Canadian census reveals further decline in use of Ukrainian language (05/31/98)

Canadian census reveals further decline in use of Ukrainian language

by Andrij Makuch

TORONTO - Figures released by Census Canada indicate that while Ukrainians continue to identify themselves by ethnic group, both as single and mixed background, Ukrainian-language fluency and use continued to drop in Canada. The information was gathered as part of the mid-term 1996 census, and data have been released gradually since December 1997.

According to the "Ethnic Origin in Canada" table at the official Statistics Canada website (www.statcan.ca), Ukrainians are ninth in terms of total number among ethnic groups in Canada. A total of 1,026,475 persons identified themselves as of Ukrainian origin, 331,680 of who considered themselves to be exclusively of Ukrainian background (known as single responses, or "sr"), and 694,790 who identified Ukrainian as an element of their ethnic origin (multiple responses, or "mr").

The top response category was Canadian, and the remaining groups in the top 10 were English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Aboriginal origins, Ukrainian and Chinese.

The province with the highest concentration of Ukrainians is Manitoba, where they rank fifth (159,735 total; 58,585 sr, 101,150 mr). Ukrainians rank sixth in Saskatchewan (125,395 total; 45,150 sr, 80, 245 mr); seventh in Alberta (258,920 total; 85,475 sr, 173,440 mr); 10th in British Columbia (168,765 total; 40,650 sr, 128,120 mr); 12th in Ontario (279,950 total; 90,230 sr, 186,725 mr), 21st in Québec (24,150 total; 9,400 sr, 14,750 mr).

In a statistical anomaly, Ukrainians are eighth by ethnic origin in both the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories (higher than Ontario), with 1,485 roughing it in the Yukon (290 sr, 1,200 mr), and 1,670 in the Northwest Territory (340 sr, 1,340 mr).

Ukrainians also rank 11th in Prince Edward Island, where a total of 600 (100 sr, 500 mr) reside. Nova Scotia also gives a higher ranking to Ukrainians (14th) than Québec, and is home to 5,760 (1,035 sr, 4,720 mr). Similarly New Brunswick (15th) has 2,355 Ukrainians (305 sr, 2,045 mr), and Newfoundland (20th) is home to 680 (115 sr, 560 mr).

Figures for concentration in cities were not yet available on the site as The Weekly went to press, but it was noted that "small area data are available at ... local Statistics Canada reference centers," and the site provides addresses and other contact information.

Mother tongue, home language figures

Statistics provided in the site's "Daily Release" on "Mother tongue, home language and knowledge of languages," indicate that 174,830 Canadians claim Ukrainian as their mother tongue. The majority (76.5 per cent) of these, however, use one of the country's two official languages in the home. This indicates that 41,085 (23.5 percent) people use Ukrainian as their home language.

This follows the trend of a general decline in Ukrainian-language fluency in Canada over the past 25 years. Earlier census figures had mother tongue responses at 309,890 in 1971; 265,025 in 1981; and 201,320 in 1991.

Home language use among Ukrainian Canadians stood at 132,535 in 1971; 88,500 in 1981; and 49,995 in 1991. This trend is likely to continue in the future as 47 percent of people with a Ukrainian mother tongue were age 65 or older.

This decline in linguistic fluency has also affected the rank order of the Ukrainian language in Canada. Twenty-five years ago Ukrainian was one of the top three non-official home languages (after Italian and German) in the country. Today Chinese heads the list, followed by Italian and Punjabi. Ukrainian is not among the top 10.