Census data are by far the best source of statistical information on language in Canada. Surveys have occasionally investigated language behaviour in greater depth, but their results inevitably suffer from limited sample size and lack of comparability. Though the earliest censuses recorded only the ethnic origins of Canadians, reasonably consistent data on mother tongue and ability to speak English or French were also collected by 1931. A question on current home language has been included since 1971, following the dissatisfaction of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism at having to deal with mothertongue data alone: ‘the mother tongue of the individual does not tell us which language he commonly uses. The information is a generation behind the facts’ (RCBB, 1967, p. 18). Finally, the 1991 census added a question on ability to speak languages other than English or French. Thus, census data not only allow us to follow trends, but also provide a fair overview of Canada's present linguistic make-up.

ORIGIN TRENDS

Canada has been the scene of demographic competition between English and French since conquest by the British in 1759–1760. Though Canadians of British origin soon outnumbered those of French origin, high French-Canadian fertility subsequently offset the effect of international immigration and, from the mid nineteenth century up until the mid twentieth, succeeded in maintaining the French portion of the total population at about 30 per cent.