Fifty years ago, the Official Languages Act made English and French Canada's two official languages and marked a new era in communication between the Canadian population and federal institutions.
In the 2016 Census, 17.9% of Canadians reported that they could hold a conversation in English and in French, the highest percentage ever recorded in the country.
The Official Languages Act stipulates that the federal government must make efforts to "encourage and support the learning of English and French." The federal government's Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 also has a target of increasing the national English–French bilingualism rate to 20% by 2036.
In this context, it is important to have a better understanding of the dynamics of English–French bilingualism among Canadian children and youth, who are more likely to be or to become bilingual than their older counterparts. From 2006 to 2016, the bilingualism rate among youth aged 5 to 17 rose from 16% to 19% nationally.
Today, Statistics Canada is publishing a new infographic, entitled "Bilingualism among Canadian children and youth," which uses integrated 2006 and 2016 Census data. A more detailed study entitled "Results from the 2016 Census: English-French bilingualism among Canadian children and youth," published on October 3 this year in Insights on Canadian Society, is also available.