A multitude of languages have always been spoken in Canada. Prior to Confederation, the territories that would become Canada were home to over 70 distinct languages across 12 or so language families. Today, a majority of those indigenous languages are still spoken; however, most are endangered and only about 0.6% of the Canadian population report an indigenous language as their mother tongue.[nb 2] Since the establishment of the Canadian state, English and French have been the co-official languages and are, by far, the most-spoken languages in the country.

According to the 2021 census, English and French are the mother tongues of 56.6% and 20.2% of Canadians respectively.[4] According to the 2016 census, a total of 86.2% of Canadians could conduct a conversation in English, while 29.8% could conduct a conversation in French.[5] Under the Official Languages Act of 1969, both English and French have official status throughout Canada in respect of federal government services and most courts. All federal legislation is enacted bilingually. Provincially, only in New Brunswick are both English and French official to the same extent. French is Quebec's official language,[6] although legislation is enacted in both French and English and court proceedings may be conducted in either language. English is the official language of Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, but government services are available in French in many regions of each, particularly in regions and cities where Francophones form the majority. Legislation is enacted in both languages and courts conduct cases in both. In 2022, Nova Scotia recognized Mi'kmawi'simk as the first language of the province,[1][2] and maintains two provincial language secretariats: the Office of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie (French language) and the Office of Gaelic Affairs (Canadian Gaelic). The remaining provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) do not have an official provincial language per se but government is primarily English-speaking. Territorially, both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have official indigenous languages alongside French and English: Inuktut (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun) in Nunavut[7] and, in the NWT, nine others (Cree, Dënësųłıné, Dene Yatıé/Zhatıé,[nb 3] Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́,[nb 3] and Tłįchǫ Yatıì).[9]

Canada's official languages commissioner (the federal government official charged with monitoring the two languages) said in 2009, "[I]n the same way that race is at the core of what it means to be American and at the core of an American experience and class is at the core of British experience, I think that language is at the core of Canadian experience."[10] To assist in more accurately monitoring the two official languages, Canada's census collects a number of demolinguistic descriptors not enumerated in the censuses of most other countries, including home language, mother tongue, first official language, and language of work.

Canada's linguistic diversity extends beyond English, French and numerous indigenous languages. "In Canada, 4.7 million people (14.2% of the population) reported speaking a language other than English or French most often at home and 1.9 million people (5.8%) reported speaking such a language on a regular basis as a second language (in addition to their main home language, English or French). In all, 20.0% of Canada's population reported speaking a language other than English or French at home. For roughly 6.4 million people, the other language was an immigrant language, spoken most often or on a regular basis at home, alone or together with English or French whereas for more than 213,000 people, the other language was an indigenous language. Finally, the number of people reporting sign languages as the languages spoken at home was nearly 25,000 people (15,000 most often and 9,800 on a regular basis)."[nb 4]

Official languages

Home language: rates of language use 1971–2011

Languages – Statistics Canada[12]

The percentage of the population speaking English, French or both languages most often at home has declined since 1986; the decline has been greatest for French. The proportion of the population who speak neither English nor French in the home has increased. Geographically, this trend remains constant, as usage of English and French have declined in both English and French speaking regions of the country, but French has declined more rapidly both inside and outside Quebec. The table below shows the percentage of the total Canadian population who speak Canada's official languages most often at home from 1971 to 2006.[13] Note that there are nuances between "language most spoken at home", "mother-language" and "first official language": data is collected for all three, which together provide a more detailed and complete picture of language-use in Canada.

Map showing fluency of languages in Northern America

Use of English

In 2011, just under 21.5 million Canadians, representing 65% of the population, spoke English most of the time at home, while 58% declared it their mother language.[14] English is the major language everywhere in Canada except Quebec and Nunavut, and most Canadians (85%) can speak English.[15] While English is not the preferred language in Quebec, 51.7% of Québécois can speak English; a dramatic increase from 36.1% in 2016.[16] Nationally, Francophones are five times more likely to speak English than Anglophones are to speak French – 44% and 9% respectively.[17] Only 3.2% of Canada's English-speaking population resides in Quebec—mostly in Montreal.[nb 5]

In 2011, 28.4 million Canadians had knowledge of English while only 21.6 million Canadians spoke it most often at home.[18][19]

