Demographics of Canada - Languages

Languages

Languages in Canada
Language Percent
English 58%
French 22%
English and French 11%
others 9%

Language used most often at work:

  • English: 78.3%
  • French: 21.7%
  • Non-official languages: 2%

Languages by language used most often at home:

  • English: 67.1%
  • French: 21.5%
  • Non-official languages: 11.4%

Languages by mother tongue:

First language Population (2011) % of total population (2011) Population (2006) % of total population (2006) Increase (2006–2011) Notes
Single language responses 32,481,635 98.1% 30,848,270 98.7% 5.3%
Official languages 25,913,955 78.2% 24,700,425 79.1% 4.9%
English 18,858,980 56.9% 17,882,775 57.2% 5.5%
French 7,054,975 21.3% 6,817,650 21.8% 3.5%
Non-official languages 6,567,680 19.8% 6,147,840 19.7% 6.8%
Panjabi (Punjabi) 430,705 1.3% 367,505 1.2% 17.2%
Chinese, n.o.s. 425,210 1.3% 456,705 1.5% -6.9%
Spanish 410,670 1.2% 345,345 1.1% 18.9%
German 409,200 1.2% 450,570 1.4% -9.2%
Italian 407,485 1.2% 455,040 1.5% -10.5%
Cantonese 372,460 1.1% 361,450 1.2% 3%
Arabic 327,870 1% 261,640 0.8% 25.3%
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) 327,445 1% 235,615 0.8% 39%
Mandarin 248,705 0.8% 170,950 0.5% 45.5%
Portuguese 211,335 0.6% 219,275 0.7% -3.6%
Polish 191,645 0.6% 211,175 0.7% -9.2%
Urdu 172,800 0.5% 145,805 0.5% 18.5%
Persian (Farsi) 170,045 0.5% 134,080 0.4% 26.8%
Russian 164,330 0.5% 133,580 0.4% 23%
Vietnamese 144,880 0.4% 141,625 0.5% 2.3%
Korean 137,925 0.4% 125,570 0.4% 9.8%
Tamil 131,265 0.4% 115,880 0.4% 13.3%
Ukrainian 111,540 0.3% 134,500 0.4% -17.1%
Dutch 110,490 0.3% 128,900 0.4% -14.3%
Greek 108,925 0.3% 117,285 0.4% -7.1%
Gujarati 91,450 0.3% 81,465 0.3% 12.3%
Hindi 90,545 0.3% 78,240 0.3% 15.7%
Romanian 90,300 0.3% 78,495 0.3% 15%
Cree, n.o.s. 77,900 0.2% 78,855 0.3% -1.2% In the 2006 Census, this language was referred to simply as 'Cree'.
Hungarian 67,920 0.2% 73,335 0.2% -7.4%
Creoles 61,725 0.2% 53,515 0.2% 15.3%
Bengali 59,370 0.2% 45,685 0.1% 30%
Serbian 56,420 0.2% 51,665 0.2% 9.2%
Croatian 49,730 0.2% 55,330 0.2% -10.1%
Japanese 39,985 0.1% 40,200 0.1% -0.5%
Inuktitut 33,500 0.1% 32,015 0.1% 4.6% In the 2006 Census, this language was referred to as 'Inuktitut, n.i.e.'.
Somali 31,380 0.09% 27,320 0.09% 14.9%
Armenian 29,795 0.09% 30,130 0.1% -1.1%
Turkish 29,640 0.09% 24,745 0.08% 19.8%
Albanian 23,820 0.07% N/A N/A N/A
Czech 23,585 0.07% 24,450 0.08% -3.5%
Khmer (Cambodian) 19,440 0.06% 19,105 0.06% 1.8%
Bulgarian 19,050 0.06% 16,790 0.05% 13.5%
Hebrew 18,450 0.06% 17,635 0.06% 4.6%
Amharic 18,020 0.05% 14,555 0.05% 23.8%
Ilocano 17,915 0.05% 13,450 0.04% 33.2%
Ojibway 17,625 0.05% 24,190 0.08% -27.1%
Slovak 17,580 0.05% 18,820 0.06% -6.6%
Finnish 17,415 0.05% 21,030 0.07% -17.2%
Macedonian 17,245 0.05% 18,435 0.06% -6.5%
Semitic languages, n.i.e. 16,970 0.05% N/A N/A N/A
Bisayan languages 16,240 0.05% 11,240 0.04% 44.5%
Malayalam 16,080 0.05% 11,925 0.04% 34.8%
Yiddish 15,205 0.05% 16,295 0.05% -6.7%
Sinhala (Sinhalese) 14,185 0.04% 10,180 0.03% 39.3%
Danish 14,145 0.04% 18,735 0.06% -24.5%
Niger–Congo languages, n.i.e. 14,075 0.04% N/A N/A N/A
Lao 12,970 0.04% 13,940 0.04% -7%
Akan (Twi) 12,680 0.04% 12,780 0.04% -0.8%
Pashto 12,465 0.04% 9,025 0.03% 38.1%
Bosnian 11,685 0.04% 12,790 0.04% -8.6%
Sindhi 11,330 0.03% 10,355 0.03% 9.4%
Dene 11,215 0.03% 9,745 0.03% 15.1%
Oromo 11,140 0.03% N/A N/A N/A
Malay 10,910 0.03% 9,490 0.03% 15%
Innu/Montagnais 10,785 0.03% 10,975 0.04% -1.7% In the 2006 Census, this language was referred to as 'Montagnais-Naskapi'.
