WelcomeBC / Languages in BC (2024)

FAQs

What are the 2 major languages in Canada today how did each become a major language there? ›

Since the Official Languages Act of 1969, both English and French have been the official languages of Canada. The majority of Canada's French-speaking population lives in Quebec. The province follows the Charter of the French Language and uses French as the main language in both the government and daily life.

French and English are the languages of inclusion

In 2021, there were over 200 other languages. The most important, Mandarin, was spoken by 679,255 people (1.9%). French and/or English are spoken by 98.1% of Canadians.

The two Asian languages with the most persons reporting them as their mother tongue are Punjabi (460,000) and Chinese, n.o.s. (441,000). Three immigrant mother tongues have between 350,000 and 400,000 persons: Cantonese (389,000), Tagalog (384,000) and Arabic (374,000).

English and French are official languages in all three territories.

In 2022, 87.1 percent of the total population in Canada spoke English as their native tongue.

The fastest growing languages in the number of speakers are Punjabi, Mandarin and Spanish, which have increased from 2016 to 2021 by 49 per cent, 15 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. Other languages that have seen dramatic growth are Arabic, Tagalog, Urdu, Portuguese, Gujarati, Hindi and Malayalam.

Of Canada's biggest cities, Montréal stands out for its complex and diverse language dynamics. This is first and foremost because of a large English-language minority in the city, but also because of high rates of multilingualism among its population.

The Official Languages Act was adopted in 1969, making English and French Canada's official languages. Official bilingualism is both symbolic and tangible.

Many languages are spoken in B.C.

After English, the most common languages spoken at home are Cantonese and Mandarin, Punjabi, German, Tagalog, French, Korean, Spanish, and Farsi.

What is the hardest language to learn? ›

1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.

The natural language of Deaf people is Sign language. In Canada there are two legitimate Sign languages: American Sign Language (ASL) and la Langue des Signes Quebecoise (LSQ); there is also a regional dialect, Maritimes Sign Language (MSL).

English is the primary natively spoken language in several countries and territories. Five of the largest of these are sometimes described as the "core Anglosphere"; they are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and his successor Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the Canadian government implemented a policy of federal bilingualism to ensure fairer treatment for francophones across the country. The Official Languages Act was adopted in 1969.

The purpose of the Act of 1969 was to make Canada an officially bilingual country. It guaranteed the equality of status of English and French in Parliament, federal laws and courts, and gave Canadians the right to be served by and to communicate with federal institutions in the official language of their choice.

The Official Languages Act was adopted in 1969, making English and French Canada's official languages. Official bilingualism is both symbolic and tangible. On one hand, it reflects the importance of English and French in Canada's history and identity, and in the everyday life of communities across the country.

French and English are the two official languages of the Canadian government as a whole, but the French people in Quebec, fearing that English was dominating the media, the Internet, and industry to such an extent that it was endangering their French culture, have declared French as the only official language of the ...