(File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Bilingualism

Language figures show some changes in Saskatchewan

Dec 13, 2019 | 6:05 PM

More people in Saskatchewan are speaking both English and French.

According to Statistics Canada the number of people speaking both of the countries official languages climbed by nearly five per cent between 2001 and 2016. The data shows over 50,000 people speak both French and English.

Estelle Hjertaas, a board member with the Prince Albert French Canadian Society (La Société canadienne-française de Prince Albert) said she has seen the growth firsthand.

“Our community in Prince Albert is extremely multicultural and we have a lot of immigrants coming from all over the world, particularly French Africa,” she told paNOW.

Hjertaas added many of these recent immigrants have become active in the local French speaking community.

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New immigrants are not the only people who are helping the community grow. Hjertaas said she has also noticed an uptick in people interested in learning the language and she’s aware of many younger people studying in French immersion schools.

“That’s always a growing demand for teachers and for people to be able to offer that kind of program,” she said.

While the Stats Canada numbers show an increase in those speaking both languages, the numbers showed a decline in those identifying French as their mother tongue. There was nearly a 10 per cent decline.

In terms of regional break down, the statistics also showed in the St Louis area 20 to 35 per cent of people reported French as being their first language spoken, the highest in the province.

This map shows the portion of population with French as their first official language spoken. (Stats Canada/stats.gc.ca))

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn