Census learning centre
Mother tongue
Release date: August 17, 2022
Catalogue number: 982000032021015
Hello and welcome to the Mother tongue video.
This video will explain why and how census collects data on language and its importance and relevance for governments, researchers and community groups. It provides an understanding of how data on mother tongue is collected, how mother tongue variables are created and how they are disseminated and analyzed. In addition the video explains the concept of single and multiple responses and the three ways of dealing with multiple responses that is one-category, inclusion and distribution.
- Subject
- Language
- Length
- 00:07:22
- Cost
- Free
- Links
Watch the video
Concept video: Mother tongue - Transcription
(The Statistics Canada symbol and "Canada" wordmark appear on screen with the title: "Concept video: Mother tongue".)
Welcome to this video on mother tongue.
The purpose is to provide basic information on the concept of “mother tongue.”
This video will help you to understand:
- how the mother tongue variables are created
- how these variables are analyzed and disseminated.
Mother tongue. The census collects a wide range of information on the languages known and spoken by people living in Canada.
Why are these data important?
These data are used particularly in the application and administration of various federal and provincial legislation including:
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
- Canada’s Official Languages Act,
- New Brunswick’s Official Languages Act,
- Quebec’s Charter of the French language.
These data are also used to examine language practices as well as knowledge and use of official and non-official languages in Canada.
(A word cloud, showing "Hello" and "Bonjour" representing official languages, and words in languages other than English and French representing non-official languages, appears on the screen.)
Data on language knowledge and use are considered by researchers, community groups, health care professionals, businesses and other organizations across the country to address issues related to human resources policies, community-based education and training, the social and economic integration of newcomers, health promotion and community programs and services.
(Images of a researcher, a community group, health professionals and companies working on human resources, education, social and economic integration of newcomers, health promotion and community programs and services appear on screen.)
A question on mother tongue has been included in the census since 1901.
The question on mother tongue in the 2021 Census, which is identical to the 2016 Census question, reads:
(An image of question 10 of the 2021 Census questionnaire appears on the screen.)
Mother tongue refers to the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood.
If this person no longer understands the first language learned, the mother tongue is the second language learned.
For a person who learned multiple languages at the same time in childhood, the mother tongue is the language this person spoke most often at home before starting school.
(An image of a person, who learned English and Spanish at the same time during childhood, but whose mother tongue is only French, because it is the language that this person spoke most often at home before starting school, appears on the screen.)
A person has two mother tongues only if the two languages were learned at the same time and are still understood by the person.
(An image of a person, whose mother tongue is considered to be both English and Spanish because they were learned at the same time and are still understood by the person, appears on the screen.)
For a child who has not yet learned to speak, the mother tongue is the language spoken most often to this child at home.
(The text "Mother tongue of a child who has not yet learned to speak = Language spoken most often to this child at home" appears on the screen.)
A child has two mother tongues only if two languages are spoken equally often so that the child learns both languages at the same time.
Persons are classified according to the mother tongues they reported.
If a person has only one mother tongue, they are placed into the appropriate “Single mother tongue” category:
- English
- French, or
- Non-official languages
as applicable.
If a person has more than one mother tongue, they are placed into the appropriate “Multiple mother tongues” category, namely:
- English and French
- English and a non-official language (may be more than one non-official language)
- French and a non-official language (may be more than one non-official language)
- English, French and a non-official language (may be more than one non-official language)
- Multiple non-official languages
as applicable.
For analytical purposes, multiple mother tongues can be approached in several ways.
The three main methods are:
- One-category
- Inclusion and
- Distribution
The one-category method involves classifying persons with a single mother tongue into one of the three following categories:
- English
- French
- Non-official languages
and classifying persons with multiple mother tongues into a separate category, namely “Multiple mother tongues.”
(Eight persons, along with four boxes titled “English", "French" , “Non-official languages” and “Multiple mother tongues”, appear on the screen. A legend indicates the mother tongue of each person. A pink square represents English, a blue circle represents French, a green triangle represents a non-official language and a yellow diamond represents multiple non-official languages.
1 person whose mother tongue is English is moved to the box titled "English".
1 person whose mother tongue is French is moved to the box titled "French".