Use of French

In 2011, just over 7.1 million Canadians spoke French most often at home, this was a rise of 4.2%, although the proportion of people in Canada who spoke French "most often" at home fell slightly from 21.7% to 21.5% . Of these, about 6.1 million or 85% resided in Quebec.[20] Outside Quebec, the largest French-speaking populations are found in New Brunswick (which is home to 3.1% of Canada's Francophones) and Ontario (4.2%, residing primarily in the eastern and northeastern parts of the province and in Toronto and Ottawa). Overall, 22% of people in Canada declare French to be their mother language, while one in three Canadians speak French and 70% are unilingual Anglophones.[nb 6] Smaller indigenous French-speaking communities exist in some other provinces.[21] For example, a vestigial community exists on Newfoundland's Port au Port Peninsula, a remnant of the "French Shore" along the island's west coast.

The percentage of the population who speak French both by mother tongue and home language has decreased over the past three decades. Whereas the number of those who speak English at home is higher than the number of people whose mother tongue is English, the opposite is true for Francophones. There are fewer people who speak French at home, than learned French after birth.[22]

Ethnic diversity is growing in French Canada but still lags behind the English-speaking parts of the country. In 2006, 91.5% of Quebecers considered themselves to be of either "French" or "Canadian" origin. As a result of the growth in immigration, since the 1970s, from countries in which French is a widely used language, 3.4% of Quebecers indicated that they were of Haitian, Belgian, Swiss, Lebanese or Moroccan origin.[23] Other groups of non-francophone immigrants (Irish Catholics, Italian, Portuguese, etc.) have also assimilated into French over the generations. The Irish, who started arriving in large numbers in Quebec in the 1830s, were the first such group, which explains why it has been possible for Quebec to have had five premiers of Irish ethnic origin: John Jones Ross (1884–87), Edmund James Flynn (1896–97), Daniel Johnson Sr. (1966–68), Pierre-Marc Johnson (1985), and Daniel Johnson Jr. (1994).

In 1991, due to linguistic assimilation of Francophones outside Quebec, over one million Canadians who claimed English as their mother tongue were of French ethnic origin (1991 Census).

Bilingualism and multilingualism versus English–French bilingualism

According to the 2011 census, 98.2% of Canadian residents have knowledge of one or both of the country's two official languages.[15] Between 2006 and 2011, the number of persons who reported being able to conduct a conversation in both of Canada's official languages increased by nearly 350,000 to 5.8 million. The bilingualism rate of the Canadian population edged up from 17.4% in 2006 to 17.5% in 2011.[11] This growth of English-French bilingualism in Canada was mainly due to the increased number of Quebecers who reported being able to conduct a conversation in English and French.[11]

Bilingualism with regard to nonofficial languages also increased, most individuals speaking English plus an immigrant language such as Punjabi or Mandarin.[26]

Geographic distribution of English–French bilingualism


Below shows the bilingual horseshoe as of 2021[27].


According to the 2021 census, 94.3% of Quebecers have knowledge of French, and 51.7% have knowledge of English.[15] Bilingualism (of the two official languages) is largely limited to Quebec itself, and to a strip of territory sometimes referred to as the "bilingual belt", that stretches east from Quebec into northern New Brunswick and west into parts of Ottawa and northeastern Ontario. 85% of bilingual Canadians live within Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick.[15] A majority of all bilingual Canadians, (57.4%) are themselves Quebecers,[15] and a high percentage of the bilingual population in the rest of Canada resides in close proximity to the Quebec border.

Similarly, the rate of bilingualism in Quebec has risen higher, and more quickly than in the rest of Canada. In Quebec, the rate of bilingualism has increased from 26% of the population being able to speak English and French in 1951 to 42.5% in 2011.[15] As of 2011, in the rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) the rate of bilingualism was 7.5%.[15]

English–French bilingualism rates

English–French bilingualism is highest among members of local linguistic minorities. It is very uncommon for Canadians to be capable of speaking only the minority official language of their region (French outside Quebec or English in Quebec). Only 1.5% of Canadians are able to speak only the minority official language, and of these most (90%) live in the bilingual belt.[53]

As the table below shows, rates of bilingualism are much higher among individuals who belong to the linguistic minority group for their region of Canada, than among members of the local linguistic majority. For example, within Quebec around 37% of bilingual Canadians are Francophones, whereas Francophones only represent 4.5% of the population outside Quebec.[54]

Rates of French-English bilingualism among linguistic groups.[55]
Anglophones Francophones Allophones
Quebec 66.1% 36.6% 50.4%
Rest of Canada 7.1% 85.1% 5.7%

