Variety of Languages Among Black Canadians: Examining Mother Tongue and Multilingualism
In 2021, considering both single and multiple responses, English served as the mother tongue (defined as the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood) for 58.9% of the Black population in Canada, while French represented the mother tongue for 21.6% of individuals.
Among the other predominant mother tongues reported within the Black community were Haitian Creole, Somali, Tigrigna, Amharic, and Yoruba languages. Interestingly, the Black population in Canada reported over 250 languages as mother tongues, showcasing a rich linguistic diversity within the community.
Furthermore, a higher percentage of individuals within the Black population (28.0%) converse in French at home compared to the overall population (23.3%), indicating the significant presence of French language usage among Black Canadians and reflecting the multicultural and multilingual fabric of the community.
These linguistic insights offer a glimpse into the diverse language landscape within the Black population in Canada, emphasizing the importance of language diversity and its role in shaping cultural identity, communication patterns, and community cohesion.
Sources:
- The Canadian census: A rich portrait of the country’s religious and ethnocultural diversity
- Visible minority by mother tongue and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, and census metropolitan areas with parts
- Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, custom tabulation
