Over the past fifty years, the proportion of Quebecers speaking both English and French has increased steadily, from 27.6 percent in 1971 to almost half the population (46.4 percent) in 2021. The rate of English-French bilingualism, on the other hand, has declined in the rest of the country: outside Quebec, just over ten percent of people were bilingual in English and French in 2001, compared to 9.5 percent two decades later.

In 2021, French was the first language spoken by over 71 percent of the population of Montréal, Québec in Canada. 20.4 percent of the city's residents had English as their first language, 6.7 percent used both English and French as their primary language, and 1.6 percent of the population spoke another language. That same year, 46.4 percent of people living in the province of Québec could speak both English and French.

This service shows the percentage of population, excluding institutional residents, with knowledge of English and French for Canada by 2016 census subdivision. The data is from the Census Profile, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001.

Knowledge of official languages refers to whether the person can conduct a conversation in English only, French only, in both languages or in neither language. For a child who has not yet learned to speak, this includes languages that the child is learning to speak at home. For additional information refer to 'Knowledge of official languages' in the 2016 Census Dictionary.

For additional information refer to 'Knowledge of official languages' in the 2016 Census Dictionary.

To have a cartographic representation of the ecumene with this socio-economic indicator, it is recommended to add as the first layer, the “NRCan - 2016 population ecumene by census subdivision” web service, accessible in the data resources section below.

Data on the first official language spoken of the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2016.

The statistic reflects the distribution of languages in Canada in 2022. In 2022, 87.1 percent of the total population in Canada spoke English as their native tongue.

In 2021, most of the population of the city of Montreal, located in the Canadian province of Quebec, could speak both English and French. In fact, approximately 1.23 million men and 1.68 million women were bilingual. Of those who spoke only one of the official languages, the majority (1.43 million people) spoke only French. In addition, more than 68,400 people did not know either language, with women outnumbering men.

Statistics Canada Census Data from 2021. This file geodatabase includes extra data for the language at home total, male, and female populations provided by Statistics Canada joined with the census tracts. The extra tables include the following:Language spoken at home for the total population by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where English is their first official language spoken by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where French is their first official language spoken by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where English and French are their first official languages spoken by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where neither English nor French are their first official language spoken by ageThe geodatabase also includes tables of the above topics for the male and female populations.NOTE: Only languages where there were one or more respondents were included. For a full list of languages included in the census, please refer to the List of Languages by Statistics Canada.For more information on definitions of terms used in the tables and other notes, refer to Statistics Canada's Languages Reference Guide and Statistics Canada's 2021 Census.

A survey on news consumption revealed that 51 percent of Francophones in Canada had used TVA/LCN Nouvelles for news in the last week, making the outlet the most popular among French-speakers in the country as of February 2024. Less popular brands included Le Devoir, Noovo info, and TV5 among others.

First official language spoken by immigrant status and period of immigration for the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2021.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.

100% data.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.

Refers to the percentage of individuals most often speaking at home at least one of English or French at the time of the census

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, third quarter of 2022.

This Alberta Official Statistic compares the knowledge of languages among the Aboriginal Identity population in provinces and territories, based on self-assessment of the ability to converse in the language. Based on the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), English is the most common language known by the Aboriginal Identity Population across Canada. In most provinces, nearly 100% of the Aboriginal Identity population can converse in English. The lowest proportion of English-speaking Aboriginal people is in Quebec, where the majority speak French. The highest proportion of Aboriginal people who speak Aboriginal languages was in Nunavut at 88.6%, followed by Quebec (32.4%) and the Northwest Territories (32.1%). In Alberta, more Aboriginal people are able to speak Aboriginal languages (15.1%) than are able to speak French or other (non-Aboriginal) languages. The proportion of Alberta Aboriginal people able to speak Aboriginal languages was sixth highest among provinces and territories.

Refers to the percentage of individuals most often speaking at home at least one of English or French at the time of the census

In 1996, 67% of Canada’s population were able to conduct a conversation in English only, 14% in French only and 17% in both of these languages. Around 2% of people enumerated reported not knowing either of these two languages. This map shows the percentage of the Canadian population in 1996 who were able to conduct a conversation in both official languages, English and French.

According to the Canadian government, approximately 2.54 million people residing in Montreal, in the province of Quebec, had French as their mother tongue in 2021. About 474,730 of them had English, the second official language, as their birth language. However, there were more people that year ( 522,255) whose mother tongue was an Indo-European language, such as German, Russian or Polish.

100% data.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.