Summary
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Sounding out public opinion from time to time is essential for understanding where Canadians stand on official languages and for assessing the evolution of their attitudes. For this reason, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages asked Decima Research to include some additional questions concerning official languages in an omnibus survey. Since most of the questions are identical to those asked in 2003 during a similar exercise, it is possible to identify a number of trends.
The results suggest that Canadian policy on official languages is increasingly part of Canada's social fabric and of what defines us as a country.
Here is the overall portrait that emerges from our inquiry into public opinion:1
- A strong majority of Canadians say they personally favour bilingualism for the entire country (72%) as well as for their own province (70%). This represents a significant increase since 2003, due to greater support from Anglophones. Among young adults aged 18 to 34 years, support for Canadian bilingualism is 80%.
- Certain additional questions make it possible to better evaluate the basis for support for bilingualism and linguistic equality. For example, 77% of Canadians feel that if more resources are required to guarantee the same quality of education for a Francophone minority (or an Anglophone minority in Quebec) as that provided to the children of the majority, such resources should be made available.
Not only have the two official languages made 21st century Canada a more open society, they have also encouraged greater solidarity among the two official language groups. 82% of Francophones and 74% of Anglophones believe that the two official language groups should enjoy equal quality of education, and are willing to provide more resources to the minority in order to meet that standard.
Moreover, the Canadian public continues to view bilingualism as an advantage, both in personal and economic terms. Bilingualism is one of the most fulfilling things one can do for oneself (84%) and constitutes a success factor, within the country (84%) and around the world (89%). For most Canadians, bilingualism means learning a second official language, although interest in learning other languages is on the rise.
Finally, 7 out of 10 Canadians think that living in a country with two official languages is one of the things that really defines what it means to be Canadian.
Decima Research included 9 questions on behalf of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, when it polled 2,000 Canadians 18 years of age and older by telephone between February 2 and 13, 2006. The sole exceptions were the Quebec responses in Questions 6 & 7, for which 1,000 Quebecerswere polled, respectively.
A sample size of 2,000 people is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2% 19 times out of 20. The smaller sample size of 1,000 people is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.
The margin of error for smaller sub-samples is larger.
1 This survey was conducted by telephone in February 2006 among a sample of 2,000 respondents aged 18 years and older. It has a margin of error of within plus or minus 2.2%, 19 times out of 20.