Slovenian 10,775 0.03% 13,135 0.04% -18%
Tigrigna 10,220 0.03% 7,105 0.02% 43.8%
Serbo-Croatian 10,155 0.03% 12,510 0.04% -18.8%
Swahili 10,090 0.03% 7,935 0.03% 27.2%
Oji-Cree 9,835 0.03% 11,690 0.04% -15.9%
Kurdish 9,805 0.03% 7,660 0.02% 28%
Taiwanese 9,635 0.03% 9,620 0.03% 0.2%
Telugu 9,315 0.03% 6,625 0.02% 40.6%
African languages, n.i.e. 9,125 0.03% N/A N/A N/A
Afrikaans 8,770 0.03% N/A N/A N/A
Nepali 8,480 0.03% N/A N/A N/A
Thai 7,935 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Mi'kmaq 7,635 0.02% 7,365 0.02% 3.7%
Swedish 7,350 0.02% 8,220 0.03% -10.6%
Lithuanian 7,245 0.02% 8,335 0.03% -13.1%
Bantu languages, n.i.e. 7,150 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Estonian 6,385 0.02% 8,240 0.03% -22.5%
Maltese 6,220 0.02% 6,405 0.02% -2.9%
Latvian 6,200 0.02% 7,000 0.02% -11.4%
Fukien 5,925 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Berber languages (Kabyle) 5,855 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Marathi 5,830 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Atikamekw 5,820 0.02% 5,250 0.02% 10.9%
Norwegian 5,800 0.02% 7,225 0.02% -19.7%
Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e. 5,255 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Hakka 5,115 0.02% N/A N/A N/A
Flemish 4,690 0.01% 5,660 0.02% -17.1%
Tibetan languages 4,640 0.01% N/A N/A N/A
Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e. 4,360 0.01% N/A N/A N/A
Rundi (Kirundi) 3,975 0.01% N/A N/A N/A
Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) 3,895 0.01% N/A N/A N/A
Sign languages, n.i.e. 3,815 0.01% N/A N/A N/A
Slavic languages, n.i.e. 3,630 0.01% N/A N/A N/A
Lingala 3,085 0.009% N/A N/A N/A
Stoney 3,050 0.009% N/A N/A N/A
Burmese 2,985 0.009% N/A N/A N/A
Shanghainese 2,920 0.009% N/A N/A N/A
Siouan languages (Dakota/Sioux) N/A N/A 5,585 0.02% N/A
Blackfoot N/A N/A 3,085 0.01% N/A
Frisian N/A N/A 2,890 0.009% N/A
Dogrib N/A N/A 2,020 0.006% N/A
Algonquin N/A N/A 1,920 0.006% N/A
South Slave N/A N/A 1,605 0.005% N/A
Carrier N/A N/A 1,560 0.005% N/A
Gitksan N/A N/A 1,180 0.004% N/A
Chilcotin N/A N/A 1,070 0.003% N/A
North Slave (Hare) N/A N/A 1,065 0.003% N/A
Shuswap N/A N/A 935 0.003% N/A
Nisga’a N/A N/A 680 0.002% N/A
Malecite N/A N/A 535 0.002% N/A
Chipewyan N/A N/A 525 0.002% N/A
Inuinnaqtun N/A N/A 365 0.001% N/A
Kutchin-Gwich’in (Loucheux) N/A N/A 360 0.001% N/A
Mohawk N/A N/A 290 0.0009% N/A
Tlingit N/A N/A 80 0.0003% N/A
Other languages 77,890 0.2% 172,650 0.6% -54.9%
Multiple language responses 639,540 1.9% 392,760 1.3% 62.8%
English and French 144,685 0.4% 98,630 0.3% 46.7%
English and a non-official language 396,330 1.2% 240,005 0.8% 65.1%
French and a non-official language 74,430 0.2% 43,335 0.1% 71.8%
English, French, and a non-official language 24,095 0.07% 10,790 0.03% 123.3%
Total 33,121,175 100% 31,241,030 100% 6%

n.i.e. = not included elsewhere
n.o.s. = not otherwise specified

Read more about this topic:  Demographics Of Canada

Famous quotes containing the word languages:

    The trouble with foreign languages is, you have to think before your speak.
    Swedish proverb, trans. by Verne Moberg.

    The less sophisticated of my forbears avoided foreigners at all costs, for the very good reason that, in their circles, speaking in tongues was commonly a prelude to snake handling. The more tolerant among us regarded foreign languages as a kind of speech impediment that could be overcome by willpower.
    Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)

    No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)