Languages of Canada - Languages By Mother Tongue

Languages By Mother Tongue

First language Population (2011) % of total population (2011) Population (2006) % of total population (2006) Notes
Single language responses 32,481,635 98.1% 30,848,270 98.7%
Official languages 25,913,955 78.2% 24,700,425 79.1%
English 18,858,980 56.9% 17,882,775 57.2%
French 7,054,975 21.3% 6,817,650 21.8%
Non-official languages 6,567,680 19.8% 6,147,840 19.7%
Panjabi (Punjabi) 430,705 1.3% 367,505 1.2%
Chinese, n.o.s. 425,210 1.3% 456,705 1.5%
Spanish 410,670 1.2% 345,345 1.1%
German 409,200 1.2% 450,570 1.4%
Italian 407,485 1.2% 455,040 1.5%
Cantonese 372,460 1.1% 361,450 1.2%
Arabic 327,870 1% 261,640 0.8%
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) 327,445 1% 235,615 0.8%
Mandarin 248,705 0.8% 170,950 0.5%
Portuguese 211,335 0.6% 219,275 0.7%
Polish 191,645 0.6% 211,175 0.7%
Urdu 172,800 0.5% 145,805 0.5%
Persian (Farsi) 170,045 0.5% 134,080 0.4%
Russian 164,330 0.5% 133,580 0.4%
Vietnamese 144,880 0.4% 141,625 0.5%
Korean 137,925 0.4% 125,570 0.4%
Tamil 131,265 0.4% 115,880 0.4%
Ukrainian 111,540 0.3% 134,500 0.4%
Dutch 110,490 0.3% 128,900 0.4%
Greek 108,925 0.3% 117,285 0.4%
Gujarati 91,450 0.3% 81,465 0.3%
Hindi 90,545 0.3% 78,240 0.3%
Romanian 90,300 0.3% 78,495 0.3%
Cree, n.o.s. 77,900 0.2% 78,855 0.3% In the 2006 Census, this language was referred to simply as 'Cree'.
Hungarian 67,920 0.2% 73,335 0.2%
Creoles 61,725 0.2% 53,515 0.2%
Bengali 59,370 0.2% 45,685 0.1%
Serbian 56,420 0.2% 51,665 0.2%
Croatian 49,730 0.2% 55,330 0.2%
Japanese 39,985 0.1% 40,200 0.1%
Inuktitut 33,500 0.1% 32,015 0.1% In the 2006 Census, this language was referred to as 'Inuktitut, n.i.e.'.
Somali 31,380 0.09% 27,320 0.09%
Armenian 29,795 0.09% 30,130 0.1%
Turkish 29,640 0.09% 24,745 0.08%
Albanian 23,820 0.07% N/A N/A
Czech 23,585 0.07% 24,450 0.08%
Khmer (Cambodian) 19,440 0.06% 19,105 0.06%
Bulgarian 19,050 0.06% 16,790 0.05%
Hebrew 18,450 0.06% 17,635 0.06%
Amharic 18,020 0.05% 14,555 0.05%
Ilocano 17,915 0.05% 13,450 0.04%
Ojibway 17,625 0.05% 24,190 0.08%
Slovak 17,580 0.05% 18,820 0.06%
Finnish 17,415 0.05% 21,030 0.07%
Macedonian 17,245 0.05% 18,435 0.06%
Semitic languages, n.i.e. 16,970 0.05% N/A N/A
Bisayan languages 16,240 0.05% 11,240 0.04%
Malayalam 16,080 0.05% 11,925 0.04%
Yiddish 15,205 0.05% 16,295 0.05%
Sinhala (Sinhalese) 14,185 0.04% 10,180 0.03%
Danish 14,145 0.04% 18,735 0.06%
Niger–Congo languages, n.i.e. 14,075 0.04% N/A N/A
Lao 12,970 0.04% 13,940 0.04%
Akan (Twi) 12,680 0.04% 12,780 0.04%
Pashto 12,465 0.04% 9,025 0.03%
Bosnian 11,685 0.04% 12,790 0.04%
Sindhi 11,330 0.03% 10,355 0.03%