Official language minority communities

French-speaking Canadians from outside Quebec and English-speaking Quebecers are, together, the official language minority communities. These communities are:

French outside Quebec

The language continuity index represents the relationship between the number of people who speak French most often at home and the number for whom French is their mother tongue. A continuity index of less than one indicates that French has more losses than gains – that more people with French as a mother tongue speak another language at home. Outside Quebec, New Brunswick has the highest French language continuity ratio. British Columbia and Saskatchewan have the lowest French language continuity ratio and thus the lowest retention of French. From 1971 to 2011, the overall ratio for French language continuity outside Quebec declined from 0.73 to 0.45. Declines were the greatest for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland.

Non-official languages used in Canada

Indigenous languages

Indigenous language speakers in Canada-3

Canada is home to a rich variety of indigenous languages, most of which are spoken nowhere else. There are 14 indigenous language groups in Canada with about 100 distinct languages and dialects, including many sign languages.[64] Almost all indigenous languages in Canada are considered endangered, with the exception of Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, and the Cree varieties Naskapi, Atikamekw, East Cree, and Plains Cree.[65] Prior to colonization, multilingualism was common across indigenous nations, many of whom often seasonally migrated. However, the reserve system created more permanent stationary bands, which have generally selected only one of their various ancestral languages to try to preserve in the face of increasing Anglicization, Francization,[66] or Amslanization (the process by which American Sign Language replaces local sign languages).[67] In addition, the residential school system attempted to institutionally exterminate languages and cultures from coast to coast to coast. The cruel methods (such as physical and sexual abuse, as well as death rates as high as one in twenty children[68]) resulted in a sharp declines in language use across all nations,[69] including amongst deaf and signing communities.[70]

Robert Falcon Ouellette, a Cree Member of Parliament, played a pivotal role in promoting indigenous languages within the Canadian Parliament and Canadian House of Commons. He was instrumental in obtaining unanimous consent from all political parties to change the standing orders to allow indigenous languages to be spoken in the House of Commons, with full translation services provided. This historic change enabled Ouellette to deliver a speech in Cree, marking the first use of an indigenous language in the House on Jan 28, 2019.[71][72][73]

Furthermore, Bill C-91, the Indigenous Languages Act passed in 2019, was enacted to support and revitalize indigenous languages across Canada. This legislation, aims to reclaim, revitalize, and maintain indigenous languages through sustainable funding and the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. Ouellette was the chair of the indigenous caucus in the House of Commons and helped ensure it passage before the election of 2019.[74][75][76][77]

Two of Canada's territories give official status to native languages. In Nunavut, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, known collectively as Inuktut, are official languages alongside the national languages of English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial government.[78][79] In the Northwest Territories, the Official Languages Act declares that there are eleven different languages: Cree, Dënësųłıné, Dene Yatıé / Dene Zhatıé,[nb 3] English, French, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́ / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́,[nb 3] and Tłįchǫ.[9] Besides English and French, these languages are not vehicular in government; official status entitles citizens to receive services in them on request and to deal with the government in them.[80]

Awaiting royal assent in October 2022 on Treaty Day, Nova Scotia has affirmed Mi'kmawi'simk as the "First Language" of the province through a bill titled the "Mi'kmaw Language Act" (No. 148). The Act establishes a language committee co-developed and co-run by Miꞌkmaw Kinaꞌmatnewey as well as ensuring "government support for the preservation, revitalization, promotion and protection of the Mi’kmaw language for generations to come," collaboratively developing strategy between the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia and the Government of Nova Scotia.[2]

According to the 2016 census, less than one per cent of Canadians (213,225) reported an indigenous language as their mother tongue, and less than one per cent of Canadians (137,515) reported an indigenous language as the language spoken most often at home.[81] Whilst most Canadian indigenous languages are endangered and their current speaker numbers are frequently low, the number of speakers has grown and even outpaced the number with an indigenous mother tongue, indicating that many people continue to learn the languages even if not initially raised with them.[82]

Given the destruction of indigenous state structures, academics usually classify indigenous peoples of Canada by region into "culture areas", or by their language family.[83]

