Census learning centre
Knowledge of official and non-official languages

Release date: August 17, 2022

Catalogue number: 982000032021016

Hello and welcome to the Knowledge of official and non-official languages video.

This video will allow you to identify the census questionnaire questions on knowledge of official and non-official languages. It will also allow you to understand how variables on knowledge of official and non-official languages are created and how they are disseminated and analyzed.

Subject
Language
Length
00:07:23
Cost
Free
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Concept video: Knowledge of official and non-official languages - Transcription

(The Statistics Canada symbol and "Canada" wordmark appear on screen with the title: "Concept video: Knowledge of official and non-official languages".)

Welcome to the video on knowledge of official and non-official languages.

The purpose of this video is to provide basic information on the concepts of knowledge of official and non-official languages.

This video will enable you to:

  • identify the questions on knowledge of official languages and non-official languages in the census and understand their usefulness and relevance
  • understand how variables on knowledge of official languages and non-official languages are created and how they are disseminated and analyzed.

(A word cloud, showing "Hello" and "Bonjour" representing official languages, and words in languages other than English and French representing non-official languages, appears on the screen.

Images, of a laptop screen with the words "Creating variables" and of people analyzing data, appear on the screen. They represent how language variables are created disseminated and analyzed.)

The census collects a wealth of information about the languages of people living in Canada.

Why are these data important?

These data are used particularly in the application and administration of various federal and provincial legislation, including:

  • the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • the Official Languages Act of Canada
  • the Official Languages Act of New Brunswick
  • the Charter of the French Language of Quebec

In addition, these data are used to study linguistic practices and the knowledge and use of official and non-official languages in Canada.

(A word cloud, showing "Hello" and "Bonjour" representing official languages, and words in languages other than English and French representing non-official languages, appears on the screen.)

Data on language knowledge and use are taken into consideration by researchers, community groups, health professionals, businesses and other organizations across the country when addressing issues related to human resource policies, local education and training, the social and economic integration of newcomers, health promotion, and community programs and services.

(Images, of a researcher, a community group, health professionals and companies working on human resources, education, social and economic integration of newcomers, health promotion, and community programs and services, appear on the screen.)

Let’s start with the concept of knowledge of official languages. English and French are the official languages of Canada.

(An image of a Canadian flag, with an = sign and the words "Two official languages", appears on the screen. The words "English" and "French" appear under "Two official languages".)

Therefore, knowledge of official languages refers to an individual’s ability to conduct a conversation in English only or French only, both in English and French, or neither in English nor in French.

(Images of a girl, speaking English only, French only, English and French only, and neither English nor French, appear on the screen one at a time.)

For a child who has not yet learned to speak, this includes languages that the child is learning to speak at home.

Knowledge of official languages is used in several analyses of the behaviours and linguistic characteristics of Canadians. In fact, it is based on the question on knowledge of official languages that the English–French bilingualism rate can be studied. Knowledge of official languages is also used to determine the first official language spoken.

A question on knowledge of official languages has been included in the census since 1901.

The question on knowledge of official languages in the 2021 Census, which is the same as that in the 2016 Census, is as follows:

Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?

  • English only
  • French only
  • Both English and French
  • Neither English nor French

(An image of question 8 of the 2021 Census questionnaire appears on the screen.)

The next concept is knowledge of non-official languages. Knowledge of non-official languages refers to whether a person can conduct a conversation in a language other than English or French.

(An image of a group of people, speaking in languages other than English and French, appears on the screen.)

For a child who has not yet learned to speak, this includes languages that the child is learning to speak at home.

In the 2021 Census of Population, a person can report up to 16 languages other than English or French.

A question on knowledge of non-official languages has been included in the census since 1991.

The question on knowledge of non-official languages in the 2021 Census, which is the same as in the 2016 Census, is as follows:

What language(s), other than English or French, can this person speak well enough to conduct a conversation?

  • None or
  • Other language(s) — specify:

(An image of question 22 of the 2021 Census questionnaire appears on the screen.)

The classification of knowledge of official languages is as follows:

  • English only
  • French only
  • English and French
  • Neither English nor French

The category “English and French” corresponds to English–French bilinguals.

Data on knowledge of non-official languages (also known as other languages) are generally presented in combination with data on official languages.

(The text "Data on language knowledge = Number of speakers of that language” appears on the screen.)

Data on language knowledge indicate, for each language enumerated, the total number of speakers of that language, specifically, the number of people who reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in that language, whether they were:

  • Unilingual
  • Bilingual or
  • Multilingual

Languages are classified according to the following categories:

  • Official languages
  • Non-official languages
    • Indigenous languages
    • Non-Indigenous languages

Therefore, the “English” category indicates the number of people who said they could conduct a conversation in English, the “French” category indicates the number of people who said they could conduct a conversation in French, the “Spanish” category indicates the number of people who said they could conduct a conversation in Spanish, and so on.

A person able to conduct a conversation in both English and French will be enumerated in both the “English” and “French” categories.

(Eight persons, along with three boxes titled "English", "French" and "Spanish" located below the persons, appear on the screen. A legend indicates each person's knowledge of languages. A pink square represents English, a blue circle represents French and a green triangle represents Spanish.

  • Three persons with knowledge of English only are moved to the box titled "English."

  • Two persons with knowledge of French only are moved to the box titled "French."

  • Two persons with knowledge of Spanish only are moved to the box titled "Spanish."

  • One person with knowledge of both English and French is moved to the box titled "English" and to the box titled "French.")

With this data presentation method, the sum of the categories will exceed the total Canadian population.

(The text, "Sum of categories > Total Canadian population", appears on the screen.)

Data on knowledge of non-official languages are also used to disseminate the variable of the number of non-official languages known.

The classification of this variable is as follows:

  • No non-official languages
  • One
  • Two
  • Three or more

In summary:

  • Knowledge of official languages refers to an individual’s ability to conduct a conversation in English only, French only, both in English and French, or neither in English nor in French.
  • Knowledge of non-official languages refers to whether a person can conduct a conversation in a language other than English or French.

(The words, "Thank you for watching the “Knowledge of official and non-official languages” video", appear on the screen.)

This concludes the video on Knowledge of official and non-official languages. Thank you for watching.

(The census logo appears with a link, which is also available to view here: Census of population.)

For more detailed information on concepts, variables, methodology, historical comparability and other elements, please refer to Statistics Canada's census webpages.

(The "Canada" wordmark appears. ISBN: 978-0-660-44658-5)

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