Mother Tongue (English)

The 1996 Census showed that 24.0 million Canadians could speak English (84%), 19.3 million spoke English most often at home (68%) and 17.1 million had English mother tongue (60%). The percentage of the population which had English as its mother tongue (Anglophones) changed very little between 1951 and 1996. Since 1981, the figures have shown a slight decline in the percentage of Anglophones in Canada. Without the heavy immigration to Canada of many people with a language other than English or French as mother tongue, an increase in the proportion of Anglophones would have occurred.

In Quebec, the proportion of Anglophones has declined continuously, dropping from 14% in 1951 to 9% in 1996. This has resulted largely from the English mother tongue population leaving Quebec to live in other provinces, particularly during the 1970s (see Figure 1 below).

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Figure 1. Percentage of Population with English Mother Tongue, Canada and Quebec, 1951 to 1996

While, the proportion of Anglophones in Canada has changed very little since 1951, the number grew in each decade, more than doubling from 8.3 million in 1951 to 17.1 million in 1996. However, the pattern was very different in Quebec, where there was an increase of about 230 000 in the first two decades, followed by a decline of about 167 000 since then. As a result of this reversal, the net effect was only a slight increase in the number of Quebec Anglophones between 1951 and 1996.

Between provinces (as shown in the Figure 2 below), the percentage of Anglophones varies considerably. New Brunswick has a large proportion in each of the two official language groups (65% Anglophone and 33% Francophone), while Quebec is largely Francophone with the Anglophone population representing less than 9%. The three most eastern provinces have very high percentages of people whose mother tongue is English (more than 93%). Ontario and the western provinces where more immigrants have settled, have larger populations with non-official languages as mother tongue. This accounts for the lower percentages of Anglophones.

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Figure 2. Population with English Mother Tongue, Provinces and Territories, 1996

Though the number of Anglophones increased in all provinces except Newfoundland and Quebec between 1991 and 1996, the proportion dropped in some provinces. The decline, slight in most cases, was largely attributable to the arrival of immigrants with a mother tongue other than English.

The text for Official Languages is based on the following publication:

Marmen, Louise and Jean-Pierre Corbeil. Languages in Canada: 1996 Census. New Canadian Perspectives Series. Ottawa: Canadian Heritage, and Statistics Canada, 1999. Catalogue number: CH3-2-8/1999.

To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data and Mapping Notes.

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