Indigenous languages No. of speakers Mother tongue Home language
Cree (n.o.s.)[nb 7][a] 99,950 78,855 47,190
Inuktitut 35,690 32,010 25,290
Ojibwemowin 32,460 11,115 11,115
Innu–Naskapi 11,815 10,970 9,720
Denesuline 11,130 9,750 7,490
Oji-Cree (Anishininimowin) 12,605 8,480 8,480
Mi'kmawi'simk 8,750 7,365 3,985
Siouan languages (Dakota/Nakota) 6,495 5,585 3,780
Atikamekw 5,645 5,245 4,745
Blackfoot 4,915 3,085 3,085
Tłįchǫ 2,645 2,015 1,110
Algonquin (Omàmìwininìmowin) 2,685 1,920 385
Dakelh 2,495 1,560 605
Gitxsanimaax 1,575 1,175 320
Tsilhqot'in 1,400 1,070 435
Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́ /
Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́[nb 3]		 1,235 650 650
Dené Dháh / Dene Yatıé / Dene Zhatıé[nb 3] 2,315 600 600
Wəlastəkey latowewakən 790 535 140
Inuinnaqtun 580 370 70
Gwich’in 570 355 25
Kanienʼkéha 615 290 20
Secwepemctsín 1,650 250 250
Nisg̱a'a 1,090 250 250
Tlingit 175 0 0
Atgangmuurngniq 47[85] Unknown Unknown
Onʌyota'a:ká Sign Language[b] Unknown Unknown Unknown
Plains Sign Talk[b] Unknown Unknown Unknown
Secwepemcékst[b] Unknown Unknown Unknown
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Profile of Federal Electoral Districts (2003 Representation Order): Language, Mobility and Migration and Immigration and Citizenship Ottawa, 2007, pp. 2, 6, 10.[64]
a There exist numerous Cree languages, such as Plains Cree (nêhiyawêwin ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ), Woods Cree (nīhithawīwin ᓃᐦᐃᖬᐑᐏᐣ), Swampy Cree (E: nêhinawêwin ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐌᐎᐣ, W: ininîmowin ᐃᓂᓃᒧᐎᓐ), Moose Cree (ililîmowin ᐃᓕᓖᒧᐎᓐ), and East Cree (N: Iyiniu-Ayamiwin ᐄᓅ ᐊᔨᒨᓐ S: Iyiyiu-Ayamiwin ᐄᔨᔫ ᐊᔨᒨᓐ).
b Although small in number,[84] these languages have been included without data to show the disparity in information between oral and sign languages. The Canadian Association of the Deaf state that, in their opinion, "no fully credible census of Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing people has ever been conducted in Canada." By extension, there exists no credible data on sign languages, especially of indigenous sign languages.[86]

Glottolog 4.3 (2020) counted 13 independent indigenous language families and/or isolates in Canada.[87] A potential fourteenth family, that of the sign languages of the Plateau, possibly hosting languages like Secwepemcékst and Ktunaxa Sign Language, remains unlisted by Glottolog. It remains unknown to academia the extent which sign languages are spoken and how they relate to and across linguistic families.[86]

Pidgins, mixed languages, & trade languages

In Canada, as elsewhere in the world of European colonization, the frontier of European exploration and settlement tended to be a linguistically diverse and fluid place, as cultures using different languages met and interacted. The need for a common means of communication between the indigenous inhabitants and new arrivals for the purposes of trade and (in some cases) intermarriage led to the development of hybrid languages. These languages tended to be highly localized, were often spoken by only a small number of individuals who were frequently capable of speaking another language, and often persisted only briefly, before being wiped out by the arrival of a large population of permanent settlers, speaking either English or French.

Belle Isle Pidgin

Spoken until about 1760, this pidgin was spoken between Breton and Basque fishermen and NunatuKavummiut of NunatuKavut (Labrador).

Bungee

Named from the Ojibwe word bangii meaning "a little bit,"[88][89] the meagrely documented Bungi Creole (also known as Bungee, Bungy, Bungie, Bungay, and as the Red River Dialect) is a mixed language predominantly anchored in English that evolved within the Prairie Métis community, specifically the Countryborn or Anglo-Métis. Due to the multicultural nature of the Red River Settlement, Bungi was influenced by Scottish English, Nehiyawewin, Nakawemowin, the Orcadian dialect of Scots, Norn, Scottish Gaelic, and Canadian French.[90][91][92] The vocabulary and word order were primarily English, but the speech was lilting like that of Gaelic speakers, with pronunciation and structural shifts coming from the Cree languages, such as: shawl becoming sawl, she becoming see, and the popular greeting I’m well, you but?.[93] Bungi reached its peak in the nineteenth century, with about 5,000 Countryborn native speakers of the dialect in 1870. However, over the next century, standard Canadian English gradually replaced it; and by the late 1980s, only a handful of elderly speakers remained. It is generally considered to be asleep today.[93]

