside Quebec.

In addition, in Canada outside Quebec, nearly1.1million people spoke French at home at least on a regular basis, including more than half a million (532,000) who spoke predominantly French. However, since2016, the number of people who spoke predominantly French at home outside Quebec fell by36,000.

The number of people whose only mother tongue was French also decreased outside Quebec from2016to2021(-49,000), continuing the trend observed from2011to2016.

However, accounting for an increasing number of people who learned French at the same time as another language in their childhood (English most of the time), the trend differs. Instead, from2016to2021, the number of people who had French as their mother tongue, alone or with another language, rose by36,000to1.1million.

The number of residents of Canada outside Quebec who had French as their exclusive first official language spoken (not including those who had both English and French as their first official languages spoken; see the box "Languages known and spoken: Understanding the concepts") has decreased by36,000since2016, but has continued to top900,000. This decline—the first since the period from1991to1996—was observed in all the provinces, except British Columbia (+1,200). In the territories, the number of speakers was fairly stable, except in Yukon where it grew (+200). Moreover, the proportion of Canadians living outside Quebec whose first official language spoken is French was down from3.6% in2016to3.3% in2021.

This decrease is attributable to a combination of factors, such as an older population on average (generally speaking, there are more deaths in an older population), incomplete transmission of French from one generation to the next, and linguistic transfers (when a person speaks a language at home that is different from their mother tongue). Also, the effect of interprovincial and international migration on these figures varies depending on the period and the region.

In Canada outside Quebec, more than half of the population whose first official language spoken is French lived in Ontario and one-quarter lived in New Brunswick. In2021, French was the first official language spoken by30.0% of New Brunswick's population, by4.5% of Yukon's population and by3.4% of Ontario's population.

In many municipalities in Canada outside Quebec, a large proportion of the population had French as their first official language spoken. For example, more than one-third of the population of Wellington (Fire District), Prince Edward Island (42%), Clare, Nova Scotia (56%), Paquetville (Parish), New Brunswick (98%), Hearst, Ontario (86%), St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba (40%), and Falher, Alberta (41%) had French as their first official language spoken.

French was also the first official language spoken by a significant proportion of the population in many large urban centres (also known as census metropolitan areas) outside Quebec, such as Moncton (32.6%), Greater Sudbury (22.7%) and Ottawa (14.9%) (see the Note to readers for more information about Ottawa). However, in these three centres, the proportion of individuals whose first official language spoken is French decreased from2016to2021(-2.2percentage points in Moncton, -2.9percentage points in Greater Sudbury, and -1.1percentage points in Ottawa).

In Quebec,1in10people speak predominantly English at home

English is one of Canada's official languages, but in Quebec, it is a minority language. From2016to2021, the proportion of Quebec's population whose sole mother tongue is English was relatively stable (from7.5% in2016to7.6% in2021), but the number of speakers rose (+38,000) to639,000. Accounting for all Quebeckers who have English as their sole mother tongue or together with another language, the gain is much bigger (+125,000). This is driven by an increase in the number of individuals who reported both English and French as their mother tongues.

Almost one in five people in Quebec (19.2%) spoke English at home at least on a regular basis, more than half of whom spoke it along with French, another language, or French and another language. The number of people who spoke predominantly English at home (874,000in2021) accounted for10.4% of the Quebec population, up from9.7% in2016. The demographic weight of those who spoke English most often at home equally with another language also grew (from2.3% in2016to2.8% in2021).

Furthermore, the proportion of people whose first official language spoken is English rose from12.0% in2016to13.0% in2021, at about the same level as in1981. For the first time since comparable data have been compiled, the number of people in Quebec with English as the first official language spoken topped the1million mark in2021.

A number of factors explain the increase in the relative proportion of English speakers in Quebec, including the English-speaking population being younger on average (and therefore having proportionally fewer deaths) and specific recent migration trends. Other data sources indicate that the number of non-permanent residents has risen considerably in Quebec since2016and that the province's net interprovincial migration—though still in a deficit—improved over the recent period. Historically, English-speaking populations are overrepresented in Quebec's interprovincial migratory movements.

