what is the major language spoken in canada?
French Language English Language
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 Canada has had many political debates between the French speakers and English speakers , particularly in the province of Quebec . Canada holds both French and English as official languages . The politics in Quebec are largely defined by nationalism as French Québécois wish to gain independence from Canada as a whole , based on ethnic and linguistic boundaries . The main separatist party , Parti Québécois , attempted to gain sovereignty twice ( once in 1980 and again in 1995 ) and failed by a narrow margin of 1 @.@ 2 % in 1995 . Since then , in order to remain united , Canada granted Quebec statut particulier , recognizing Quebec as a nation within the united nation of Canada . Canada is often described as a cultural mosaic . 

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 A multitude of languages are used by Canadians , with English and French ( the official languages ) being the mother tongues of approximately 60 % and 20 % of Canadians respectively . Nearly 6 @.@ 8 million Canadians listed a non @-@ official language as their mother tongue . Some of the most common non @-@ official first languages include Chinese ( mainly Cantonese ; 1 @,@ 072 @,@ 555 first @-@ language speakers ) , Punjabi ( 430 @,@ 705 ) , Spanish ( 410 @,@ 670 ) , German ( 409 @,@ 200 ) , and Italian ( 407 @,@ 490 ) . Canada 's federal government practices official bilingualism , which is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages in consonance with Section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Federal Official Languages Act . English and French have equal status in federal courts , parliament , and in all federal institutions . Citizens have the right , where there is sufficient demand , to receive federal government services in either English or French and official @-@ language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories . 

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 Canada 's post @-@ war economic growth , combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments , led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity , marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965 , the implementation of official bilingualism ( English and French ) in 1969 , and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971 . Socially democratic programs were also instituted , such as Medicare , the Canada Pension Plan , and Canada Student Loans , though provincial governments , particularly Quebec and Alberta , opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions . Finally , another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the 1982 patriation of Canada 's constitution from the United Kingdom , concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . In 1999 , Nunavut became Canada 's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government . 

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 The European languages introduced during colonialism have created a linguistic divide between the population who live in the Northwest and Southwest regions and the French @-@ speaking remainder of the country . Both English and French are official languages , although French is by far the most understood language ( more than 80 % ) . 

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 English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as official languages . Thus all federal government laws are enacted in both English and French with government services available in both languages . Two of Canada 's territories give official status to indigenous languages . In Nunavut , Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun are official languages alongside the national languages of English and French , and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial government . In the Northwest Territories , the Official Languages Act declares that there are eleven different languages : Chipewyan , Cree , English , French , Gwich ’ in , Inuinnaqtun , Inuktitut , Inuvialuktun , North Slavey , South Slavey and Tłįchǫ . Multicultural media are widely accessible across the county and offer specialty television channels , newspapers and other publications in many minority languages . 