Chiac

Spoken in the Maritime provinces (mostly in New Brunswick), Chiac is a creole language with a linguistic base in Acadian French and Maritime English with significant contributions from Mi'kmawi'simk and the Maliseet language.[94] Notable for its code-switching between English and French, it is often popularly considered a variant of Franglais, with examples such as: Espère-moi su'l'corner, j'traverse le ch'min pi j'viens right back (Wait for me at the corner, I'm crossing the road and I'll be right back) and On va amarrer ça d'même pour faire sûr que ça tchenne[95] (We will tie it like this to make sure it stays).[95] However, Chiac is not simply a Franglais/Frenglish mix of French and English, as it differs distinctly from other French-English mixed-use cases such as those found amongst Fransaskois or Ontarois.[96][97]

Chinook Jargon

In British Columbia, Yukon and throughout the Pacific Northwest, a pidgin language known as Chinook Jargon (also rendered "Chinook Wawa") emerged in the early 19th century that was a combination of Chinookan, Nootka, Chehalis, French and English, with a smattering of words from other languages including Hawaiian and Spanish.[98] Later in that century, it had creolized in the Pacific Northwest. Certain words and expressions remain current in local use, such as skookum, tyee, and saltchuck, while a few have become part of worldwide English ("high mucketymuck" or "high muckamuck" for a high-ranking and perhaps self-important official).

Franglais

A portmanteau language which is said to combine English and French syntax, grammar and lexicons to form a unique interlanguage, is sometimes ascribed to mandatory basic French education in the Canadian anglophone school systems. Many unilingual anglophone Canadians, for instance, will borrow French words into their sentences. Simple words and phrases like "C'est quoi ça?" (what is that?) or words like "arrête" (stop) can alternate with their English counterparts. This phenomenon is more common in the eastern half of the country where there is a greater density of Francophone populations. Franglais can also refer to the supposed degradation of the French language thanks to the overwhelming impact Canadian English has on the country's Francophone inhabitants, though many linguists would argue that while English vocabulary can be freely borrowed as a stylistic device, the grammar of French has been resistant to influences from English[99] and the same conservatism holds true in Canadian English grammar,[100] even in Quebec City.

Haida Jargon

A pidgin trade language based on Haida, known as Haida Jargon, was used in the 1830s in and around Haida Gwaii. It was used by speakers of English, Haida, Coast Tsimshian, Heiltsuk, and other languages.

Loucheux Jargon

As a result of cultural contact between the Gwich'in (formerly called "Loucheaux") and Europeans (predominately French coureurs des bois and voyageurs), a pidgin language was historically used across Gwich'in Nành, Denendeh.[101] The language is often called in English "Jargon Loucheux" using the traditional French syntax.[102]

Michif

Michif (also known as Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, and French Cree) is a mixed language which evolved within the Prairie Métis community that was oriented towards Cree and Franco-Catholic culture. It is based on elements of Cree and French along with elements of Ojibwa and Assiniboine. Michif is today spoken by fewer than 1,000 individuals in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota. At its peak, around 1900, Michif was understood by perhaps three times this number.

Nootka Jargon

Based in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and likely one precursor to Chinook Wawa, Nootka Jargon was a trade language derived from Nuučaan̓uł, English, Spanish, and Russian, as well as other local languages.

Slavey Jargon

Also known as "Broken Slavey," this language was spoken until the mid-1900s, abruptly diminishing due to the influx of English into Denendeh and Inuit Nunangat.[103] Documentation has also shown that the language was spoken by a range of fur traders, postmasters, and their wives, sisters, and daughters, who were often of Métis descent.[103] The native languages of speakers who used Slavey Jargon were Denesuline, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and the languages collectively known as "Slavey" (North: Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́, K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́, and Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́; South: Dene Yatıé or Dene Zhatıé and Dené Dháh). The Dene, Inuit, French, British, and Métis who spoke the language did so predominately for preaching the gospel, teasing and harassing clergymen, and for interpersonal relationships.[103] The use of Slavey Jargon can be characterized as an innovation employed by speakers in order to meet several linguistic goals, such as introductions, advice, and disputes.[103] Mishler specified, "For all these reasons, Slavey Jargon seems inaccurate to characterize it strictly as a trade jargon" (p. 277).[103]

