2016 Census: Immigrant languages in Canada

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Release date: August 2, 2017
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Infographic: 2016 Census: Immigrant languages in Canada
Description: 2016 Census: Immigrant languages in Canada

The 2016 Census provides data on more than 140 immigrant languages.

Top immigrant language spoken in each province and territory…
Province or territory Language
Y.T. Tagalog
N.W.T. Tagalog
Nvt. Tagalog
B.C. Punjabi
Alta. Tagalog
Sask. Tagalog
Man. Tagalog
Ont. Mandarin
Que. Arabic
N.B. Arabic
N.S. Arabic
P.E.I. Mandarin
N.L. Arabic
The top 5 immigrant languages spoken at home in Canada's largest cities…
City Language Number of speakers
Vancouver Cantonese 191,940
Mandarin 190,465
Punjabi 170,375
Tagalog 81,105
Korean 47,265
Toronto Cantonese 267,155
Mandarin 246,210
Punjabi 196,605
Tagalog 164,030
Urdu 161,685
Montréal Arabic 191,960
Spanish 145,650
Italian 88,915
Creole 78,905
Mandarin 44,095

In 2016, 7,335,745 people in Canada spoke an immigrant language at home. This represents 21.1% of the Canadian population, an increase of 14.7% from 2011 to 2016.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population.

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2017

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

Frequency: Occasional

Ottawa

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