Dene 11,215 0.03% 9,745 0.03%
Oromo 11,140 0.03% N/A N/A
Malay 10,910 0.03% 9,490 0.03%
Innu/Montagnais 10,785 0.03% 10,975 0.04% In the 2006 Census, this language was referred to as 'Montagnais-Naskapi'.
Slovenian 10,775 0.03% 13,135 0.04%
Tigrigna 10,220 0.03% 7,105 0.02%
Serbo-Croatian 10,155 0.03% 12,510 0.04%
Swahili 10,090 0.03% 7,935 0.03%
Oji-Cree 9,835 0.03% 11,690 0.04%
Kurdish 9,805 0.03% 7,660 0.02%
Taiwanese 9,635 0.03% 9,620 0.03%
Telugu 9,315 0.03% 6,625 0.02%
African languages, n.i.e. 9,125 0.03% N/A N/A
Afrikaans 8,770 0.03% N/A N/A
Nepali 8,480 0.03% N/A N/A
Thai 7,935 0.02% N/A N/A
Mi'kmaq 7,635 0.02% 7,365 0.02%
Swedish 7,350 0.02% 8,220 0.03%
Lithuanian 7,245 0.02% 8,335 0.03%
Bantu languages, n.i.e. 7,150 0.02% N/A N/A
Estonian 6,385 0.02% 8,240 0.03%
Maltese 6,220 0.02% 6,405 0.02%
Latvian 6,200 0.02% 7,000 0.02%
Fukien 5,925 0.02% N/A N/A
Berber languages (Kabyle) 5,855 0.02% N/A N/A
Marathi 5,830 0.02% N/A N/A
Atikamekw 5,820 0.02% 5,250 0.02%
Norwegian 5,800 0.02% 7,225 0.02%
Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e. 5,255 0.02% N/A N/A
Hakka 5,115 0.02% N/A N/A
Flemish 4,690 0.01% 5,660 0.02%
Tibetan languages 4,640 0.01% N/A N/A
Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e. 4,360 0.01% N/A N/A
Rundi (Kirundi) 3,975 0.01% N/A N/A
Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) 3,895 0.01% N/A N/A
Sign languages, n.i.e. 3,815 0.01% N/A N/A
Slavic languages, n.i.e. 3,630 0.01% N/A N/A
Lingala 3,085 0.009% N/A N/A
Stoney 3,050 0.009% N/A N/A
Burmese 2,985 0.009% N/A N/A
Shanghainese 2,920 0.009% N/A N/A
Siouan languages (Dakota/Sioux) N/A N/A 5,585 0.02%
Blackfoot N/A N/A 3,085 0.01%
Frisian N/A N/A 2,890 0.009%
Dogrib N/A N/A 2,020 0.006%
Algonquin N/A N/A 1,920 0.006%
South Slave N/A N/A 1,605 0.005%
Carrier N/A N/A 1,560 0.005%
Gitksan N/A N/A 1,180 0.004%
Chilcotin N/A N/A 1,070 0.003%
North Slave (Hare) N/A N/A 1,065 0.003%
Shuswap N/A N/A 935 0.003%
Nisga’a N/A N/A 680 0.002%
Malecite N/A N/A 535 0.002%
Chipewyan N/A N/A 525 0.002%
Inuinnaqtun N/A N/A 365 0.001%
Kutchin-Gwich’in (Loucheux) N/A N/A 360 0.001%
Mohawk N/A N/A 290 0.0009%
Tlingit N/A N/A 80 0.0003%
Other languages 77,890 0.2% 172,650 0.6%
Multiple language responses 639,540 1.9% 392,760 1.3%
English and French 144,685 0.4% 98,630 0.3%
English and a non-official language 396,330 1.2% 240,005 0.8%
French and a non-official language 74,430 0.2% 43,335 0.1%
English, French, and a non-official language 24,095 0.07% 10,790 0.03%
Total 33,121,175 100% 31,241,030 100%

n.i.e. = not included elsewhere
n.o.s. = not otherwise specified

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