THE SHIFTING MOSAIC
Language in Canada has always been in flux. Today, Canadian languages continue the trend of transformation.
Individual languages often encounter change. In Canada, loanwords are common. For example, in Canadian English, the word dépanneur
dépanneur
a convenience store
is a loanword borrowed from Canadian French, while kayak
kayak
a light, narrow boat with a double-bladed paddle
comes from the Inuktitut "qayaq". There are also “Canadian-isms”, like the Canadian English term keener
keener
a person who is enthusiastic about something
or the more recent phrase elbows up.
elbows up
a phrase originating from hockey meaning to stay strong
The way Canadians speak to each other is also changing. Over 20% of Canadians speak more than one language at home. In fact, Canadians increasingly report having more than one mother tongue that is not English or French.
Canada’s languages are often divided into three categories: Indigenous languages, the official languages of English and French, and heritage languages.
Compare: Growth of Heritage Languages Over Last 30 Years, 1991 to 2021
Heritage languages are on the rise in Canada. Between the 2016 and 2021, mother tongue heritage languages increased by 0.3%, or almost 115,000 people.
Growth Of Heritage Languages Over Last 10 Years, 2011-2021
In Canada, heritage languages are often spoken alongside other languages. More than a third of Canadians regularly speak a language other than their mother tongue. Being able to speak more than one language is known as bilingualism or multilingualism.
Canadians with a non-official language as their mother tongue are much more likely to be bilingual or multilingual. Bilingual and multilingual Canadians usually speak English or French in combination with their mother tongue.
Bilingual and multilingual Canadians might speak a few different languages over the course of one day because a certain language may feel more appropriate or comfortable in one situation than another. For example, someone might choose to speak Arabic when they’re at home but speak French with their friends at school. Bilingual and multilingual Canadians might even switch languages over the course of a single conversation. This is called code-switching.
In Canada, bilingual and multilingual workplaces are becoming more common.
Languages at home, 2021
Languages at work, 2021
Bilingual and multilingual Canadians can face language retention challenges. The term “retention” describes how much a person continues speaking their mother tongue. Full retention means that the mother language is the language most spoken at home, whereas partial retention means that the mother language is spoken regularly, but not the most often. Different languages have different retention rates.
Languages With Total Retention Rates Over 90%, 2016
Languages sometimes experience low retention rates because of language loss. In Part 4, you can learn more about language loss in Canada and its effects.