Study: Languages in Nunavut, 2021

Released: 2024-11-07

Nunavut stood out for its highest rate of bilingualism among the provinces and territories in 2021, with more than two-thirds of residents able to conduct a conversation in two or more languages (68.0%). Notably, nearly three in four Inuit (72.3%) could conduct a conversation in both Inuktitut and English.

A new report released today, "Languages in Nunavut, 2021," provides a detailed portrait of the knowledge and use of Nunavut's four official languages (Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French), using data from the 2021 Census of Population and the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey.

The report is also available in Inuktitut, in Inuinnaqtun and in French.

Close to two-thirds of Nunavut residents have Inuktut as one of their mother tongues

In 2021, Inuktut—which refers to Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and other Inuit languages—was the most commonly reported mother tongue in Nunavut, with close to two-thirds (62.7%) of residents identifying it as one of their mother tongues. More specifically, 52.2% reported only Inuktitut as their mother tongue, while 0.6% reported Inuinnaqtun as their sole mother tongue.

Chart 1 
Mother tongue in Nunavut, 2021

Younger Inuit are less likely to report Inuktut as their mother tongue than older Inuit

Close to three-quarters of Nunavut's Inuit population (73.1%) reported Inuktut as their mother tongue, including 11.4% who reported it alongside English. In comparison, 4.6% of non-Inuit reported Inuktut as their mother tongue. Among Inuit that reported an Inuktut language as their mother tongue, there was a noticeable generational gap; 65.6% of Inuit under the age of 15 years reported Inuktut as their mother tongue, while 90.9% of those aged 55 years and older did so.

Chart 2 
Mother tongue among Inuit, by age group, Nunavut, 2021

More than 8 in 10 children of Inuktitut-speaking mothers also have Inuktitut as their mother tongue

The transmission of language from mother to child serves as a key indicator of a language's vitality across generations. In 2021, 86.4% of children under 15 years of age with mothers whose mother tongue is Inuktitut also spoke Inuktitut as their mother tongue. In contrast, 23.1% of children born to mothers whose mother tongue was Inuinnaqtun first learned the same language in childhood. The vast majority of children of Inuktut-speaking mothers who were raised with a different mother tongue learned English as their first language during their early years.

Over 9 in 10 Nunavut residents can conduct a conversation in English

In 2021, 94.1% of Nunavut residents were able to conduct a conversation in English, the language spoken by the largest number of people in the territory. More than half of those who could communicate in English (53.8%) did not have English as their mother tongue but had learned it as a second language later in life.

Chart 3 
Knowledge of languages by Inuit identity, Nunavut, 2021

More than 8 in 10 Inuit can converse in Inuktut, with higher rates among older generations

In contrast with English, a lower proportion of Nunavut residents could conduct a conversation in Inuktut (70.0%) in 2021. In particular, more than two-thirds of Nunavut residents (68.7%) could conduct a conversation in Inuktitut while a much smaller proportion (1.4%) could do so in Inuinnaqtun.

Among Inuit, 81.0% could conduct a conversation in Inuktut, with proportions higher among older age groups. For example, 73.7% of Inuit children under 15 years of age could converse in Inuktut, compared with 96.2% of older adults aged 55 and older.

Chart 4 
Knowledge of languages by age group among Inuit, Nunavut, 2021

In contrast, 8.6% of non-Inuit reported being able to converse in Inuktut. This proportion was highest among non-Inuit aged 15 to 24 years (15.4%).

Among Nunavut residents who could conduct a conversation in Inuktitut, 11.4% had learned the language as a second language. This proportion was 36.1% among those who could converse in Inuinnaqtun. Younger residents are increasingly learning Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun as second languages rather than as mother tongues, as shown by the lower median age of second language speakers. For Inuktitut, the median age of second-language speakers was 23 years, compared with 25 years for mother tongue speakers. The gap was even wider for Inuinnaqtun, where the median age of second-language speakers was 35 years, compared to 54 years for mother tongue speakers.

Just over two in five Nunavut residents speak multiple languages at home, more than double the Canadian average

In 2021, 40.6% of Nunavut residents regularly spoke two or more languages at home, more than double the Canadian average (18.6%). English was the language most commonly spoken at home on a regular basis; it was spoken by 71.9% of Nunavut residents, including 46.6% who spoke it predominantly at home. Inuktut followed as the second most commonly spoken language at home, with 64.6% of the population in Nunavut speaking it at home at least regularly, and 41.4% speaking it predominantly at home.

Chart 5 
Language spoken most often at home by Inuit identity, Nunavut, 2021

Among Nunavut residents whose mother tongue is Inuktitut, 74.1% continued to speak Inuktitut predominantly at home in 2021. In comparison, 20.2% of persons whose mother tongue is Inuinnaqtun spoke Inuinnaqtun predominantly at home. Nearly all Inuktitut-mother-tongue and Inuinnaqtun-mother-tongue Nunavut residents who did not speak their mother tongue predominantly at home spoke English instead.

At work, 39.7% of Nunavut workers used multiple languages at their workplace, more than three times the average for workers across Canada (11.7%). English was the leading language in the workplace, used at least regularly by 94.6% of workers, while Inuktitut was used at least regularly by 42.8% of the workforce. French was used on a regular basis by 2.5% of workers, and Inuinnaqtun by 0.5%.

Qikiqtaaluk and Kivalliq have over twice the proportion of Inuktut speakers of Kitikmeot

Nunavut is comprised of three main regions: Kitikmeot, to the west; Kivalliq, to the south; and Qikiqtaaluk, which includes Baffin Island, the territorial capital (Iqaluit) and several islands in the far north. Knowledge and use of Inuktut varied across different regions of Nunavut. Nearly three in four residents in Qikiqtaaluk (74.2%) and just over four in five residents living in Kivalliq (80.9%) could conduct a conversation in Inuktut, while 38.8% of residents in Kitikmeot could.

In Nunavut, 1.4% of residents could converse in Inuinnaqtun, with the highest concentrations in the Kitikmeot communities of Kugluktuk (18.3%) and Cambridge Bay (15.0%).

More than 7 in 10 residents in Qikiqtaaluk (70.4%) and Kivalliq (70.7%) have Inuktut as their mother tongue—alone or together with another language—compared with 25.7% in Kitikmeot. In that region, 72.4% of residents had only English as their mother tongue.

Iqaluit is the Nunavut community with the highest proportion of residents with a mother tongue other than English, French, or Inuktut, at 9.6%, more than three times the territorial average (2.9%). Iqaluit was also the community in Nunavut with the highest proportion of residents whose sole mother tongue is French (5.9% compared to 1.4% in all of Nunavut).

Infographic 1 
Inuktut mother tongue by community, Nunavut, 2021

Products

The report ''Languages in Nunavut, 2021'' (Catalogue number89-657-X) is now available.

The Languages Statistics portal provides the most recent data, analyses and references on languages in Canada.

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).