Spoken predominately in the Liard and Dehcho Countries of Denendeh, the nouns of the language generally consisted of English, Dënësųłınë́ Yatıé, Sahtúgot’įné / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́, and Dene Yatıé/Zhatıé, whereas the verbs and pronouns are derived from French. Adverbs are typically pulled from Dënësųłınë́ and Gwich’in. There is, however, a lot of variation in Slavey Jargon. Gwich’in verbs can be mixed with French nouns or phonemically modified French sentences exist.[103]

Souriquois

Spoken alongside the Basque/Breton–Inuit Belle Isle pidgin was another pidgin language that developed in the 16th century amongst the Basque in coastal areas along the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Strait of Belle Isle as the result of contact between Basque whalers and local Algonquian peoples, notably the Mi'kmaq.[104] The name "Souriquois" has an obscure history and most likely refers to region around Souris and the Basque suffix koa, perhaps from zurikoa “that of the whites."[105]

Sign languages

Sign languages of North America
Map of the various sign languages spoken across North America, excluding Francosign languages
Francosign languages of North America
Map of the North American Francosign languages

Alongside the numerous and varied oral languages, Canada also boasts several sign languages. Currently, Canada is home to some five or more sign languages (that number rising with the probability that Plains Sign Talk is actually a language family with several languages under its umbrella), belonging to four to six distinct language families, those being: the Francosign family, the BANZSL family, the Plains Sign family, the Inuit Sign isolate, perhaps the Coast Salish Sign isolate, and perhaps a Plateau Sign family composed of Secwepemcékst and Ktunaxa Sign Language.

As with all sign languages around the world that developed naturally, these are natural, human languages distinct from any oral language. As such, American Sign Language (unlike Signed English) is no more a derivation of English than Russian is,[106] all being distinct languages from one another. Some languages present here were trade pidgins which were used first as a system of communication across national and linguistic boundaries of First Nations, however, they have since developed into mature languages as children learned them as a first language.

The sign languages of Canada share extremely limited rights within the country in large due to the general population's misinformation on the subject. Ontario is the only province or territory to formally make legal any sign language, enabling the use of American Sign Language, Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) and "First Nation Sign Language" (which could refer to Plains Sign Talk, Oneida Sign Language, or any other language) in only the domains of education, legislation and judiciary proceedings.[107] The only other language afforded any other rights is Inuiuuk, which sees interpretation in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.[108] There have been efforts to make LSQ an official language of Quebec, but all efforts have failed.[109]

American Sign Language

The most utilized sign language in Canada, American Sign Language or ASL, can be found across the country in mostly anglophone regions. The ties with anglophone Canada are not due to ASL and English's similarity, but to cultural similarities and linguistic history (as several ASL words are borrowed from English). As such, ASL can be found in areas where English is not the primary language, such as Montreal or Nunavut. ASL is part of the French Sign Language (Francosign) family, originating on the East Coast of the United States from a mix of Langue des signes françaises (LSF) and other local languages.

Black American Sign Language

Amongst the Black communities of Canada, Black American Sign Language (BASL) is also spoken.[110]

Coast Salish Sign Language

There is evidence that Coast Salish citizens speak a distinct sign language.[84]

Hand Talk

Hand Talk was the primary written language and lingua franca of North America.[111] It was used for all international relations, trade, and diplomacy across much of the continent until colonization.[112] across the continent and the language stretched across the provinces down through Mexico.[113] Its name comes from the language itself ("HANDS" + "TO-TALK-TO") and is preferred by Indigenous communities over other terms like "Plains Sign Language" or "First Nations Sign Languages". In fact, Hand Talk is a complex of several languages, with variants in the Northeast Woodlands, Great Basin, Southwest, and the Great Plains.[111] It is unknown if Plateau Sign Language is related.

Oneida Sign Language

Born out of the Oneida Nation, OSL is a mixed language, descended primarily from both Hand Talk and the Oneida oral language, with some additions from ASL.[114] Onʌyota'a:ká (or Oneida) Sign Language is a young and growing language, spreading especially amongst deaf Oneida citizens.[115][84]

Inuit Sign Language

Inuit Sign Language, also known as Atgangmuurngniq or Uukturausingit, is a critically endangered language with some 50 speakers remaining. It is a language isolate and has only be found by researchers in Nunavut; however, there are theories it extends across the Arctic Circle.[85] Little is known about its history, but efforts are being made to document and revitalize the language.[116]

Maritime Sign Language

Maritime Sign Language is a BANZSL language. It was used as the language of education for Deaf populations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island before ASL became available in the mid-20th century. It is still remembered by some elderly people but is moribund. The language, living alongside ASL, has produced a unique dialect of ASL in the Maritimes due to mixing of the languages. The exact number of speakers is unknown.

