Over at the CBC there’s an immensely interesting interactive map showing the top five languages spoken in Canada, along with a breakdown of the top five languages spoken in each province. The top two languages spoken in Canada are of course English (21, 863, 015) and French (7, 214, 280). Rounding out the top five are Chinese (855, 655), Italian (371, 200), and Punjabi (280, 535).
In my home province of Nova Scotia, English and French are also on top (with 881, 250 and 33, 685 speakers, respectively), followed by Arabic (4, 190), Micmac (3, 955), and German (1, 985).
Tagalog and Chinese are actually tied for the fourth most spoken language in Nunavut, a statistic which isn’t really that significant when you look at the small numbers (Malay could be the fourth most spoken language in Nunavut if 21 Malays moved there), but it’s still interesting. Nunavut is also one of only two parts of Canada where English is not the mother tongue of most people (there are 19, 490 Inuktitut speakers there and only 18, 955 people whose first language is English).
In Quebec, French is on top (6, 235, 935), followed by English (1, 190, 435), Italian (103, 435), Arabic (802, 735), and Spanish (78, 010).
In British Columbia, Chinese is number two (308, 080), followed by Punjabi (125, 920), with French (53, 615) only barely beating out Tagalog (37, 830) for fourth place.
Check out the map for stats on Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Also interesting is the fact that several indigenous languages appear to be thriving (or at least not extinct yet, which these days almost passes for thriving), such as Micmac, Inuktitut, Cree, Athapaskan, Dogrib, North Slave, Hare, and others.
Pretty cool, if you’re interested in languages anyway.
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[...] Jordan points me towards an incredibly fascinating interactive map on CBC that displays the various languages spoken in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. The top five languages spoken in Canada are English and French (the two official languages) as well as Chinese, Italian and Punjabi. Not entirely sure how the question was worded, but I’m guessing it had to do with mother tongue ( i.e. first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census). In any case, the results are rather intriguing and the diversity of languages is reflective of the strong emphasis on immigration in Canada. Take a look at the data: Languages in Canada. Cat: [...]
7 Comments
speaking of which, i would probably be the only one who can speak malay and my native borneo tongue in newfoundland and Avarayna would be 2nd in line once she learns to talk!
Also interesting is the fact that several indigenous languages appear to be thriving…
In Canada, we call it aboriginal, not indigenous. You’re forgetting your roots. ;-)
Aida: That’s right, not too many would speak that language in Newfoundland!
Safiyyah: Hah! I’d be the last one who could be accused of forgetting his roots (I even have a Gaelic blog!). Anyway, I’ll just wiggle out of this by saying that in my choice of words I was being mindful of the fact that most people who read my blog are not Canadian, so indigenous fits since it’s a more general term. Uh…something like that. Heh.
What abour Russian and Persian? I tot many of them living in Canada?
and we thought we were the most diverse nation~ malaysia is one stuck up country.
Nizar: You’re right, there are many, but perhaps they’re spread out enough that they don’t make it into the top 5. I know there were a lot of immigrants from Eastern Europe in the Prairie Provinces, so perhaps you would find lots of Russians (well, probably Ukrainians) there. As for Persians, there might be a lot in Toronto and Montreal.
Han: Malaysia is indeed quite diverse, though I daresay Canada is pretty diverse too!
Malaysia only has dozens cultures. Canada has hundreds of cultures, especially in Toronto and Vancouver. Now, which country is more diverse?