Previous standard - Language

Status

This standard was replaced by a new departmental standard on January 19, 2009.

Definition

Language applies to the linguistic skills of a person, particularly his or her ability to use different languages in different circumstances, such as at home, at school, at work or in social situations. It also applies to the ability of a person to use Canada's official languages and Canada's First Nations' languages.

The core language variables (most often used in classifying the population by linguistic skills) relate to mother tongue, language spoken at home and knowledge of official (and non-official) languages. From the point of view of linguistic studies it is desirable to collect information for all three but constraints of cost or respondent burden may limit inquiries to one. In such cases, the use of the mother tongue variable is preferable. This variable is used by the majority of clients and it is directly related to legislated requirements as set out in Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which makes direct reference to citizens of Canada "...whose first language learned and still understood is that of the English or French linguistic minority."

Variables


Mother tongue

Mother tongue, refers to the first language a person learned at home in childhood and still understands. Some respondents may declare that they learned two or more languages simultaneously. This can be accommodated by providing for multiple reporting for official languages only.

Classification(s)

Note: Recommended groupings for aggregated outputs might be based upon English and French and the 10 to 15 languages reported with the highest incidence for any given geographic area.

1
Learned multiple languages simultaneously
1.1
English and French
1.2
English and Other
1.3
French and Other
1.4
Other multiples
 
2
Learned a single first language
 
2.1
Aboriginal languages
2.1.1
Algonquian
2.1.1.1
Algonquian
2.1.1.2
Attikamek
2.1.1.3
Blackfoot
2.1.1.4
Cree
2.1.1.5
Malecite
2.1.1.6
Micmac
2.1.1.7
Montagnais-Naskapi
2.1.1.8
Oji-Cree
2.1.1.9
Ojibway
2.1.1.10
Algonquian, n.i.e.
 
2.1.2
Athapaskan (Dene)
2.1.2.1
Carrier
2.1.2.2
Chilcotin
2.1.2.3
Chipewyan
2.1.2.4
Dene
2.1.2.5
Dogrib
2.1.2.6
Kutchin-Gwich'in (Loucheux)
2.1.2.7
North Slave (Hare)
2.1.2.8
South Slave
2.1.2.9
Athapaskan, n.i.e.
 
2.1.3
Haida
 
2.1.4
Iroquoian
2.1.4.1
Mohawk
2.1.4.2
Iroquoian, n.i.e.
 
2.1.5
Kutenai
 
2.1.6
Salish
2.1.6.1
Shuswap
2.1.6.2
Thompson (Ntlakapamux)
2.1.6.3
Salish, n.i.e.
 
2.1.7
Siouan
2.1.8
Tlingit
 
2.1.9
Tsimshian
2.1.9.1
Gitksan
2.1.9.2
Nishga
2.1.9.3
Tsimshian
 
2.1.10
Wakashan
2.1.10.1
Nootka
2.1.10.2
Wakashan, n.i.e.
 
2.1.11
Inuktitut
2.1.12
Aboriginal languages, n.i.e.
 
2.2
Romance languages
2.2.1
French
2.2.2
Italian
2.2.3
Portuguese
2.2.4
Romanian
2.2.5
Spanish
2.2.6
Romance languages, n.i.e.
 
2.3
Germanic languages
2.3.1
English
2.3.2
German
2.3.3
Yiddish
 
2.3.4
Netherlandic languages
2.3.4.1
Dutch
2.3.4.2
Flemish
2.3.4.3
Frisian
 
2.3.5
Scandinavian languages
2.3.5.1
Danish
2.3.5.2
Icelandic
2.3.5.3
Norwegian
2.3.5.4
Swedish
 
2.3.6
Germanic languages, n.i.e.
 
2.4
Celtic languages
2.4.1
Gaelic languages
2.4.2
Welsh
2.4.3
Celtic languages, n.i.e.
 
2.5
Slavic languages
2.5.1
Bulgarian
2.5.2
Byelorussian
2.5.3
Croatian
2.5.4
Czech
2.5.5
Macedonian
2.5.6
Polish
2.5.7
Russian
2.5.8
Serbian
2.5.9
Serbo-Croatian
2.5.10
Slovak
2.5.11
Slovenian
2.5.12
Ukrainian
2.5.13
Slavic languages, n.i.e.
 
