Official Languages committee  That is an excellent question. I will keep my answer very brief. It is possible to draw some clear conclusions. The bilingualism rate for that age group peaked in 1996, when young people reported being able to speak both official languages. Now, 15 years later, the individuals in

Official Languages committee  Without a doubt, what we're observing in Quebec is basically the culmination of the province's language and immigration policies aligning. It is fact that beginning in the early 1980s, actually as soon as Quebec gained some control over immigration selection, the province largely

Official Languages committee  In fact, what I said is, as soon as immigrants and their children were required to enter the French-language system, those children were more likely to use French in the public arena. That is a clear phenomenon, with the figures to prove it. It's statistics, pure and simple.

Official Languages committee  In the case of British Columbia, there are obviously differences, depending on the factor used. To give you an idea, I would say that, in 2011, the province had nearly 71,000 native French speakers. Conversely, 300,000 people reported being able to speak French. The challenge the

Official Languages committee  There is no doubt that the number of French-speaking immigrants is lower, even lower than that of francophones outside Quebec. The fact that the majority of immigrants who settle outside Quebec mainly opt for English-speaking communities is an important consideration. We have obs

Official Languages committee  Given Quebec's demographic weight within the federation, yes, you are entirely right.

Official Languages committee  I would probably need more time to explain what a linguistic minority is. There is actually no consensus on that. For instance, in Ontario, the province with the most francophones outside Quebec—over half a million—the definition varies greatly from one region to another. It is d

Official Languages committee  Stats Canada's mandate is not to make recommendations, but I'll mention a few elements. What we've shown in most of our surveys and studies is that, in general—and we alluded to this earlier—when we have people who have contact, the understanding of the other group's perspective

Official Languages committee  I would simply say that we still have to wait for the data released in May or June to be able to assess whether the data we have is sufficient to paint a complete picture.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question. It's not an easy one. Previous Statistics Canada experience has shown that changing a questionnaire or moving some of its questions around will certainly influence the results obtained. That's not news. Of course, the fact that the 2011 census questi

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Dion. I will answer quickly. Over the past two years, Statistics Canada has published 11 statistical portraits extracted from the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities conducted in 2006, and data from the censuses. Each province publishes one repo

Official Languages committee  Of course, learning a language when you are very young makes it easier to maintain that language. We are seeing one thing, in particular, with respect to exogamous unions; in other words, couples where the two spouses do not share the same mother tongue. The number of exogamous c

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question. With respect to preschool-aged children, the percentage of bilingual children is relatively low. The level of bilingualism peaks with the 15 to 19-year-olds. But in 2011, we obtained the highest level among the 10 to 14-year-olds for the first time.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the members of the committee for inviting Statistics Canada to appear before you to provide input to your reflection on the evolution of linguistic duality as we approach the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation in 2017. As y

Official Languages committee  My answer will be quick. Every year Canada receives something slightly under twice the population of P.E.I. in terms of immigration. Obviously, over a five-year period we're talking about one million people. So for sure we need over—