About what share of Canadians have English as their first official language?
- About half
- About one-fifth
- About three-quarters
- Almost everyone
Answer: About three-quarters
In the 2021 Census, English was the first official language of 75.5% of Canadians, and French of 21.4%. Discover Canada gives older counts of 18 million Anglophones and seven million Francophones.
Learn more: Central Canada: Quebec and Ontario
- Quebec: about 9.1 million people (2026 estimate), most along the St. Lawrence River. More than three-quarters speak French as their first language.
- Quebec is Canada’s main producer of pulp and paper and its largest producer of hydro-electricity. Canadian Shield resources support forestry, energy and mining.
- Quebecers lead in pharmaceuticals and aeronautics. Quebec films, music, literary works and food have international stature, especially in La Francophonie, an association of French-speaking nations.
- Montreal is Canada’s second largest city and the second largest mainly French-speaking city in the world, after Paris.
- Ontario: about 16.3 million people (2026 estimate), more than one-third of all Canadians.
- Toronto is Canada’s largest city and main financial centre.
- Ontario was founded by United Empire Loyalists and has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.
- The Niagara region is known for vineyards, wine and fruit. Ontario farmers raise dairy and beef cattle, poultry, vegetables and grain.
- Five Great Lakes lie between Ontario and the United States: Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan (in the U.S.A.) and Lake Superior.
- Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world.