Janice Rodrigues - Thursday - Narcity
The stats are in and it's official: Mandarin and Punjabi are now some of Canada's most widely-spoken languages.
On August 17, Statistics Canada released new census data that brought some interesting facts to light.
For starters — and this one comes as no surprise — English and French remain the most commonly spoken languages in Canada, with 9 out of 10 people speaking one of the two at home on a regular basis.
However, 12.7% of the population – a whopping 4.6 million people — predominantly spoke another language at home, a proportion that has grown continually over the last 30 years.
According to the data, Mandarin and Punjabi were Canada's most widely-spoken languages after English and French in 2021.
The number of people speaking Mandarin grew 15% between 2016 and 2021, while the number of Punjabi speakers increased by 49% during that same period.
The census also found that the number of people who spoke predominantly South Asian languages, such as Gujarati, Hindi or Malayalam, "grew significantly from 2016 to 2021."
Some other languages increasingly spoken in Canadian homes include the East African language of Tigrigna, Turkish, Tagalog, Arabic, Spanish and some Persian languages.
In contrast, there's been a decline in the number of people who spoke certain European languages, specifically Italian, Polish and Greek.
A decline in French
The proportion of Canadians with French as their first official language decreased, falling from 22.2% in 2016 to 21.4% in 2021, according to census data.
To put that into context, French was the first official language for 27.2% of Canadians in 1971.
That isn't to say the language is being spoken less. French was spoken by 7.8 million Canadians in 2021 — up from 7.7 million in 2016.
However, because this growth is slower than population growth as a whole, the proportion of people whose first official language is French has fallen.
Statistics Canada noted that the "proportion of Canadians who spoke predominantly French at home decreased in all the provinces and territories, except Yukon."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
On August 17, Statistics Canada released new census data that brought some interesting facts to light.
For starters — and this one comes as no surprise — English and French remain the most commonly spoken languages in Canada, with 9 out of 10 people speaking one of the two at home on a regular basis.
However, 12.7% of the population – a whopping 4.6 million people — predominantly spoke another language at home, a proportion that has grown continually over the last 30 years.
According to the data, Mandarin and Punjabi were Canada's most widely-spoken languages after English and French in 2021.
The number of people speaking Mandarin grew 15% between 2016 and 2021, while the number of Punjabi speakers increased by 49% during that same period.
The census also found that the number of people who spoke predominantly South Asian languages, such as Gujarati, Hindi or Malayalam, "grew significantly from 2016 to 2021."
Some other languages increasingly spoken in Canadian homes include the East African language of Tigrigna, Turkish, Tagalog, Arabic, Spanish and some Persian languages.
In contrast, there's been a decline in the number of people who spoke certain European languages, specifically Italian, Polish and Greek.
A decline in French
The proportion of Canadians with French as their first official language decreased, falling from 22.2% in 2016 to 21.4% in 2021, according to census data.
To put that into context, French was the first official language for 27.2% of Canadians in 1971.
That isn't to say the language is being spoken less. French was spoken by 7.8 million Canadians in 2021 — up from 7.7 million in 2016.
However, because this growth is slower than population growth as a whole, the proportion of people whose first official language is French has fallen.
Statistics Canada noted that the "proportion of Canadians who spoke predominantly French at home decreased in all the provinces and territories, except Yukon."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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