2.6
Baltic languages
2.6.1
Latvian (Lettish)
2.6.2
Lithuanian
 
2.7
Finno-Ugric languages
2.7.1
Estonian
2.7.2
Finnish
2.7.3
Hungarian
 
2.8
Greek
 
2.9
Armenian
 
2.10
Turkic languages
2.10.1
Turkish
2.10.2
Turkic languages, n.i.e.
 
2.11
Semitic languages
2.11.1
Amharic
2.11.2
Arabic
2.11.3
Hebrew
2.11.4
Maltese
2.11.5
Somali
2.11.6
Tingringa
2.11.7
Semitic languages, n.i.e.
 
2.12
Indo-Iranian languages
2.12.1
Bengali
2.12.2
Gujarati
2.12.3
Hindi
2.12.4
Konkani
2.12.5
Kurdish
2.12.6
Marathi
2.12.7
Pashto
2.12.8
Persian (Farsi)
2.12.9
Punjabi
2.12.10
Sindhi
2.12.11
Sinhalese
2.12.12
Urdu
2.12.13
Indo-Iranian, n.i.e.
 
2.13
Dravidian languages
2.13.1
Kannada
2.13.2
Malayalam
2.13.3
Tamil
2.13.4
Telugu
2.13.5
Dravidian languages, n.i.e.
 
2.14
Japanese
 
2.15
Korean
 
2.16
Sino-Tibetan languages
2.16.1
Chinese
2.16.2
Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e
 
2.17
Tai languages
2.17.1
Lao
2.17.2
Thai
 
2.18
Austro-Asiatic languages
2.18.1
Khmer (Cambodian)
2.18.2
Vietnamese
2.18.3
Austro-Asiatic languages n.i.e.
 
2.19
Malayo-Polynesian languages
2.19.1
Malay-Bahasa
2.19.2
Tagalog (Filipino)
2.19.3
Malayo-Polynesian languages, n.i.e.
 
2.20
Asiatic languages n.i.e.
 
2.21
Niger-Congo languages
2.21.1
Bantu
2.21.1.1
Swahili
2.21.1.2
Bantu, n.i.e.
 
2.21.2
Twi
2.21.3
Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.
 
2.22
African languages, n.i.e.
 
2.23
Creoles
 
2.24
Non-verbal languages
 
2.25
Other languages

Non-official language

Non-official language refers to the language(s) spoken by a person (other than English or French) well enough to conduct a conversation.

Classification(s)

Note: Recommended groupings for aggregated outputs might be based upon English and French and the 10 to 15 languages reported with the highest incidence for any given geographic area.

1
Aboriginal languages
1.1
Algonquian
1.1.1
Algonquian
1.1.2
Attikamek
1.1.3
Blackfoot
1.1.4
Cree
1.1.5
Malecite
1.1.6
Micmac
1.1.7
Montagnais-Naskapi
1.1.8
Oji-Cree
1.1.9
Ojibway
1.1.10
Algonquian, n.i.e.
 
1.2
Athapaskan (Dene)
1.2.1
Carrier
1.2.2
Chilcotin
1.2.3
Chipewyan
1.2.4
Dene
1.2.5
Dogrib
1.2.6
Kutchin-Gwich'in (Loucheux)
1.2.7
North Slave (Hare)
1.2.8
South Slave
1.2.9
Athapaskan, n.i.e.
 
1.3
Haida
 
1.4
Iroquoian
1.4.1
Mohawk
1.4.2
Iroquoian, n.i.e.
 
1.5
Kutenai
 
1.6
Salish
1.6.1
Shuswap
1.6.2
Thompson (Ntlakapamux)
1.6.3
Salish, n.i.e.
 
1.7
Siouan
1.8
Tlingit
 
1.9
Tsimshian
1.9.1
Gitksan
1.9.2
Nishga
1.9.3
Tsimshian
 
1.10
Wakashan
1.10.1
Nootka
1.10.2
Wakashan, n.i.e.
 
1.11
Inuktitut
1.12
Aboriginal languages, n.i.e.
 
2
Romance languages
2.1
Italian
2.2
Portuguese
2.3
Romanian
2.4
Spanish
2.5
Romance languages, n.i.e.
 
3
Germanic languages
3.1
German
3.2
Yiddish
 
3.3
Netherlandic languages
3.3.1
Dutch
3.3.2
Flemish
3.3.3
Frisian
 
3.4
Scandinavian languages
3.4.1
Danish
3.4.2
Icelandic
3.4.3
Norwegian
3.4.4
Swedish
 
3.5
Germanic languages, n.i.e.
 
4
Celtic languages
4.1
Gaelic languages
4.2
Welsh
4.3
Celtic languages, n.i.e.
 
5
Slavic languages
5.1
Bulgarian
5.2
Byelorussian
5.3
Croatian
5.4
Czech
5.5
Macedonian
5.6
Polish
5.7
Russian
5.8
Serbian
5.9
Serbo-Croatian
5.10
Slovak
5.11
Slovenian
5.12
Ukrainian
5.13
Slavic languages, n.i.e.
 
6
Baltic languages
6.1
Latvian (Lettish)
6.2
Lithuanian
 
7
Finno-Ugric languages
7.1
Estonian
7.2
Finnish
7.3
Hungarian
 
8
Greek
 
9
Armenian
 
10
Turkic languages
10.1
Turkish
10.2
Turkic languages, n.i.e.
 
11
Semitic languages
11.1
Amharic
11.2
Arabic
11.3
Hebrew
11.4
Maltese
11.5
Somali
11.6
Tingringa
11.7
Semitic languages, n.i.e.
 
12
Indo-Iranian languages
12.1
Bengali
12.2
Gujarati
12.3
Hindi
12.4
Konkani
12.5
Kurdish
12.6
Marathi
12.7
Pashto
12.8
Persian (Farsi)
12.9
Punjabi
12.10
Sindhi
12.11
Sinhalese
12.12
Urdu
12.13
Indo-Iranian, n.i.e.
 
13
Dravidian languages
13.1
Kannada
13.2
Malayalam
13.3
Tamil
13.4
Telugu
13.5
Dravidian languages, n.i.e.
 
14
Japanese
 
15
Korean
 
16
Sino-Tibetan languages
16.1
Chinese
16.2
Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e
 
17
Tai languages
17.1
Lao
17.2
Thai
 
18
Austro-Asiatic languages
18.1
Khmer (Cambodian)
18.2
Vietnamese
18.3
Austro-Asiatic languages n.i.e.
 
19
Malayo-Polynesian languages
19.1
Malay-Bahasa
19.2
Tagalog (Filipino)
19.3
Malayo-Polynesian languages, n.i.e.
 
20
Asiatic languages n.i.e.
 
21
Niger-Congo languages
21.1
Bantu
21.1.1
Swahili
21.1.2
Bantu, n.i.e.
 
21.2
Twi
21.3
Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.
 
22
African languages, n.i.e.
 
23
Creoles
 
24
Non-verbal languages
 
25
Other languages

Language spoken at home

Language spoken at home refers to the language a person speaks most often at home.

Classification(s)

Note: Recommended groupings for aggregated outputs might be based upon English and French and the 10 to 15 languages reported with the highest incidence for any given geographic area.

1
Aboriginal languages
1.1
Algonquian
1.1.1
Algonquian
1.1.2
Attikamek
1.1.3
Blackfoot
1.1.4
Cree
1.1.5
Malecite
1.1.6
Micmac
1.1.7
Montagnais-Naskapi
1.1.8
Oji-Cree
1.1.9
Ojibway
1.1.10
Algonquian, n.i.e.
 
1.2
Athapaskan (Dene)
1.2.1
Carrier
1.2.2
Chilcotin
1.2.3
Chipewyan
1.2.4
Dene
1.2.5
Dogrib
1.2.6
Kutchin-Gwich'in (Loucheux)
1.2.7
North Slave (Hare)
1.2.8
South Slave
1.2.9
Athapaskan, n.i.e.
 
