Languages

Description: This thematic series groups different statistical products related to ethnicity, languages, and immigration. It features analytical documents of varying scopes, such as population profiles, reference materials, data products (including tables and factsheets), among other document types.

Description: Based on results from the 2022 Survey on the Official Language Minority Population, this research note provides contextual information on the combined reporting of English and French in the Census of Population language questions. It answers common questions on the interpretation of some language concepts, such as knowledge of official languages, mother tongue, language spoken at home, and first official language spoken.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: This publication brings together and analyzes a wide range of data sources in order to provide information on various aspects of Canadian society, including labour, income, education, social, and demographic issues, that affect the lives of Canadians.

Description: This report draws on data from the 2021 Census of Population, alongside previous census cycles to clarify the characteristics of the “silent speakers” of Indigenous languages in Canada. This term refers to those who have an Indigenous mother tongue that they still understand but can no longer speak well enough to conduct a conversation. Silent speakers thus represent a valuable reservoir of cultural and linguistic knowledge. By examining census data across multiple years, this study aims to illuminate the demographic makeup, geographic distribution, and long-term trends of this pivotal group.

Description: This report draws on data from the 2021 Census of Population, alongside previous census cycles to identify changes over time in the linguistic profile of Indigenous language speakers living in a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Agglomeration (CA). In addition, supplementary statistics using the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey, which asks questions on the importance of Indigenous languages, were also included. Finally, 12 CMAs and CAs were selected for focused analysis, in order to highlight the specific linguistic communities in these areas.

Description: This study provides an overview of how minority official languages are integrated into child care services across Canada, using data from three sources. Data from the 2022 Survey on the Official Language Minority Population (SOLMP) provides information on the participation in minority official language child care among children eligible for instruction in the minority official language and their educational pathways from early childhood to primary school. Data from the 2022 Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services (CSPCCS) is used to highlight the use of minority official languages within child care facilities, while data from the 2021 Census of Population offers insights into language use among child care workers.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Official language of daycare and reasons for attending, by elementary school language and type of program, age group and gender, for Canada, Quebec, Canada outside Quebec, by provinces and select regions, among sub-populations of children in a minority official language situation, 2022.

Description: Preference for daycare in the minority official language, by elementary school language and type of program, age group and gender, for Canada, Quebec, Canada outside Quebec, by provinces and select regions, among sub-populations of children in a minority official language situation, 2022.

Description: Percentage of employees required to be bilingual in English and French, by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), business employment size, type of business, business activity and majority ownership, fourth quarter of 2024.

Description: Knowledge of Indigenous languages by single and multiple knowledge of languages responses, Indigenous identity, Indigenous language acquisition, residence by Indigenous geography, Registered or Treaty Indian status and age for the population in private households.

Description: Indigenous mother tongue by single and multiple mother tongue responses, Indigenous identity, active and silent speakers of an Indigenous mother tongue and age for the population in private households.

Description: Knowledge of Indigenous languages by single and multiple knowledge of languages responses, Indigenous identity and age for the population in private households.

Description: Indigenous mother tongue by single and multiple mother tongue responses, Indigenous identity and age for the population in private households.

Description: Proportion of the school age-population (aged 5 to 24) with non-official home language, Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.

Description: Self-rated ability to speak or understand an Indigenous language by First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit, age group and gender, population aged 6 years and over, Canada, provinces and territories.

Description: Exposure to an Indigenous language at home in the past 12 months, First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit, aged 1 to 5 years, by gender, Canada, provinces and territories.

Description: Data on eligibility for instruction in the minority official language and collapsed criteria of eligibility accounting for parents’ citizenship for the population of children in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions.

Description: Data on eligibility for instruction in the minority official language and collapsed criteria of eligibility accounting for parents’ citizenship for the population of children in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in Nova Scotia was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Department of Justice Canada. It is the ninth of a series of portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This portrait of the French-speaking population in Nova Scotia contains information drawn from Canadian censuses from 1951 to 2006 and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) conducted in 2006 by Statistics Canada. Census: The census data contained in this report are drawn from the long census questionnaire, completed by 20% of households and including 61 questions of which 7 are language-related. Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM): This is a cross-sectional sample survey. Respondents to the (SVOLM) are selected from the sample of persons who completed the long questionnaire in the 2006 Census.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in Manitoba was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Department of Justice Canada. It is the eighth of a series of portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This portrait of the French-speaking population in Manitoba contains information drawn from Canadian censuses from 1951 to 2006 and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) conducted in 2006 by Statistics Canada. Census: The census data contained in this report are drawn from the long census questionnaire, completed by 20% of households and including 61 questions of which 7 are language-related.

Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM): This is a cross-sectional sample survey. Respondents to the (SVOLM) are selected from the sample of persons who completed the long questionnaire in the 2006 Census.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in Alberta was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Department of Justice Canada. It is the seventh of a series of portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This portrait of the French-speaking population in Alberta contains information drawn from Canadian censuses from 1951 to 2006 and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) conducted in 2006 by Statistics Canada. Census: The census data contained in this report are drawn from the long census questionnaire, completed by 20% of households and including 61 questions of which 7 are language-related.

Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM): This is a cross-sectional sample survey. Respondents to the (SVOLM) are selected from the sample of persons who completed the long questionnaire in the 2006 Census.

Description:

With data from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, this analysis examines the relationship between self-reported official language proficiency and transitions to poor self-reported health during the first four years in the country.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in Saskatchewan was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Department of Justice Canada. It is the sixth of a series of portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

Description: This article summarizes the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2009 for students in minority-language school systems in the seven provinces that reported data for both their English- and French-language school systems (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia). The minority-language student population consists of Anglophone students in Quebec and Francophone students outside of Quebec.

Description: PISA is a collaborative effort among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and is designed to provide policy-oriented indicators of the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. PISA data shed light on a range of factors that contribute to successful students, schools and education systems. This report summarises the results from PISA 2009 for students in the minority-language school systems in Canada within the 7 provinces that reported data for both their English and French language school systems (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia). The purpose of the following analyses was to develop a profile of minority-language students in Canada (French outside of Quebec, English in Quebec) and the schools they attend.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in New Brunswick was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Department of Justice Canada. It is the fifth of a series of portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

Description:

Background Notes This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in British Columbia was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and Justice Canada. It is the fourth of a series of portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

Data sources This portrait of the French-speaking population in British Columbia contains information drawn from Canadian censuses from 1951 to 2006 and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) conducted in 2006 by Statistics Canada.

Census: The census data contained in this report are drawn from the long census questionnaire, completed by 20% of households and including 61 questions of which 7 are language-related.

Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM): This is a cross-sectional sample survey. Respondents to the (SVOLM) are selected from the sample of persons who completed the long questionnaire in the 2006 Census.

Description: This paper examines the extent of transmission of immigrant languages between 1981 and 2006. It compares immigrant mothers having a non-official mother tongue and their children born in Canada using a cross-sectional approach. Then a longitudinal approach is used to compare immigrant mothers in 1981 with their second-generation daughters in 2006. The article is based on census data from 1981 and 2006.

Description: The main purposes of this survey are to gather information at the Canada level and, where possible, at the regional level on the size of the industry, its characteristics and the role played by foreign students. It also gives decision makers necessary tools to design appropriate policies, and the survey providers a profile of their industry.

Description: The data will be used to calculate contributions to the provinces for enrolments in minority-language programs at the postsecondary level.

Description: The purpose of this survey is to determine the official language preference of the clients of various government departments. The data will allow the department to decide if they need to provide services to clients in the minority language according to the rules of the Official Languages Act.

Description: The objective of this survey was to collect new statistical information on the economic production of the Canadian language industry and its sectors for the purpose of creating an industry profile and collecting benchmark data for future surveys to track industry performance.

Description: This survey pertains to the vitality of Canada's official-language minorities, namely anglophones in Quebec and francophones outside of Quebec. The information collected allow for a more in-depth understanding of the current situation of individuals who belong to these groups on subjects as diverse as instruction in the language of the minority or access to different services in the language of the minority (i.e., health care), as well as language practices both at home and outside of the home.

Description: The survey is sponsored by the Office of the Official Language Commissioner (OCOL). As part of its mandate, the OCOL reviews the use of both official languages in federal institutions. The evaluation is done for employees in a minority situation (i.e., English in Quebec and French in New Brunswick and in bilingual areas of Ontario).

Description: Complementing the data collected by the census, the National Household Survey (NHS) is designed to provide information about people in Canada by their demographic, social and economic characteristics. In October 2014, Statistics Canada will be conducting a voluntary test in selected locations to evaluate the processes, procedures and systems that will be used for the 2016 Census Program. This ensures that quality data are available in 2016 to support a wide variety of programs.

Description: The Survey on the Official Language Minority Population (SOLMP) is a postcensal survey of the English-speaking population in Quebec and the French-speaking population elsewhere in Canada. The data will provide a better understanding of the current situation of official language minorities regarding issues such as education and access to various services in the minority language.