French-English bilingualism in Canada recently fell for the first time in four decades, the nation’s statistics agency reported Tuesday.
According to the last census in 2011, 17.5 percent of Canadians are able to conduct a conversation in both English and French, Statistics Canada said.
The figure is down slightly from a peak of 17.7 percent during a previous count in 2001, after rising steadily every decade from 12.1 percent in 1961.
The agency noted that the total number of bilingual Canadians actually increased from 5.2 million in 2001 to 5.8 million in 2011, but was outpaced by growth in the total population of Canada during the period.
The slowdown in biligualism occured in tandem with the decline in the proportion of students exposed to French as a second language, and an increase in the number of immigrants, it said.
Canada’s institutionalized use of both English and French began in the early 1960s after a push by francophones for French-language services. Canada had originally been a French colony but Britain captured it with its French population.
According to the census figures, Quebec province reported the highest proportion of bilingual residents at 42.6 percent, followed by New Brunswick (33.2 percent), Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia (10-12 percent), and Manitoba (8.6 percent).
Canada bilingualism falls for first time in 40 years