1.3
Haida
 
1.4
Iroquoian
1.4.1
Mohawk
1.4.2
Iroquoian, n.i.e.
 
1.5
Kutenai
 
1.6
Salish
1.6.1
Shuswap
1.6.2
Thompson (Ntlakapamux)
1.6.3
Salish, n.i.e.
 
1.7
Siouan
1.8
Tlingit
 
1.9
Tsimshian
1.9.1
Gitksan
1.9.2
Nishga
1.9.3
Tsimshian
 
1.10
Wakashan
1.10.1
Nootka
1.10.2
Wakashan, n.i.e.
 
1.11
Inuktitut
1.12
Aboriginal languages, n.i.e.
 
2
Romance languages
2.1
French
2.2
Italian
2.3
Portuguese
2.4
Romanian
2.5
Spanish
2.6
Romance languages, n.i.e.
 
3
Germanic languages
3.1
English
3.2
German
3.3
Yiddish
 
3.4
Netherlandic languages
3.4.1
Dutch
3.4.2
Flemish
3.4.3
Frisian
 
3.5
Scandinavian languages
3.5.1
Danish
3.5.2
Icelandic
3.5.3
Norwegian
3.5.4
Swedish
 
3.6
Germanic languages, n.i.e.
 
4
Celtic languages
4.1
Gaelic languages
4.2
Welsh
4.3
Celtic languages, n.i.e.
 
5
Slavic languages
5.1
Bulgarian
5.2
Byelorussian
5.3
Croatian
5.4
Czech
5.5
Macedonian
5.6
Polish
5.7
Russian
5.8
Serbian
5.9
Serbo-Croatian
5.10
Slovak
5.11
Slovenian
5.11.1
Ukrainian
5.11.2
Slavic languages, n.i.e.
 
6
Baltic languages
6.1
Latvian (Lettish)
6.2
Lithuanian
 
7
Finno-Ugric languages
7.1
Estonian
7.2
Finnish
7.3
Hungarian
 
8
Greek
 
9
Armenian
 
10
Turkic languages
10.1
Turkish
10.2
Turkic languages, n.i.e.
 
11
Semitic languages
11.1
Amharic
11.2
Arabic
11.3
Hebrew
11.4
Maltese
11.5
Somali
11.6
Tingringa
11.7
Semitic languages, n.i.e.
 
12
Indo-Iranian languages
12.1
Bengali
12.2
Gujarati
12.3
Hindi
12.4
Konkani
12.5
Kurdish
12.6
Marathi
12.7
Pashto
12.8
Persian (Farsi)
12.9
Punjabi
12.10
Sindhi
12.11
Sinhalese
12.12
Urdu
12.13
Indo-Iranian, n.i.e.
 
13
Dravidian languages
13.1
Kannada
13.2
Malayalam
13.3
Tamil
13.4
Telugu
13.5
Dravidian languages, n.i.e.
 
14
Japanese
 
15
Korean
 
16
Sino-Tibetan languages
16.1
Chinese
16.2
Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e.
 
17
Tai languages
17.1
Lao
17.2
Thai
 
18
Austro-Asiatic languages
18.1
Khmer (Cambodian)
18.2
Vietnamese
18.3
Austro-Asiatic languages n.i.e.
 
19
Malayo-Polynesian languages
19.1
Malay-Bahasa
19.2
Tagalog (Filipino)
19.3
Malayo-Polynesian languages, n.i.e.
 
20
Asiatic languages n.i.e.
 
21
Niger-Congo languages
21.1
Bantu
21.1.1
Swahili
21.1.2
Bantu languages, n.i.e.
 
21.2
Twi
21.3
Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.
 
22
African languages, n.i.e.
 
23
Creoles
 
24
Non-verbal languages
 
25
Other languages

Official language

Definition

Official language refers to the ability of a person to conduct a conversation in English only, in French only, in both English and French or in neither English nor French.

Classification(s)

1
English
2
French
3
English and French
4
Neither English nor French
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