Those with English as their first official language spoken were concentrated in certain areas of the province. For example, more than7in10speakers (71.7%) lived on Montréal Island or in Montérégie.

The demographic weight of those with English as their first official language spoken was highest in the regions of Nord-du-Québec (54.4%), Montréal Island (30.6%), Outaouais (19.1%) and Laval (19.0%). These regions also saw this population's demographic weight increase the most from2016to2021(+7.8percentage points in Nord-du-Québec, +2.2percentage points on Montréal Island, +1.7percentage points in Laval and +1.7percentage points in Outaouais). In contrast, English was the first official language spoken by less than1% of the population of the regions of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (0.7%) and Bas-Saint-Laurent (0.7%).

Finally, in2021, more than one in two people in Quebec could have a conversation in English. This is the first time this level has been observed since the1901Census, when information on the knowledge of official languages began being collected. In2021, the vast majority of these individuals could also conduct a conversation in French.

The English-French bilingualism rate is up in Quebec, but down in Canada outside Quebec

Among the different types of multilingualism that exist, the ability to have a conversation in English and French is of particular interest, especially given that the dynamics of Canada's two official languages are the focus of many policies and programs.

In2021, the English-French bilingualism rate in Canada was18.0%. This rate was relatively stable compared with its previous peak in2016(17.9%).

This relative stability stems from two divergent trends: the rate of English-French bilingualism rising in Quebec, but decreasing outside Quebec.

In Quebec, the proportion of bilingual English-French individuals rose from44.5% in2016to46.4% in2021. Except for a dip from2001to2006, the rate of English-French bilingualism has been rising in Quebec in recent decades. It was at25.5% in1961.

Although the number of bilingual English-French individuals rose in Canada outside Quebec (+53,000) from2016to2021, the English-French bilingualism rate decreased, falling from9.8% to9.5%. This is due to faster growth in the number of people who can conduct a conversation only in English, or in neither English nor French. The rate of English-French bilingualism peaked in Canada outside Quebec in2001(10.3%).

The concentration of bilingual English-French individuals in Quebec rose from2016to2021. In2021, nearly6in10bilingual English-French Canadians (59.2%) lived in Quebec, compared with57.7% in2016.

In New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province in the country, the rate of English-French bilingualism remained fairly stable over this period (33.9% in2016and34.0% in2021).

The proportion of bilingual English-French Canadians was higher among those whose mother tongue was French. From2016to2021, the rate of English-French bilingualism increased among Canadians with a French mother tongue (from46.2% to47.6%), and decreased slightly among those whose mother tongue is English (from9.2% to9.0%) or another language (from11.7% to11.5%).

The English-French bilingualism rate was also particularly high among Canadians whose mother tongue is an official language in a minority situation, that is, English in Quebec and French in Canada outside Quebec. Compared with2016, the rate of English-French bilingualism was stable in2021among people with a French mother tongue in Canada outside Quebec, at85.3%. Among English-mother-tongue individuals in Quebec, it decreased from68.8% in2016to67.1% in2021.

Overall, more than4in10Canadians can have a conversation in more than one language

In addition to the language or languages learned in childhood and spoken at home, many Canadians can conduct a conversation in one, two or several other languages (either official or non-official languages). If we consider all languages, in2021,58.8% of Canadians could have a conversation in one language,32.1% were bilingual,7.6% were trilingual, and1.5% could have a conversation in four or more languages.

In2021, the proportion of Canadians who could conduct a conversation in more than one language (41.2%) was up from2016(39.0%).

By comparison, in the Europe of28(EU-28) in2016, the European Commission reported that about one-third of adults aged25to64spoke two languages, and another one-third knew at least three languages. This varied greatly from one country to another. For example, one-third of the population25to64years of age in the United Kingdom spoke more than one language, compared with6in10people in France. In European countries with more than one official language, it is not uncommon for a high proportion of adults aged25to64to know three or more languages. In2016, this was the case for more than6in10Belgians, Swiss or Finns.

