Editing Languages of Canada (section)

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Languages of
|country = Canada
|image=[[File:Non-official languages spoken at home in Canada, 2021.png|200px]]
|official = [[ English language|English]] and [[French language|French]]
|semi-official = '''''[[Northwest Territories]]''''': [[Cree language|Cree]], [[Chipewyan language|Dënësųłıné]], [[Slavey language|Dene Yatıé/Zhatıé]], [[Gwich’in language|Gwich’in]], [[Inuinnaqtun]], [[Inuktitut]], [[Inuvialuktun]], [[Slavey language|Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́]], [[Dogrib language|Tłįchǫ Yatıì]]<br />'''''[[Nova Scotia]]''''': [[Mi'kmawi'simk]]{{refn|group="nb"|First Language of Nova Scotia<ref name=FirstLang>{{cite web |title=Legislation Enshrines Mi'kmaw as Nova Scotia's First Language |url=https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20220407003 |website=Province of Nova Scotia |publisher=L'nu Affairs |access-date=19 June 2022 |language=en, mic|date=7 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="LangAct" />}}<br />'''''[[Nunavut]]''''': [[Inuktitut|Inuktut]] ([[Inuinnaqtun]], [[Inuktitut]])
|keyboard = [[QWERTY]]
|regional = {{flatlist|
* [[Pennsylvania Dutch language|Deitsch]]
* [[Canadian Gaelic|Gaelic]]
* [[Hutterite German|Hutterisch]]
* [[Irish language in Newfoundland|Irish]]
* [[Plautdietsch language|Plautdietsch]]
* [[Doukhobor Russian|Russian]]
* [[Canadian Ukrainian|Ukrainian]]
}}
|minority = <!--  3-12 by mother tongue-->{{flatlist|
* [[Mandarin language|Mandarin]]
* [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]]
* [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
* [[Arabic]]
* [[Tagalog language|Tagalog (Filipino)]]
* [[German language|German]]
* [[Italian language|Italian]]
* [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
* [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
}}
|vernacular=[[Canadian English]], [[Canadian French]], [[Bungi dialect|Bungi]], [[Chinook Jargon]]
|sign     = [[Signed English]], [[Signed French]];<br />{{flatlist|
* [[American Sign Language|American Sign Language (ASL)]]
* [[Quebec Sign Language|Quebec Sign Language (LSQ)]]
* [[Maritime Sign Language|MSL]]
* [[Inuit Sign Language|IUR]]
* [[Plains Indian Sign Language|Prairie Hand Talk]]
* [[Oneida Sign Language|OSL]]
* [[Plateau Sign Language|PSL]]
* [[Ktunaxa Sign Language|KSL]]
* [[Secwepemcékst]]
}}
|indigenous=<small>(by [[language family]])</small> [[Algic languages|Algic]] (22), [[Inuit languages|Inuit]] (13), [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian]] (7) [[Na-Dene languages|Na-Dene]] (24), [[Plains Indian Sign Language|Plains Sign]] (2), [[Plateau Sign Language|Plateau Sign]] (2), [[Salishan languages|Salishan]] (17), [[Siouan languages|Siouan]] (3), [[Tsimshian languages|Tsimshian]] (4), [[Wakashan languages|Wakashan]] (6), [[Isolate languages|Isolates]] (3: [[Haida language|Haida]], [[Inuit Sign Language]], [[Ktunaxa language|Ktunaxa]])
|keyboard image = US English<br />[[Image:KB United States-NoAltGr.svg|200px]]<br />Canadian French<br />[[Image:KB Canadian French.svg|200px]]<br />[[CSA keyboard|Canadian Multilingual Standard]] (rare)<br />[[Image:KB Canadian Multilingual Standard.svg|200px]]<br />Inuktitut [[Keyboard layout#Inuktitut|Naqittaut]]<br />[[Image:KB Inuktitut-Naqittaut.svg|200px]]
}}
A multitude of languages have always been spoken in [[Canada]]. Prior to [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]], the territories that would become Canada were home to over 70 distinct languages across 12 or so [[language family|language families]]. Today, a majority of those [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous languages]] are still spoken; however, most are endangered and only about 0.6% of the Canadian population report an indigenous language as their mother tongue.{{refn|group="nb"|200,725 Canadians, or less than one per cent of the population, report an Aboriginal language as their mother tongue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=1&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=103328&PRID=0&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=90&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=2011 Census of Canada: Topic-based tabulations – Mother Tongue - Detailed Aboriginal Languages (85), Languages Spoken Most Often at Home - Detailed Aboriginal Languages (85), Other Languages Spoken Regularly at Home - Aboriginal Languages (12), Age Groups (13A), Sex (3) and Area of Residence (6) for the Population Excluding Institutional Residents of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2011 Census|date=24 October 2012 |access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>}} Since the establishment of the Canadian [[State (polity)|state]], [[Canadian English|English]] and [[Canadian French|French]] have been the co-official languages and are, by far, the most-spoken languages in the country.

