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 Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Justice Canada. It is one of eleven such portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by the Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This study paints a general statistical portrait of the official-language minority in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut based on data from the Census of Population and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-language Minorities in Canada, conducted in 2006. The purpose of such a portrait is to present a set of characteristics, behaviours and perceptions of the official-language minority population, exploiting the analytical opportunities contained in the data.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the English-speaking population in Quebec was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Justice Canada. It is one of eleven such portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by the Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This study paints a general statistical portrait of the official-language minority in Quebec based on data from the Census of Population and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-language Minorities in Canada, conducted in 2006. The purpose of such a portrait is to present a set of characteristics, behaviours and perceptions of the official-language minority population, exploiting the analytical opportunities contained in the data.

Description:

This study analyses data from the 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey to identify some of the characteristics associated with the ability to understand an Aboriginal language among off-reserve First Nations children aged 2 to 5. More specifically, it examines the extent to which the home, the extended family, child care settings, and the broader community can contribute to the transmission of Aboriginal languages to young First Nations children living off reserve.

Description:

This document of fact sheets provides an Aboriginal language profile of Métis, Inuit, and off-reserve First Nations children under the age of six in Canada. The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey is used to provide broad indicators of young Aboriginal children's experiences with Aboriginal languages. Data include their ability to speak and understand an Aboriginal language, and their exposure to Aboriginal languages at home and in the community. Family characteristics associated with Aboriginal language knowledge are also presented. Finally, the hopes and expectations of parents regarding their children's acquisition of an Aboriginal language are described.

Description:

This document of fact sheets provides an early learning profile of Métis, Inuit, and off-reserve First Nations children under the age of six in Canada. The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey is used to provide broad indicators of young Aboriginal children's experiences with learning. Data include how they learn about words and traditional activities and who helps them learn. Family characteristics associated with participation in early learning activities are also presented.

Description:

This fact sheet provides an Aboriginal language profile of off-reserve First Nations children under the age of six in Canada. The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey is used to provide broad indicators of young off-reserve First Nations children's experiences with Aboriginal languages. Data include their ability to speak and understand an Aboriginal language, and their exposure to Aboriginal languages at home and in the community. Family characteristics associated with Aboriginal language knowledge are also presented. Finally, the hopes and expectations of parents regarding their children's acquisition of an Aboriginal language are described.

Description:

This fact sheet provides an Aboriginal language profile of Métis children under the age of six in Canada. The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey is used to provide broad indicators of young Métis children's experiences with Aboriginal languages. Data include the ability to speak and understand an Aboriginal language, along with knowledge of English and French. A comparison of first languages learned across the generations is provided. Specific Aboriginal languages used most widely by Métis children are noted. Other indicators include the extent to which Métis children are exposed to Aboriginal languages at home and in the community. Family characteristics associated with Aboriginal language learning are also presented. Finally, the hopes and expectations of parents regarding their children's acquisition of an Aboriginal language are described. Data are generally provided at the Canada level with some provincial breakdowns.

Description:

This fact sheet provides a language profile of Inuit children under the age of six in Canada. The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey is used to provide broad indicators of young Inuit children's experiences with the Inuit language. Data include the ability to speak and understand the Inuit language and the extent to which Inuit children are exposed to the language at home and in the community. Family characteristics associated with Inuit language learning are presented. Finally, the hopes and expectations of parents regarding their children's acquisition of the Inuit language are described. Data are provided at the Canada level with some breakdowns for Inuit regions.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in Ontario was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat. It is one of eleven such portraits of official-language minorities in Canada, prepared by the Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This study paints a general statistical portrait of the official-language minority in Ontario based on data from the Census of Population and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-language Minorities in Canada, conducted in 2006. The purpose of such a portrait is to present a set of characteristics, behaviours and perceptions of the official-language minority population, exploiting the analytical opportunities contained in the data.

Description:

Métis peoples make up one third of the Aboriginal population in Canada (about 390,000 people in 2006). Using the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (15 and older) and Métis Supplement this article explores various cultural activities of the Métis population. More specifically, it considers involvement in traditional activities, such as: arts and crafts, hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering wild vegetation. It also explores Aboriginal language use, involvement in Métis-specific organizations, and spiritual and religious practices. Findings are presented by sex, age, and region.

Description: The Survey on the Official Language Minority Population (SOLMP) user guide contains a description of the survey, along with survey concepts and definitions and an overview of the content development. The target and survey populations, the sample design and sample size are described in the Methodology section, while the Data Collection module provides the collection period and instrument, modes of collection, collection and communications strategies and response rates.

Updates to the guide include descriptions of the survey data processing, survey error and weighting, and guidelines for tabulations and analysis. Appendices will provide a listing of questions and variables which changed between the current and previous occasions of the survey, as well as various primers on the survey methodology.

Description: This fact sheet offers a summary of content changes for the 2026 Census specific to the following topics: languages and language of instruction. The tested changes for each topic are explained, along with the resulting approach for 2026.

Description: The Survey on the Official Language Minority Population (SOLMP) user guide contains a description of the survey, along with survey concepts and definitions and an overview of the content development. The target and survey populations, the sample design and sample size are described in the Methodology section. Finally, in the Data Collection module, the collection period and instrument, modes of collection, collection and communications strategies and response rates are provided.

Description: This report presents the results of a study on the estimated number of children eligible for instruction in the minority official language, pursuant to section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, who were classified as ineligible in the 2021 Census because relationships between family members living at different addresses could not be established within this data source. Using other data sources, including previous censuses and administrative data (such as vital statistics and tax data), we were able to establish these family relationships within the 2021 Census. This report presents the methods and data sources used first, then the results by selected regions and age groups.

Description: This video will help you understand the concept of first official language spoken. It explores the usefulness and relevance of the first official language spoken and how it is developed, disseminated and analyzed. You will also learn how the concept of first official language spoken takes into account knowledge of both official languages, mother tongue and language spoken most often at home.

Description: This video will help you understand the question about languages spoken at home and the main concepts and variables that flow from them. You will also learn to understand the differences between the concepts of all languages spoken regularly at home, languages spoken most often at home and other languages spoken regularly at home. It will also help you understand the changes that have been made to the question of languages spoken at home since the last census.

Description: This video will explain the concept of minority official language. It provides information on the new census questions regarding instruction in the minority official language, eligibility for education in minority official language and the usefulness of data on language of instruction for planning purposes.

Description:

This reference guide provides information to help users effectively use and interpret language data from the 2021 Census. This guide contains definitions and explanations of concepts, questions, classifications, data quality and comparability with other sources for this topic.

Description: This reference guide provides information to help users effectively use and interpret instruction in the minority official language data from the 2021 Census. This guide contains definitions and explanations of concepts, questions, classifications, data quality and comparability with other sources for this topic.

Description: This video provides basic information on the census questions on languages used at work and the main concepts and variables derived from them. It explains the concepts of languages used at work, language used most often at work and other languages used regularly at work. It also helps you understand the changes to the questions since the last census and the impact on historical comparability of this data.