In Canada in2021, among the provinces and territories, Nunavut had the highest rate of bilingualism (68.0%), thanks to Inuktitut–English bilingualism, and Quebec had the highest rate of trilingualism (12.2%). In the large urban centre of Montréal, nearly one in five people were trilingual in2021.

Montréal stood out in this regard, with69.8% of its population capable of having a conversation in two or more languages. This is the highest proportion of all large urban centres in Canada, followed by Ottawa–Gatineau (60.0%) and Toronto (56.1%). Conversely, this proportion was lower in St. John's (13.5%), Belleville–Quinte West (14.6%) and Peterborough (15.0%).

Immigration drives up the number of Canadians who speak a language other than English or French at home, especially a South Asian language

The number of Canadians who speak certain languages other than English or French has grown significantly from2016to2021. The number of Canadians who speak predominantly a non-official language at home rose16.0%, from4.0million to4.6million.

While the Canadian population increased5.2% during this period, driven mainly by immigration, the number of Canadians who spoke predominantly a South Asian language at home grew faster, particularly speakers of Malayalam (+129% to35,000people), Hindi (+66% to92,000people), Punjabi (+49% to520,000people) and Gujarati (+43% to92,000people). In fact, the growth rate of the number of speakers of these languages was at least eight times larger than that of the entire Canadian population.

Other languages spoken predominantly at home also grew rapidly, including Tigrigna, an East African language (+114% to22,000people), Turkish (+48% to28,000people), Tagalog (+29% to275,000people), Arabic (+28% to286,000people), Persian languages (+26% to180,000people) and Spanish (+20% to317,000people).

Mandarin (531,000speakers) and Punjabi (520,000speakers) remained the two languages other than English and French spoken predominantly at home by the largest number of Canadians in2021. The number of Mandarin speakers grew from2016to2021(+15%), but was outpaced by the growth in the number of Punjabi speakers (+49%).

The rapid growth in the number of speakers of certain languages is mostly due to immigration. According to the Longitudinal Immigration Database, one-quarter of the permanent residents who arrived in Canada from May2016to December2020were born in a South Asian country, and one in five was born in India. Furthermore, during the same period, about1in10permanent residents who arrived in Canada was born in China or the Philippines, where Mandarin and Tagalog are spoken, respectively.

The situation was different for a number of European languages. For example, the number of Canadians who spoke predominantly Italian (-23,000), Polish (-10,000) or Greek (-6,000) at home fell from2016to2021. This decrease is primarily linked to the speakers of these languages aging, a significant proportion of whom immigrated to Canada before1980. What's more, there were relatively few immigrants from Italy, Poland or Greece who recently arrived in Canada.

Canadians who spoke predominantly a language other than English or French at home were more likely to live in a large urban centre than other Canadians. In2021, fewer than3in4Canadians (73.8%) lived in a large urban centre, compared with more than9in10Canadians who spoke predominantly a language other than English or French at home (92.4%). Each year, large urban centres are the destination of a significant proportion of immigrants who settle in Canada, which helps to increase the diversity of these centres.

Nearly7in10Canadians whose mother tongue is neither English nor French speak an official language at home

Canada's two official languages, English and French, remain the languages of convergence—meaning that they are learned, spoken and adopted as the languages of everyday life by many Canadians for whom neither is their mother tongue.

In fact, many Canadians whose mother tongue is a language other than English or French speak one of Canada's two official languages at home, either on a regular basis or predominantly.

In2021, nearly7in10Canadians (68.8%) with a non-official mother tongue spoke an official language at home at least on a regular basis. Also, more than one-third (34.8%) spoke predominantly an official language, a proportion that was identical in2016.

In Quebec, nearly one in two individuals with a non-official mother tongue (47.9%) spoke French at home at least on a regular basis in2021, while37.5% spoke English. From2016to2021, the proportion of individuals with a non-official mother tongue living in Quebec speaking predominantly French at home rose slightly (from18.8% to20.1%), while the proportion who spoke predominantly English at home remained relatively stable over the same period (from15.3% to15.4%).

