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A mother and daughter speaking with a doctor

This section provides information about language spoken at home and mother tongue.

Language Spoken at Home

The tables below present information from the Census about the top ten languages spoken most often at home in Guelph and Wellington County. People may speak other languages at home, but the table below presents only the home language spoken most often.

 Language Spoken Most often at Home (Guelph)

Key Findings

From 2011 to 2016, the percent of the population that spoke English most often at home went from 90% to 95%. In Guelph, the top three language (other than English) spoken at home were Mandarin, Vietnamese and Punjabi in 2016 and Vietnamese, Chinese (not otherwise specified and Punjabi (Panjabi) in 2011. Italian moved from the fourth most common language in 2011 to the  eight most common language (other than English) spoken at home.

 

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*Punjabi is also known as Panjabi
**Tagalog is also known as Pilipino and Filipino
Source: Statistics Canada. 2017. Guelph, CY [Census subdivision], Ontario and Wellington, CTY [Census division], Ontario (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. Released October 25, 2017.http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed October 30, 2017).Statistics Canada. 2012. Census Profile. 2011 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-XWE. Ottawa. Released June 27 2012. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

 Language Spoken Most often at Home (Wellington County)

Key Findings

From 2011 to 2016, in Wellington County (not including Guelph), the percent of the population that spoke English most often at home stayed consistent at 95%. In 2011 and 2016, German, Dutch and Polish were the top three languages spoken at home (other than English). Tagalog (Pilipino; Filipino) moved into the top ten, while Croatian and other languages (not specified) moved out of the top ten.

 

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*Punjabi is also known as Panjabi
**Tagalog is also known as Pilipino and Filipino
Source: Statistics Canada. 2017. Guelph, CY [Census subdivision], Ontario and Wellington, CTY [Census division], Ontario (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. Released October 25, 2017.http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed October 30, 2017).
Statistics Canada. 2012. Census Profile. 2011 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-XWE. Ottawa. Released June 27 2012. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

Limitations and Notes

The census of the population is mandatory and conducted once every five years. The census gathers information from all Canadian citizens, landed immigrants and non-permanent residents (people who have a work or student permit or refugee status). The census captures information from the entire population about age, sex, marital status, mother tongue and relationship to the first person reported on the questionnaire (Person 1).[1]

 

Looking for more information?

For more information about this measure please download the excel file below .

Mother Tongue

Mother tongue refers to "the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the person at the time the data was collected". The tables below present information from the Census about single and multiple responses for mother tongue. Respondents were able to identify one or more mother tongues, depending on their experience. Two mother tongues were identified only if the respondent used the two languages equally and was still able to understand both languages at the time of the census.[2]

 Mother Tongue - Guelph (2011 and 2016)

Key Findings

In 2016, the majority of people in Guelph (79%) reported English as their mother tongue, as opposed to French or a non-official language. This was a slight decrease from 2011.  In Guelph in 2016, the three most common mother tongue languages after English were Italian, Mandarin and French. In 2011, they were Italian, French and Vietnamese. In 2011, Mandarin and Cantonese fell just out of the top ten mother tongue languages in Guelph. In 2016, Mandarin moved to the second most common mother tongue language (not including English) and Cantonese moved into ninth place. Hungarian and German moved out of the top ten mother tongue languages in 2016. 

 

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*Mandarin was not in the top ten languages in Guelph 2011. See limitations below.
**Tagalog is also known as Pilipino and Filipino
***Panjabi is also known as Punjabi

Source: Statistics Canada - 2016 Census. Catalogue Number 98-400-X2016060 and Statistics Canada, 2011 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-314-XCB2011016 

 Mother Tongue - Wellington County (2011 and 2016)

Key Findings

In 2016, the majority of people in Wellington County (87%) reported English as their mother tongue, as opposed to French or a non-official language. In Wellington County (not including Guelph), the three most common mother tongue languages after English were German, Dutch and French. This was the same as 2011. The percent of the population that identified Panjabi (Punjabi) as their mother tongue went up slightly. Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) moved from eleventh place in 2011 to ninth place in 2016, with a slight increase in the number and percent of people speaking the language.

 

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*The graph above presents 13 languages becasuse Tagalog, Croatian and Hungarian tied for 9th most common and Ukrainian and Romanian tied for 10th most common mother tongue languages. 
**Wellington County does not include Guelph
***Panjabi is also known as Punjabi
****Tagalog is also known as Pilipino and Filipino. 
Source: Statistics Canada - 2016 Census. Catalogue Number 98-400-X2016060 and Statistics Canada, 2011 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-314-XCB2011016

Limitations and Notes

Mandarin was not in the top ten languages in Guelph in 2011. In 2011, 1370 people marked Chinese (not otherwise specified (n.o.s)) as their mother tongue, while in 2016 only 120 people marked Chinese n.o.s. It is possible that the difference in the number and proportion of the population marking Mandarin as their mother tongue is in part because some of those people marked Chinese n.o.s as their mother tongue in 2011.  

The census of the population is mandatory and conducted once every five years. The census gathers information from all Canadian citizens, landed immigrants and non-permanent residents (people who have a work or student permit or refugee status). The census captures information from the entire population about age, sex, marital status, mother tongue and relationship to the first person reported on the questionnaire (Person 1).[1]

Looking for more information?

For more information about this measure please download the excel file below .

References

[1] Statistics Canada (2016). Census of Population. Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3901

[2] Statistics Canada (2015). Mother Tongue of Person. Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/SBV_pSBV.pl?Function=bbDD&Id=30433

 

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