Mother Tongue
The following table and accompanying figure present the proportions of people in municipalities in Grey Bruce whose mother tongues are official (English or French) vs. non-official languages. 'Mother tongue' refers to the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the person at the time the data was collected.
The proportion of people whose mother tongue is a language other than English and French is far smaller across Grey and Bruce counties than Ontario. The most commonly reported non-official language mother tongues in Bruce County are German (3.0%), Dutch (0.9%), and Ojibway (0.3%). In Grey County, the most commonly reported non-official language mother tongues are German (3.5%), Dutch (1.0%), and Italian (0.2%). German is the most common mother tongue (after English) in the municipalities with the highest proportions of people whose mother tongue is a non-official language. Almost fourteen percent of people in Southgate (13.9%) report German as their mother tongue, along with 11.5% in Huron-Kinloss, 7.3% in Grey Highlands, and 7.1% in Chatsworth.
Table: Mother Tongue (%), Grey Bruce 2016
|
Geography
|
English
|
French
|
Non-official languages
|
|
Ontario
|
68.8
|
3.8
|
27.4
|
|
Bruce
|
92.1
|
0.9
|
6.9
|
|
Arran-Elderslie
|
92.4
|
0.4
|
7.2
|
|
Brockton
|
95.8
|
0.4
|
3.7
|
|
Huron-Kinloss
|
84.3
|
0.8
|
15.0
|
|
Kincardine
|
90.8
|
1.5
|
7.7
|
|
Northern Bruce Peninsula
|
92.5
|
1.2
|
6.3
|
|
Saugeen Shores
|
92.4
|
1.6
|
5.9
|
|
South Bruce
|
94.4
|
0.2
|
5.4
|
|
South Bruce Peninsula
|
95.0
|
0.7
|
4.4
|
|
Grey
|
91.9
|
0.9
|
7.2
|
|
The Blue Mountains
|
90.9
|
1.3
|
7.8
|
|
Chatsworth
|
88.4
|
0.6
|
10.9
|
|
Georgian Bluffs
|
95.8
|
0.6
|
3.6
|
|
Grey Highlands
|
87.1
|
1.0
|
11.9
|
|
Hanover
|
95.0
|
0.7
|
4.3
|
|
Meaford
|
93.8
|
1.2
|
5.0
|
|
Owen Sound
|
95.1
|
0.9
|
4.0
|
|
Southgate
|
80.4
|
0.8
|
19.0
|
|
West Grey
|
92.5
|
0.9
|
6.6
|
Figure: Mother Tongue, Grey Bruce Municipalities, 2016
Read the full report here: Census Release III Languages
Source: Source: 2017. Various Geographies. Census Profile - Age, Sex, Type of Dwelling, Families, Households, Marital Status and Language for Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Divisions and Census Subdivisions. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-401-X2016052. Ottawa. Released Aug 2, 2017. http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/olc-cel/olc.action?objId=98-401-X2016052&objType=46&lang=en&limit=0 (accessed Aug 2 2017).
Notes:
1. Data from Neyaashiinigmiing and Saugeen First Nations are not presented due to high non-response rates (30.5% and 46.0% respectively).
2. Respondents can choose to report more than one mother tongue, but less than 0.1% did so in Grey Bruce. These results are restricted to those who reported a single mother tongue.