Lesson 10 — Activity 1: Bilingualism

Warm Up

You may know that Canada has two official languages — English and French. As well, there are many other languages spoken by Canadians.

In this activity, you will learn about the Official Languages Act brought in by the Canadian government and about the diversity of languages spoken in our country.

language wordle

In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his government brought in the Official Languages Act. The government under Prime Minister Trudeau wanted to bring in this Act in order to promote unity and bilingualism among Canadians.

The most important purpose of the Official Languages Act was to protect English and French as the official languages of Canada and their use in all federal institutions. This Act gave Canadians the legal right to speak French when receiving services from the federal government and the courts. Provinces also began to offer services in French. The Act was intended to provide equal opportunity for citizens who spoke either official language.

The principles of this Act were later incorporated into the Constitution of Canada, in Section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one part of the Canadian Constitution, which is a set of laws containing the fundamental rules that define and guide Canadian culture. It is a set of basic rules that everyone must follow.)

This Act was then revised in 1988 to achieve two new objectives:

First, it was necessary to update the 1969 law to take into account the new language-related obligations that the federal government had undertaken under Sections 16–23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which had been enacted in 1982. For example, Section 20 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right of the Canadian public to communicate in English and French with any central government office or with regional offices where there is "a significant demand for communication with and services from that office." Significant demand was not defined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. One of the purposes of the Official Languages Act of 1988 was to remedy this omission.

Second, the new law included provisions for the promotion by the Government of Canada of Québec’s English-speaking minority and of French-speaking minorities in the rest of Canada.

Click to see some of the provisions of the Act:

1. guaranteed services in English and in French in places where a large number of people speak both languages

2. guaranteed federal employees the right to work in the official language of their choice in certain regions

3. ensured equal opportunities for employment and advancement for English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians in federal institutions

4. ensured that the public service is made up of people from the two official language groups

5. tried to strengthen English-speaking and French-speaking minority communities and to advance the status of English and French in Canadian society

(Adapted from K&E Studio)

Let's look at the languages of Canada.

languages in canada

Official Languages of Canada

You know that Canada has two official languages: English and French. In the 2011 census, about 58 percent of the population reported that their mother tongue was English. English was also the language most often spoken at home by 66 percent of the population.

About 22 percent of the population reported that their mother tongue was French, and French was the language most often spoken at home by 21 percent.

About 20.6 percent reported that a language other than English or French was their mother tongue. They also reported that they spoke English or French at home.

Indigenous Languages in Canada

Indigenous languages are diverse in Canada, according to the 2011 census, with 213,500 people reporting having 1 of 60 Indigenous languages as a mother tongue and 213,400 reporting that they speak an Indigenous language most often or regularly at home.

Three Indigenous languages — the Cree languages, Inuktitut, and Ojibway — made up almost two-thirds of the responses from those reporting having an Indigenous language as their mother tongue on the 2011 census of Canada.

Try This!

Answer the following questions regarding the Official Languages Act and the diversity of languages spoken in Canada.

1. Why did Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his government bring in the Official Languages Act?

2. What was the most important purpose of the Official Languages Act?

3. What are the top three non-official languages spoken in Canada?

4. According to the 2011 census, how many people reported having 1 of 60 Indigenous languages as a mother tongue?

Check your answers here:

1. Prime Minister Trudeau wanted to bring in this Act in order to promote unity and bilingualism among Canadians.

2. The most important purpose of the Official Languages Act was to protect English and French as the official languages of Canada and their use in all federal institutions.

3. Punjabi, Chinese languages, Spanish

4. 213,500