Plateau Sign Language

Another international language, Plateau Sign Language was/is spoken in the Columbia Plateau and surrounding regions of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho instead of Plains Sign Talk. There are few speakers left, mostly Elders.

Ktunaxa Sign Language

Called ʾa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam in the Ktunaxa language,[117] Ktunaxa Sign Language has historically been spoken in Ktunaxa ɁamakaɁis (Ktunaxa Country).[118]

Secwépemc Sign Language

Perhaps related to or descended from the old Plateau Sign Language, Secwepemcékst or Secwépemc Sign Language is spoken by a small number of Secwépemc citizens.[84]

Quebec Sign Language

Alongside ASL, Quebec Sign Language or LSQ (Langue des signes québécoise) is the second most spoken sign language in the country. Centred mainly around and within Quebec, LSQ can also be found in Ontario, New Brunswick and various other parts of the country, generally around francophone communities due to historical ties to the French language. Although approximately 10% of the population of Quebec is deaf or hard-of-hearing, it is estimated that only 50,000 to 60,000 children use LSQ as their native language. LSQ is part of the Francosign family with ASL. As such, both languages are mutually intelligible.

Sawmill Sign Language

Spoken by the sawmill workers of BC, this sign language was used by predominately hearing staff during work hours and in socializing with co-workers.[119]

Canadian dialects of European languages

Acadian French

Acadian French is a unique form of Canadian French which incorporates not only distinctly Canadian phrases but also nautical terms, English loanwords, linguistic features found only in older forms of French as well as ones found in the Maritimer English dialect.

Brayon French

A sub-dialect of Acadian French, Brayon French is spoken by those in Madawaska County of New Brunswick. The language is a mix of Acadian and Quebec French with influence from the local Mi'kmaw and Maliseet languages, with only slight differentiation from the more standard Acadian French.[120][121][122]

Québec French

As the most spoken variety of French in Canada, Québec French contains a significant number of dialects, generally grouped in two: the "old" dialects of the territories at the time of the British conquest and the "new" dialects that arose post-conquest.

Chaouin French

Around 1615 as the coureurs des bois moved past the city of Quebec, those who settled in Ndakinna (Abenaki land) developed unique features still found today, especially in the Bois-Francs region South of the St. Lawrence.

Joual French

Originally the dialect of the French-speaking working class in Montréal, the cultural renaissance connected to the Quiet Revolution have resulted in Joual being spoken by people across the educational and economic spectrum.

Màgoua French

Possibly deriving from the Atikamekw word for "loon" (makwa; standard French: huard), the French spoken by the Magoua community is one of the most conservative French dialects in North America. This basilectal dialect is found in Nitaskinan as the Trois-Rivières region became the first stronghold of the coureurs des bois outside the city of Quebec in 1615. Magoua French preserves the sontaient ("étaient") characteristic of Métis French and Cajun French, has a creole-like past tense particle tà, and has old present-tense contraction of a former verb "to be" that behave in the same manner as subject clitics.

Métis French

Alongside Michif and Bungi, the Métis dialect of French is one of the traditional languages of the Métis people, and the French-dialect source of the Michif language.[123] Métis French is a variety of Canadian French with some added characters Ññ, Áá, Óó, and Ææ (from older French spellings), such as: il ñá ócun nævus sur ce garçon English: "there is no birthmark on this boy."[57] There are also significant amounts of words loaned from indigenous languages such as Ojibwemowin, Dane-zaa Ẕáágéʔ (Beaver), and several Cree languages.[58] Like Michif, Métis French is spoken predominantly in Manitoba as well as adjacent provinces and US states.[124] As a general rule, Métis individuals tend to speak one or the other, rarely both.[56]

Newfoundland French

Tracing their origins to Continental French fishermen who settled in the late 1800s and early 1900s, rather than the Québécois, Newfoundland French (or français terre-neuvien) refers to the French spoken on the Port au Port Peninsula (part of the so-called “French Shore”) of Newfoundland. Some Acadians of the Maritimes also settled in the area. For this reason, Newfoundland French is most closely related to the Breton and Norman French of nearby St-Pierre-et-Miquelon. Today, heavy contact with Acadian French—and especially widespread bilingualism with Newfoundland English—have taken their toll, and the community is in decline. The degree to which lexical features of Newfoundland French constitute a distinct dialect is not presently known. It is uncertain how many speakers survive; the dialect could be moribund. There is a provincial advocacy organisation Fédération des Francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador, representing both the Peninsular French and Acadian French communities.

Ontarois French

Although quite similar to Quebec French, the dialect of the Ontarois or Franco-Ontarians maintains distinctive features. These include the progressive disappearance of the subjunctive, the transfer of rules from English to French, e.g., "J’ai vu un film sur/à la télévision" which comes from "I saw a film on television", and the loaning of English conjunctions such as "so" for ça fait que or alors.

Black English

In what is also called Black Canadian, Afro-Canadian, or African Canadian English, there exist several varieties of English spoken by Black Canadians. The most well-established is the dialect spoken by Afro-Nova Scotians.[125] In places like Toronto where there is a large population of Afro-Caribbean descendants and newcomers, localized varieties of Black English take on elements of Caribbean English, as well as mixing with African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Although AAVE is not nearly as widespread in Canada as it is across the United States, Black Canadians have various lines of connection to the dialect. Sometimes that connection is historical, such as with Black Nova Scotians; sometimes it is hegemonic, where Afro-Canadians adopt speech mannerisms from the larger United States; sometimes it is diasporic, where communities of African-American newcomers or African-American descendants coalesce, especially in larger cities.

Afro-Nova Scotian English

African Nova Scotian English is spoken by descendants of Black Nova Scotians, black immigrants from the United States. Though most African American freedom seekers in Canada ended up in Ontario through the Underground Railroad, only the dialect of African Nova Scotians retains the influence of West African pidgin.[126] In the 19th century, African Nova Scotian English would have been indistinguishable from English spoken in Jamaica or Suriname.[127] However, it has been increasingly de-creolized since this time, due to interaction and influence from the white Nova Scotian population. Desegregation of the province's school boards in 1964 further accelerated the process of de-creolization. The language is a relative of the African-American Vernacular English, with significant variations unique to the group's history in the area.[128][129] There are noted differences in the dialects of those from Guysborough County (Black Loyalists), and those from North Preston (Black Refugees), the Guysborough group having been in the province three generations earlier.[129]

Howe and Walker use data from early recordings of African Nova Scotian English, Samaná English, and the recordings of former slaves to demonstrate that speech patterns were inherited from nonstandard colonial English.[130] The dialect was extensively studied in 1992 by Shana Poplack and Sali Tagliamonte from the University of Ottawa.[129]

A commonality between African Nova Scotian English and African-American Vernacular English is (r)-deletion. This rate of deletion is 57% among Black Nova Scotians, and 60% among African Americans in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, in the surrounding mostly white communities of Nova Scotia, (r)-deletion does not occur.[131]

Cascadian English

The English language in British Columbia shares numerous features with the neighbouring states of Washington and Oregon, such as the /æɡ/ raising (found words such as bag, vague and bagel). Boreal Cascadian English speakers exhibit more vowel retraction of /æ/ before nasals than people from Toronto, and younger speakers in the Greater Vancouver area do not raise /aʊ/ as much, but keep the drop in intonation, causing "about" to sound slightly like "a baht." The "o" in such words as holy, goal, load, know, etc. is pronounced as a close-mid back rounded vowel, [o], but not as rounded as in the Prairies where there are strong Scandinavian, Slavic and German influences, which can lend to a more stereotypical "Canadian" accent.

Indigenous English

The varieties of English spoken by indigenous people are phonologically influenced by their first or traditional languages. This has resulted in an identifiable dialect spectrum distinct from other Canadian English dialects. Due to the ongoing stigmatization of indigenous cultures, indigenous children could be wrongly diagnosed as having a speech impairment or a learning disability, when what is identified by medical professionals are simply the dialectal features.[132]

Some written works use indigenous English dialects. For example, Maria Campbell's book Stories of the Road Allowance People is a collection of Métis folktales. An excerpt from that work illustrates the type of speech used by Elders in rural Métis communities during her research, but some stories were collected in Cree or other languages and translated into dialectical English by Campbell:

— Dah Teef[133]