1 person whose mother tongue is not an official language is moved to the box titled "Non-official language".
5 persons, with English and French, English and non-official language, French and non-official language, English, French and non-official languages and multiple non-official languages as mother tongue, are moved to the box titled "Multiple mother tongues".)
Therefore, persons can be classified into only one of these categories.
The inclusive approach consists of including everyone with English as a mother tongue, whether it is their only mother tongue or along with other languages, in the “English” category.
(Eight persons, along with three boxes titled "English", "French" and "Non-official languages" appear on the screen. A legend indicates the mother tongue of each person. A pink square represents English, a blue circle represents French, a green triangle represents a non-official language and a yellow diamond represents multiple non-official languages.
4 persons, whose mother tongue is English only, English and French, English and non-official language and English, French and non-official language, are moved to the box titled "English".
4 persons, whose mother tongue is French only, English and French, French and non-official language and English, French and non-official language, are moved to the box titled "French".
5 persons, whose mother tongue is a non-official language only, English and non-official language, French and non-official language, English, French and non-official language and multiple non-official languages, are moved to the box titled "Non-official languages".)
The same procedure applies to persons with French as their mother tongue and a non-official language as their mother tongue.
Using this method, a person with more than one mother tongue can be classified in more than one category, which means that the sum of the persons classified in these three categories could be greater than the total population.
Distribution involves:
First, distributing persons with only one mother tongue or with only multiple non-official mother tongues into the different categories.
Then, distributing persons with both English and French as their mother tongues equally between the English and French mother tongue groups. The person’s “weight” is distributed between the two categories, that is half of the person is placed in the English group and the other half, in the French group.
The next step is to distribute persons who have “English and a non-official language” as their mother tongues in the same way, “French and a non-official language” and “English, French and a non-official language.”
In the latter case, the person will be distributed among three categories.
(Eight persons, along with three boxes titled "English", "French" and "Non-official languages", appear on the screen. A legend indicates the mother tongue of each person. A pink square represents English, a blue circle represents French, a green triangle represents a non-official language and a yellow diamond represents multiple non-official languages.
1 person whose mother tongue is English only is moved to the box titled "English". The number 1 is placed under this person, which indicates that 100% of the weight of this person is included in this category.
1 person whose mother tongue is French only is moved to the box titled "French". The number 1 is placed under this person, which indicates that 100% of the weight of this person is included in this category.
1 person whose mother tongue is not an official language is moved to the box titled "Non-official language". The number 1 is placed under this person, which indicates that 100% of the weight of this person is included in this category.
1 person whose mother tongues are only non-official languages is moved to the box titled "Non-official language". The number 1 is placed under this person, which indicates that 100% of the weight of this person is included in this category.
1 person with English and French as their mother tongue is moved to the two boxes titled "English" and "French". The fraction ½ is placed under this person, which indicates that their weight is divided between the two categories.
1 person with English and a non-official language as their mother tongue is moved to the two boxes titled "English" and "Non-official language". The fraction ½ is placed under this person, which indicates that their weight is divided between the two categories.
1 person with French and a non-official language as their mother tongue is moved to the two boxes titled "French" and "Non-official language". The fraction ½ is placed under this person, which indicates that their weight is divided between the two categories.
1 person with English, French and a non-official language as their mother tongue is moved to the three boxes titled "English", "French" and "Non-official language". The fraction ⅓ is placed under this person, which indicates that their weight is divided between the three categories.)
The best thing about this method is that the population can be distributed exhaustively into broad, mutually exclusive language groups. This means that the sum of these three categories corresponds to the total population.
To sum up:
- The mother tongue is the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the person.
- If a person has more than one mother tongue, they are classified in the appropriate “Multiple responses” category.
(The words "Thank you for watching the “Mother tongue” video" appear on screen.)
This concludes the video on Mother tongue. Thank you for watching.
(The census logo appears with a link, which is also available to view here: Census of population.)
For more detailed information on concepts, variables, methodology, historical comparability and other elements, please refer to the Statistics Canada census web pages.
(The "Canada" wordmark appears. ISBN: 978-0-660-44656-1)
- Date modified: