From 2016 to 2021, the number of Canadians whose first official language is French increased from 7.7 million to 7.8 million, a 1.6% increase in five years.

However, this growth is lower than that of Canada’s population, which is 5.2%. The weight of French has therefore declined in Canada. The proportion of Canadians for whom it is the first official language has actually declined, from 22.2% in 2016 to 21.4% in 2021.

This downtrend is not new. Since 1971, the first census year for which information on the first official language spoken was collected, the demographic weight of French in Canada has declined. That year, French was the first official language, spoken by 27.2% of Canadians.

And Quebec is no exception. While the number of people speaking French there has increased from 6.4 million to 6.5 million, their demographic weight has also decreased from 79% to 77.5%.

This downward trend has been observed in Quebec since 2001, according to Statistics Canada.

The data also shows that the proportion of people whose first official language is French has fallen in every region of Quebec except Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine. The decrease is more significant in North-du-Québec (-3.6 percentage points), Laval (-3 percentage points), Montreal (-2.4 percentage points) and Outaouais (-2.4 percentage points).

The number of people for whom English is the first official language has passed the one million speaker milestone for the first time in a census in Quebec. The proportion of the population these speakers represent has increased from 12% in 2016 to 13% in 2021.

Among these speakers, more than 7 out of 10 were in Montreal or Montérégie.

In general, Statistics Canada explains this growth by saying that English speakers are, on average, younger and therefore have a lower mortality rate. Migration, particularly from other provinces, is also having an impact, the report notes.

” We know [en provenance] according to other data sources, the number of non-permanent residents who settled in Quebec in general increased from 2016 to 2021 compared to the previous period Éric Caron-Malenfant, associate director of Statistics Canada’s Center for Demography, said in a news conference.

” Census data on official languages ​​is worrying and reflects what our government has already said very clearly “Commented the Federal Minister for Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, in a written statement.

She also took the opportunity to stress the importance of the speedy adoption of the Bill C-13 modernizing the Official Languages ​​Act. She also pledged that the data would guide her decisions for the next official language action plan.

French decline: should we be concerned? How to reverse the trend? Interview with researcher and statistician Charles Castonguay.

We did the right thing, support Legault

The census release comes as Quebec ramps up efforts to protect French in the province. its latest language law was passed this year Restricting the Use of English in Government Services.

“ From my point of view it is worrying and we were right to act on Bill 96 ‘ commented Prime Minister François Legault in a press crowd on Wednesday at the entrance to the Council of Ministers, indicating that he had yet to take note of the study.

The new law, which regulates the use of French in authorities, companies and public spaces, is scheduled to come into force on September 1st. In particular, it provides that all companies with 25 to 49 employees are subject to the French language charter, as well as companies under federal sovereignty, such as banks.

In the interview at lunch infoJean-Pierre Corbeil, associate professor at the University of Laval’s Department of Sociology and former head of Statistics Canada’s language statistics program, put the impact French language charter reform could have on link to the census data revealed on Wednesday.

” Of course, it is striking that English is gaining ground, albeit in the private sphere. […] It must be understood that Quebec’s language policy affects public space ‘ he commented.

” We will have the figures on the working language in November ‘ Mr. Corbeil specified.

In 2021, Statistics Canada counted 189,000 people with at least one Indigenous mother tongue and 183,000 who at least regularly speak an Indigenous mother tongue at home. The Cree languages ​​and Inuktitut are the primary Aboriginal languages ​​spoken in Canada.

English, language of choice for immigrants

Conversely, the weight of English as the first official spoken language across Canada has increased since 1971. From 2016 to 2021, it increased from 74.8% to 75.5%.

For example, in 2021, 80.6% of Canadians have a native language other than French or English […] spoke English as their first official language, compared to 6.1% of those who spoke French, the federal agency said.

Mr Caron-Malenfant indicated that Statistics Canada would release specific data on immigration and inter-provincial movements in October next year. “ We will have a much more complete overviewthe said.

In addition, the number of Canadians who predominantly speak a language other than English or French at home will also increase from 4 million in 2016 to 4.6 million in 2021.

These people represent 12.7% of Canada’s population, a proportion that has been increasing for 30 years; In 1991, when immigration increased, it was 7.7%.

Besides French and English, Mandarin and Punjabi were the most widely spoken languages ​​in the country in 2021. The languages ​​that experienced the strongest growth spurt between 2016 and 2021 are the languages ​​native to South Asia, including Punjabi.