In Canada outside Quebec,68.5% of individuals with a non-official mother tongue spoke English at home at least on a regular basis, and1.5% spoke French at least on a regular basis in2021. However, the proportion of individuals whose mother tongue is a non-official language and who spoke French at home at least on a regular basis was higher in New Brunswick (8.6%) and some large urban centres, such as Ottawa (10.4%) and Moncton (14.0%).

More than180,000people in Canada speak an Indigenous language at home at least on a regular basis

"Indigenous languages are fundamental to the identities, cultures, spirituality, relationships to the land, world views and self-determination of Indigenous peoples." (excerpt from the Indigenous Languages Act)

In2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to highlight the importance of preserving and revitalizing Indigenous languages, particularly to uphold the right of Indigenous peoples to liberty of expression, education and participation in public life in their mother tongue.

According to UNESCO, the state of Indigenous languages in a number of countries is precarious, including in Canada, where a number of Indigenous languages are vulnerable or endangered. In Canada, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples shed light of the negative consequences from centuries of colonial history on the use and transmission of Indigenous languages.

More than70different Indigenous languages are spoken in Canada. In many cases, incomplete transmission to future generations is reflected in the decrease and the aging of populations speaking these languages. In2021, more than20Indigenous languages in Canada were the mother tongue of500or fewer people, whose median age was60years and older.

A number of efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages are underway in Canada, including by means of the Indigenous Languages Act.

In Canada,189,000individuals reported having an Indigenous mother tongue, alone or in combination with another language, and183,000reported speaking an Indigenous language at home at least on a regular basis in2021. Of these,86,000spoke predominantly an Indigenous language at home.

More individuals could conduct a conversation in an Indigenous language—243,000people in2021. As in prior censuses, the number of people who can have a conversation in an Indigenous language is greater than the number of people reporting an Indigenous mother tongue. This is an indication that Indigenous languages are being learned as second languages in Indigenous communities.

Cree languages and Inuktitut are the main Indigenous languages spoken at home in Canada. The Inuit language or Inuktut, which includes Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun, has official language status in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

The most widely spoken Indigenous languages differ by region. In the Atlantic provinces, Mi'kmaq is the most common Indigenous language spoken predominantly at home, except in Newfoundland and Labrador, where it is Innu (Montagnais).

Cree languages are the most widely spoken Indigenous languages in Quebec and the Prairie provinces, while in Ontario, Ojibway languages are most common.

The main Indigenous languages spoken at home were different in British Columbia (Dakelh [Carrier]), the Northwest Territories (Tlicho [Dogrib]) and Nunavut (Inuktitut). In Yukon, several Indigenous languages are spoken by a similar number of speakers, such as Tutchone languages, Kaska (Nahani) and Gwich'in.

Of those with an Indigenous mother tongue, alone or with another language,4in10lived in one of the Prairie provinces and one-quarter lived in Quebec. In fact, Quebec had the largest number of people with at least one Indigenous mother tongue (45,600). Other provinces and territories where Indigenous languages are spoken by a significant number of people included Saskatchewan (27,500), Manitoba (26,500), Alberta (24,600) and Nunavut (23,000).

When a person speaks their mother tongue at home, it is an indicator of that language being retained and a factor associated with its transmission to future generations.

In2021, nearly four out of five people whose mother tongue is an Indigenous language spoke that language at home at least on a regular basis (78.2%) and more than half spoke it predominantly at home (51.3%).

This proportion was higher for some languages. In2021, approximately three-quarters of those whose mother tongue was Atikamekw, Innu (Montagnais), Inu Ayimun (Southern East Cree) or Inuktitut spoke predominantly that language at home. This proportion also varied by age. For example, among individuals under25years of age with an Indigenous mother tongue, around two-thirds (65.6%) spoke predominantly that language at home.

Looking ahead: Telling the stories of Canadians

The2021Census data to be released in the coming months will help to complete the portrait of the Canadian population.

The next releases of2021Census of Population data, scheduled for September21,2022, will be on First Nations, Métis and Inuit in Canada and on housing in Canada.

On November30,2022, other releases will examine the languages used at work and, for the first time, provide information on instruction in the minority official language in Canada.

Please see the 2021Census release schedule to find out when data and analysis on the different topics will be published throughout2022.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).