Portrait of the Greater Montréal, 2010 edition - Communauté ...

2.6 LanguageFrench declines as the main languagespoken at home, but rises as the mainlanguage used at workIn Greater Montréal, the official language, French, is themain language spoken at home by just over two-thirds ofthe population. As is true for other large North Americanmetropolitan areas, because of historical context andimmigration, in addition to official languages, several otherlanguages are also used as the main language at home.In Greater Montréal, English also has an important presence,and is the main language spoken at home by about 17% ofthe population. Nearly 12% of the population has a languageother than French or English as the main language used athome, and approximately 4% of the population speaks morethan one language at home fluently.Between 2001 and 2006, as a result of internationalimmigration, the percentage of the population speakingFrench as the main language at home, or whose mothertongue is French, declined slightly to the benefit of languagesother than English. The proportion of the bilingual population(English-French) also decreased somewhat. However, thepercentage of people using French as the main language atwork rose, from 71% to 72% between 2001 and 2006 – anincrease explained, in particular, by the strong growth ofimmigrants with Arabic as their mother tongue, who tendto use French as their working language. 4Percentage of the population whose mainlanguage spoken at home is French only(Greater Montréal and Québec area) or English only(other areas), 2006QuébecCincinnatiPittsburghSt. LouisClevelandBaltimoreEdmontonDetroitMinneapolisPhiladelphiaCalgaryAtlantaPortlandTampaSeattleDenverBostonWashingtonSacramentoPhoenixChicagoDallasVancouverTorontoGreater Montréal67.9%San DiegoHoustonNew YorkRiversideSan FranciscoOttawa-GatineauMiamiLos Angeles0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%N.B.: For Greater Montréal, data are at the CMA level.Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006; US Census Bureau, AmericanCommunity Survey, 2006. Calculations by the CMM, 2010.demographics19Use of French in Greater Montréal, 2001 and 200680%70%67,5%64,9%69,4% 67,9%2001 200671,2% 72,1%60%50%52,9% 51,9%40%30%20%10%0%Population with Frenchonly as mother tonguePopulation whose languagemost often spoken at homeis French onlyBilingual population(population with a knowledgeof French and English)People whose languagemost often spoken at workis French onlyN.B.: Data are at the Montréal CMA level.Source: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2001 and 2006. Calculations by the CMM, 2010.4 Statistics Canada, Using Languages at Work in Canada, 2006 Census (2010).