According to the 2021 census, English and French are the [[mother tongue]]s of 56.6% and 20.2% of [[Canadians]] respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heritage |first=Canadian |date=2024-02-07 |title=Statistics on official languages in Canada |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/official-languages-bilingualism/publications/statistics.html |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref> In total, 86.2% of Canadians have a working knowledge of English, while 29.8% have a working knowledge of French.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=21&Geo=00&SP=1&view=2&age=1|title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census - Knowledge of official languages by age (Total), % distribution (2016) for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data|last=Government of Canada|first=Statistics Canada|date=2017-08-02|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|access-date=2019-12-18}}</ref> Under the [[Official Languages Act (Canada)|''Official Languages Act'']] of 1969, both English and French have official status throughout Canada in respect of federal government services and most courts. All federal legislation is enacted bilingually. Provincially, only in [[New Brunswick]] are both English and French official to the same extent. French is [[Quebec]]'s official language,<ref name="qclang">{{cite web |url=http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/english/charter/index.html |title=Status of the French language |author=Office Québécois de la langue française|publisher=Government of Quebec |access-date=November 10, 2010}}</ref> although legislation is enacted in both French and English and court proceedings may be conducted in either language. English is the official language of [[Ontario]], [[Manitoba]] and [[Alberta]], but government services are available in French in many regions of each, particularly in regions and cities where Francophones form the majority. Legislation is enacted in both languages and courts conduct cases in both. In 2022, [[Nova Scotia]] recognized [[Mi'kmawi'simk]] as the first language of the province,<ref name=FirstLang>{{cite web |title=Legislation Enshrines Mi'kmaw as Nova Scotia's First Language |url=https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20220407003 |website=Province of Nova Scotia |publisher=L'nu Affairs |access-date=19 June 2022 |language=en, mic|date=7 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="LangAct">{{cite act |type=Bill |index=148 |date=1 October 2022 |legislature=Nova Scotia Legislature |title=Mi'kmaw Language Act |url=https://nslegislature.ca/legislative-business/bills-statutes/bills/assembly-64-session-1/bill-148}}</ref> and maintains two provincial language secretariats: the Office of [[Acadians|Acadian]] Affairs and Francophonie (French language) and the Office of Gaelic Affairs ([[Canadian Gaelic]]). The remaining provinces ([[British Columbia]], [[Saskatchewan]], [[Prince Edward Island]], and [[Newfoundland and Labrador]]) do not have an official provincial language {{Lang|la|per se}} but government is primarily English-speaking. Territorially, both the [[Northwest Territories]] and [[Nunavut]] have official indigenous languages alongside French and English: [[Inuktut]] ([[Inuktitut]] and [[Inuinnaqtun]]) in Nunavut<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Languages |url=https://www.gov.nu.ca/culture-and-heritage/information/official-languages |website=Department of Culture and Heritage |publisher=The Government of Nunavut |access-date=20 March 2022}}</ref> and, in the NWT, nine others ([[Cree language|Cree]], [[Chipewyan language|Dënësųłıné]], [[Slavey language|Dene Yatıé/Zhatıé]],{{refn|group="nb"|name=Slavey|Also known as the "Slavey language(s)," these languages are grouped into the North (Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ spoken by the [[Sahtu|Sahtu Dene]], the Hare Dene dialect of K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́, and the northern mountain dialect of Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́) and South (Dene Yatıé or Dene Zhatıé, and Dené Dháh used predominately by the [[Dene Tha' First Nation|Dene Tha']] in Alberta). There is a sizeable push to end of the use of the name ''Slave'' or ''Slavey'' in relation to these Dene nations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mandeville |first1=Curtis |title=Goodbye Great Slave Lake? Movement to decolonize N.W.T. maps is growing |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/decolonizing-nwt-place-names-1.3640819 |access-date=9 March 2022 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=21 July 2016}}</ref>}} [[Gwich’in language|Gwich’in]], Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, [[Inuvialuktun]], [[Slavey language|Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́]],{{refn|group="nb"|name=Slavey}} and [[Dogrib language|Tłįchǫ Yatıì]]).<ref name="nwtlang">{{cite web|title=Official Languages|url=http://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/official-languages|website=Northwest Territories Education, Culture and Employment|publisher=Government of the Northwest Territories|access-date=19 July 2014}}</ref>

Canada's [[Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages|official languages commissioner]] (the federal government official charged with monitoring the two languages) said in 2009, "[I]n the same way that race is at the core of what it means to be American and at the core of an American experience and class is at the core of British experience, I think that language is at the core of Canadian experience."<ref>Official Languages Commissioner [[Graham Fraser]] is quoted in ''[[The Hill Times]]'', August 31, 2009, p. 14.</ref> To assist in more accurately monitoring the two official languages, Canada's [[Census in Canada|census]] collects a number of [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada|demolinguistic descriptors]] not enumerated in the censuses of most other countries, including [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada#"Home language"|home language]], [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada#"Mother tongue"|mother tongue]], [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada#"First official language spoken"|first official language]], and [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada#"Language used most often at work"|language of work]].

Canada's linguistic diversity extends beyond English, French and numerous indigenous languages. "In Canada, 4.7&nbsp;million people (14.2% of the population) reported speaking a language other than English or French most often at home and 1.9&nbsp;million people (5.8%) reported speaking such a language on a regular basis as a second language (in addition to their main home language, English or French). In all, 20.0% of Canada's population reported speaking a language other than English or French at home. For roughly 6.4&nbsp;million people, the other language was an immigrant language, spoken most often or on a regular basis at home, alone or together with English or French whereas for more than 213,000 people, the other language was an indigenous language. Finally, the number of people reporting sign languages as the languages spoken at home was nearly 25,000 people (15,000 most often and 9,800 on a regular basis)."{{refn|group="nb"|Nearly 148,000 people reported speaking both a language other than English or French most often and a second language other than English or French on a regular basis at home. The term "immigrant languages" refers to languages (other than English, French and Aboriginal languages) whose presence in Canada is originally due to immigration. The document entitled Aboriginal languages in Canada, Catalogue no. 98‑314‑X2011003, in the Census in Brief series, provides more detailed information on this subject.<ref name="LC" />}}