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Bilingualism among youth

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By age 21, about one-third (29%) of Canadians can carry on a conversation in both French and English. Bilingualism rates, however, differ considerably by mother tongue: 65% of francophone youth said that they were bilingual in 2006 compared with 18% of non-francophones.

One reason for this is that francophones have more opportunity to use English outside of studies (at work for example) than non-francophones. The bilingualism rate among francophones living in Quebec reaches a maximum when young adults enter the workforce. Among anglophones, the rate reaches a maximum towards the end of high school.

Outside Quebec, the bilingualism rate is higher for francophones. A total of 91% of francophone youth reported being bilingual in 2006 compared with 15% of non-francophones.

In Quebec, rates of bilingualism were higher for non-francophones. While 61% of francophone youth in Quebec reported that they could carry on a conversation in both languages, 90% of non-francophones said they could do the same.