New analysis on Indigenous language use in Canada, 2021 and 2022

Released: 2026-06-18

Today, the Centre for Indigenous Statistics and Partnerships at Statistics Canada, in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages, is releasing two articles on Indigenous language use in Canada. The first, entitled Silent speakers of Indigenous languages in Canada: A socio-demographic and geographic analysis, considers the characteristics of people who learned an Indigenous language as their mother tongue but could no longer speak the language. The second article, The use of Indigenous languages in urban areas in Canada, reports on the linguistic profile and trends of Indigenous language speakers living in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs).

For some of the most endangered Indigenous languages, silent speakers make up one-quarter or more of the mother tongue population

In 2021, silent speakers, defined as those who learned an Indigenous language as a mother tongue but could no longer speak it well enough to conduct a conversation, made up 8% of the 185,510 people who had an Indigenous mother tongue.

Silent speakers made up over 25% of the mother tongue population for more than a dozen Indigenous languages. These were generally smaller and more endangered languages, belonging to First Nations people, Métis and Inuit alike. For example, among those with a Tutchone language as their mother tongue, 46% were silent speakers; for those with Michif as their mother tongue, 25% were silent speakers; and among those with Inuvialuktun at their mother tongue, 33% were silent speakers.

Silent speakers represent a valuable reservoir of cultural and linguistic knowledge, and their potential role in language revitalization efforts makes it essential to better understand their characteristics, geographic distribution, and how their numbers have changed over time.

Almost one in four Indigenous language speakers live in an urban area

In 2021, of the 243,155 people living in Canada who could speak an Indigenous language, 57,120 (23%) lived in an urban area (either a CMA or a CA).

Data from the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey, a survey of First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit, show that among Indigenous language speakers aged 6 years and over, the majority (78%) reported that the ability to speak an Indigenous language was either very important or somewhat important. There was little difference between the responses of speakers living in a CMA or CA (77%) and those living outside a CMA or CA (79%).

However, self-rated language proficiency varied depending upon whether the speaker lived inside or outside a CMA or CA. When asked to assess their own ability to speak an Indigenous language, 26% of those living outside of a CMA or CA stated they could speak their Indigenous language very well or relatively well, almost triple the rate of those living in a CMA or CA (9%).

Products

The articles "Silent speakers of Indigenous languages in Canada: A socio-demographic and geographic analysis" and "The use of Indigenous languages in urban areas in Canada" are now available as part of the Indigenous Peoples Thematic Series (41-20-0002).

The Statistics on Indigenous Peoples portal provides the most recent data, analyses and references on First Nations people, Métis and Inuit 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).