Data sources, methods and definitions
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The data used for this article are based on the 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 Census of Population, the Elementary / Secondary School Enrolment (ESSE) survey, the Elementary–Secondary Education Survey (ESES), and the National Household Survey (NHS).
The 2011 Census data were collected using a census questionnaire distributed to 100% of the population. The data from earlier censuses were collected using the long-form census questionnaire distributed to 20% of the population (except in 1971, when it was distributed to 33% of the population).
The ESES is a national survey that enables Statistics Canada to provide information on enrolments, graduates, educators and financial statistics of Canadian elementary and secondary public and private educational institutions.
The ESES collected data on enrolment by type of school (public, private, schools for the visually and hearing impaired, and federal and Department of National Defence schools). This survey was discontinued after the 1999/2000 reference year. The data are now collected via the ESES. Since data on private institutions are available in the survey only from 2010/2011 onward, only data on public institutions were used for comparisons over time in this article.
The NHS collects social and economic information that communities need to plan services such as child care, schooling, family services, housing, roads and public transportation, and skills training for employment. In 2011, approximately 4.5 million households across Canada received the NHS questionnaire. Participation in the survey was voluntary. In this article, comparisons have been made between the NHS and earlier censuses, only for the purpose of comparing the rates of bilingualism between immigrants and the Canadian-born at the aggregate level.
Definitions
Bilingualism: Indicates whether the respondent has reported being able to conduct a conversation in English and French in response to the question on knowledge of official languages. In this article, bilingualism refers only to English–French bilingualism.
In the 2011 Census, the question on knowledge of English and French was: “Can you speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?” The possible responses were “English only,” “French only,” “Both English and French,” and “Neither English nor French.” This question has remained unchanged since the 1971 Census.
In earlier censuses (1961 and earlier) enumerators visited the households of Canadians and asked the following two questions: “Can you speak English? French?” The possible responses were the same as those in more recent censuses.
First official language spoken: This variable, which is used in this article to define the “Francophone” and “Anglophone” populations, was derived within the framework of the application of the Official Languages Act. The derivation method is described in the regulations concerning the use of official languages for the provision of public services. First it takes knowledge of the two official languages into account, second, mother tongue, and third, language spoken at home. The first official language spoken (FOLS) serves to allocate the Canadian population into the country’s two main language groups. In Canada, just over 97% of the population has either English or French as its first official language spoken. The residual portion consists of people who have neither English nor French as their mother tongue or language spoken most often at home, and who cannot conduct a conversation in either of the two official languages (1.8%), as well as those who know both English and French, but who cannot be assigned to only one official language population on the basis of the three census variables used (1.1%).
Mother tongue: The language first learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census.
Regular French as a second language (FSL) program: Programs where French is taught in English schools as a subject in the regular course offerings. One or more additional subjects can also be taught in the student’s second official language, but second-language instruction does not exceed 25% of all instruction time.
French-immersion program: Programs where French is the language of instruction in English schools for at least 25% of all instruction time.
Recent immigrants: People who immigrated during the five years preceding the census or the 2011 Census or the National Household Survey.
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