[color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]The 2011 census numbers suggest that language diversity has been increasing at just half the rate as noted in the 2006 census, but data from Citizenship and Immigration Canada suggests the pace of change is at least the same, Corbeil said.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]The census shows that the most common immigrant language in Canada was Punjabi, reported by 460,000 people. When Punjabi speakers are grouped together with others who speak a closely related language such as Urdu, their numbers total 1,180,000.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]Chinese languages are a close second, with a total of 1,113,000 people speaking Cantonese, Mandarin or other Chinese tongues.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]Tagalog, the language of Filipinos, saw the biggest surge, growing by 64 per cent since the last census was taken in 2006.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]Overall, Canada is home to 6.6 million people — one fifth of the entire population — who speak a language other than French or English. Two thirds of those have adopted French or English as a second language at home.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]Official bilingualism, on the other hand, is not growing. About 17.5 per cent of people say they are able to conduct a conversation in both French and English — only a slight change from the 17.4 per cent rate noted in 2006.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]Young anglophones are less likely to be bilingual than in the past, but official bilingualism is stable because more francophones are mastering both languages, Corbeil explained.[/color]
[/color][color=rgb(52, 52, 52)]Still, English and French are by far the most dominant languages. About 22 million people reported speaking English most often at home, and 28.4 million have a working knowledge of the language.[/color]
