Inuktitut became one of the official languages in the Northwest Territories in 1984. Its status is secured in the Northwest Territories Official Language Act. With the split of the Territory into NWT and Nunavut in 1999, both territories kept the Language Act.
What are the 3 official languages of Canada?
Canada has 2 official languages, French and English. Across Canada, you’ll hear many other unofficial languages in restaurants, on buses and at school. In fact, more than 200 languages from around the world are spoken. Canada also has 60 Indigenous languages.
What is the official indigenous language of Canada?
French and English are the official languages but services may be provided in Aboriginal languages (Language Act 2002 ). The languages of Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuktitut, Michif, Ojibway and Oji-Cree do not have official status, but are recognized as the Aboriginal languages spoken and used in Manitoba.
Where is Inuit the official language?
Nunavut
Nunavut. In Nunavut, the “Inuit Language” is an official language, along with English and French.
What region of Canada speaks Inuktitut?
Inuktitut is an Indigenous language in North America, spoken in the Canadian Arctic. The 2016 census reported 39,770 speakers, of which 65 per cent lived in Nunavut and 30.8 per cent in Quebec. Inuktitut is part of a larger Inuit language family, stretching from Alaska to Greenland.
Why do Canada have 2 official languages?
Canada’s two colonizing peoples are the French and the British. They controlled land and built colonies alongside Indigenous peoples, who had been living there for millennia. They had two different languages and cultures.
What are the top 7 languages spoken in Canada?
Aside from English and French, Mandarin and Punjabi were the country’s most widely spoken languages. 4.6 million Canadians (12.7%) speak a language other than English or French predominantly at home. Mandarin and Punjabi are spoken predominantly at home by more than half a million Canadians each.
What are the 12 Indigenous language families in Canada?
These languages can be divided into 12 language families: Algonquian languages, Inuit languages, Athabaskan languages, Siouan languages, Salish languages, Tsimshian languages, Wakashan languages, Iroquoian languages, Michif, Tlingit, Kutenai and Haida.
What is the largest Indigenous language in Canada?
Cree languages
Largest Aboriginal language family is Algonquian
People reporting a mother tongue belonging to the Algonquian language family lived across Canada. For example, people with the Cree languages as their mother tongue lived mainly in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta or Quebec.
What did Native Canadians call Canada?
Aboriginal roots
The name “Canada” likely comes from the Huron-Iroquois word “kanata,” meaning “village” or “settlement.” In 1535, two Aboriginal youths told French explorer Jacques Cartier about the route to kanata; they were actually referring to the village of Stadacona, the site of the present-day City of Québec.
Do people still speak Inuit?
There are five main Inuit language dialects spoken throughout Canada: Inuvialuktun, Inuinnaqtun, and three different dialects of Inuktitut. In this fact sheet, these dialects are collectively known as the Inuit language. While some dialects have many speakers, others have a smaller number.
How do you say hello in Inuit?
Atelihai, pronounced ahh-tee-lee-hi, is the Inuktitut word for “hello” or “welcome.”
Is Inuit same as Eskimo?
Alaska Natives increasingly prefer to be known by the names they use in their own languages, such as Inupiaq or Yupik. “Inuit” is now the current term in Alaska and across the Arctic, and “Eskimo” is fading from use. The Inuit Circumpolar Council prefers the term “Inuit” but some other organizations use “Eskimo”.
What are the Canadian Inuit called?
Inuit are Indigenous people of the Arctic. The word Inuit means “the people” in the Inuit language of Inuktut. The singular of Inuit is Inuk.
What percentage of Canada is Inuit?
The Inuit population (65,025) grew by 29.1% from 2006 to 2016. In the next two decades, the Indigenous population is likely to exceed 2.5 million persons.
The First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations are growing quickly.
| percent | ||
|---|---|---|
| Indigenous people | 4.4 | 5.8 |
| First Nations people | 2.7 | 3.5 |
| Métis | 1.4 | 2.0 |
| Inuit | 0.2 | 0.2 |
How many people in Canada speak Inuktitut?
65,030
The 2016 Canadian Census reports that there are 65,030 Indigenous individuals who identify themselves as Inuit, of whom 35,215 self-reported Inuktitut as their mother tongue.
| Inuktitut | |
|---|---|
| Native speakers | 39,475 (2016 census) 35,215 (2016) |
| Language family | Eskimo–Aleut Eskimo Inuit Inuktitut |
Why do Canadians say eh?
Using “eh” to end the statement of an opinion or an explanation is a way for the speaker to express solidarity with the listener. It’s not exactly asking for reassurance or confirmation, but it’s not far off: the speaker is basically saying, hey, we’re on the same page here, we agree on this.
Which province is the only bilingual in Canada?
New Brunswick
Why? Yes, New Brunswick is Canada’s only officially bilingual province. This is because the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms specifically recognizes that English and French are the official languages of New Brunswick.
Is Canada truly bilingual?
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which “have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada,” according to Canada’s constitution.
What is the most useful language to learn in Canada?
Top 5 languages spoken in Canada
- English. As you may have guessed, English is the most commonly spoken language at home in our country.
- French. Our other official language, French, is the second-most commonly spoken language in Canada.
- Mandarin.
- Cantonese.
- Punjabi.
What is hello in Canada language?
Bonjour
How do Canadians say hello? Most Canadians will simply say “hello,” with French Canadians sticking to the usual greeting of “Bonjour”.