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In 2001, almost 5 335 000 individuals, about one out of every six people, were allophones, that is, they reported having a mother tongue other than English or French. This was an increase of 12.5% from 1996, three times the growth rate of 4.0% for the population as a whole.
This most recent increase in allophones is related to the number of immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1996 and 2001. Anglophones, those individuals who reported English as their mother tongue, represented the majority of Canadians. Although their numbers rose, their share of the population declined. The same was true of francophones, those who reported French as their mother tongue.
The census enumerated almost 6.8 million francophones, a 1.1% increase from 1996, just half the growth rate of 2.3% from 1991 to 1996. This slowdown is attributed to a decline in the number of francophone children aged four and under. In addition, the francophone population is aging.
Anglophones also recorded a smaller gain than in the previous five-year period. More than 17.5 million people reported English as a mother tongue, up 2.6% from 1996, compared with a growth rate of 4.7% from 1991 to 1996. This group also recorded a decline in the number of children aged four and under.
In 2001, allophones represented 18.0% of the population, up from 16.6% in 1996. Francophones represented 22.9%, down from 23.5%. Anglophones accounted for 59.1%, down from 59.8%.
The Daily is Statistics Canada's official release bulletin. The Daily for December 10, 2002, marked the public release of this census variable. Highlight tables allowing users to perform simple rank and sort functions with the data at various levels of geography are available for this variable here: Language Composition of Canada: Highlight Tables. Technical notes for this variable can be found at 2001 Census Technical Reports and User Guides.
The text was adapted from Statistics Canada, Profile of languages in Canada: English, French and many others, Catalogue number 96F0030XIE2001005. Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from the Statistics Canada’s Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at: www.statcan.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.
Please read the following Data
and Mapping Notes for information on how the map was derived. |
