Mother Tongue (French), 1996

This map shows the percentage of the Canadian population whose mother tongue was French. The 1996 Census defines mother tongue as the first language a person learned at home in childhood and still understood at the time of the census. The 1996 Census showed that 8.9 million Canadians could conduct a conversation in French (31%), 6.4 million spoke French most often at home (23%) and 6.7 million had French as their mother tongue (24%).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated April 17, 2026, 21:41 (UTC)
Created April 17, 2026, 21:41 (UTC)
contact_email geoinfo@nrcan.gc.ca
contact_person {}
criticality_level []
data_dictionary ["society"]
geographic_scope []
open_canada_collection geogratis
open_canada_date_published 2010-12-31 00:00:00
open_canada_keywords {"fr": ["carte", "carte demographique", "langue maternelle"], "en": ["demographic maps", "map", "mother tongue"]}
open_canada_subject ["society_and_culture"]
sensitivity_level unrestricted
title_fr Langue maternelle (français), 1996
update_frequency as_needed