Statistics Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Chart 6
Proportion of immigrants who worked in a language other than English or French by year of immigration to Canada

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

This is another line chart showing the proportion of immigrants who work in a non-official language according the calendar year in which they arrived in Canada. Again there is a line for those who only used non-official languages, one for those who mostly used non-official languages and one for those who only used non-official languages. Starting with those who immigrated in 1966 the proportion who only used an official language at work in 2006 was less than 1%. It is around 2% for those who mostly used one and 3 times higher at about 6% for those who only used a non-official language. The proportion working in a language other than English or French increases for all three groups as the year of arrival becomes more recent. With 1990 arrivals the proportion who also worked in a non-official language levels off at 10% while the other two groups continue to increase. The proportion who only use a non-official language in their work increases faster and finally overtakes the proportion who mostly do. It was around 7% for 2006 arrivals. The increase in the last two years is particularly abrupt for those who worked exclusively in a non-official language.

For more details:

Time in Canada Also Mostly Only
percentage
1966 6.46 2.01 0.56
1967 5.56 1.56 0.49
1968 6.99 2.00 0.78
1969 5.63 1.88 0.69
1970 6.90 2.24 0.73
1971 6.79 2.17 0.86
1972 6.76 2.16 0.67
1973 7.31 2.49 0.75
1974 6.80 2.29 0.85
1975 6.91 2.57 0.91
1976 7.21 2.13 1.03
1977 6.77 2.52 0.97
1978 7.41 2.62 1.02
1979 8.34 3.30 1.98
1980 8.77 3.99 2.28
1981 8.26 3.85 2.21
1982 9.20 3.82 1.87
1983 9.02 3.39 1.77
1984 9.26 3.69 2.52
1985 10.18 4.20 2.23
1986 9.58 4.09 2.10
1987 9.88 3.98 2.01
1988 10.75 4.54 2.42
1989 11.01 4.62 2.73
1990 11.11 4.93 3.13
1991 11.15 4.84 3.03
1992 10.90 5.55 3.37
1993 10.85 5.34 3.57
1994 10.50 5.75 4.32
1995 9.37 5.73 3.87
1996 10.52 5.99 4.30
1997 10.17 5.97 4.33
1998 10.11 5.70 4.42
1999 10.45 5.60 4.06
2000 10.60 5.25 4.19
2001 10.24 4.92 4.26
2002 10.15 5.70 5.21
2003 10.70 5.89 5.33
2004 10.47 5.82 5.03
2005 10.91 6.04 5.99
2006 9.41 6.08 7.01