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Stats Canada new census data

The latest batch of data includes languages and households
8024487_web1_Census

According to the 2016 census from Statistics Canada, seven per cent of the population of Houston reports a language other than English or French as their mother tongue.

Of the 155 residents who reported a mother tongue other than English or French, 10 said their mother tongue was an Aboriginal language.

A total of 145 residents reported that their mother tongue is Non-Aboriginal. Punjabi accounted for the highest majority of of non-aboriginal languages in Houston, followed by Dutch and Portuguese.

Across the province, close to one-third of British Columbians now report neither English nor French as their mother tongue. That proportion was up in urban centres like Vancouver, with 41.8 per cent, and in Abbotsford-Mission, with 28.2 per cent.

Outside the Lower Mainland, Victoria and Kelowna had the highest proportion of immigrant languages as their mother tongues.

B.C. is second to only Nunavut for the highest proportion of immigrant languages spoken at home. Punjabi is the most popular language spoken in B.C., followed by Mandarin and Cantonese.

French as both a mother tongue and a language spoken at home declined Canada-wide. However, bilingualism remained strong: a record 18 per cent of Canadians were fluent in both official languages. B.C sits at second to last in French as a mother tongue: 1.4 per cent.

The top immigrant languages in Canada were Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagolog, Arabic, Persian, Hindi and Urdu, all of which have seen a more than 25 per cent increase in popularity.

More people are living alone in Canada

More people are living alone in Canada now than ever before, the latest census data suggest.

Statistics Canada reported that 28.2 per cent of Canadians live in one-person households. That compares to 26.5 per cent of Canadians living with children.

In B.C., the numbers were only slightly higher: 28.8 per cent of people live alone. Meanwhile in Burns Lake, only about 10 per cent of the population lives in one-person households.