Current Reality
Canada is home to around 60 indigenous tongues in 12 separate and distinct language families
- Most languages have multiple dialects, often with issues with multiple writing systems
- Only 3 languages account for two-thirds of all mother-tongue language speakers
- Most languages have relatively few fluent speakers
- Most languages are not spoken by children, a key indicator of language survival
- Language and cultural identity are intrinsically linked; maintaining both is urgent
SOURCE Assembly of First Nations, August, 2017
April 16, 2024: Budget 2024 investment of $225M over 5 years, starting in 2024-25 with $45M per year ongoing to Canadian Heritage for Indigenous languages and cultures programs, in support of Indigenous Languages Act, which is set for its first five-year review in October 2025
Feb. 27, 2024: On Feb. 21, International Mother Language Day, the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) celebrated the 20th anniversary of FirstVoices.com with the launch of a new version of its free, open-source, Indigenous language platform. FPCC has a legislated mandate to protect, revitalize and enhance the heritage, languages, cultures and arts of First Nations in British Columbia. FirstVoices’ language pages are completely owned by communities, so the website reflects a wide range of experts in more than 85 languages, now growing to include Indigenous languages from around the globe.
Sept. 17, 2022: Number of Indigenous language speakers has declined from 15.6% (2016 census) to $13.8% (2021 census). However, the number of Indigenous youth who are actively learning languages has increased by 7%.
May 13, 2022: CBC – First Nations in Québec call Bill 96 “An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec” cultural genocide with its legal dictates increasing the threats to the survival of Indigenous languages.
Jan. 12. 2022: Toronto Star – 2022 marks the beginning of an international decade of Indigenous languages in which Canada is to play a key role. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) drive to revive and protect Indigenous languages will include initiatives to protect endangered tongues such as Michif, the Métis language. Canada is to represent North America and western Europe on a UNESCO task force which includes three Inuit, First Nation and Métis representatives. All three said they wanted to make Indigenous languages more widely spoken in Canada, with measures to ensure they are also taught in schools. The Inuit representative on the UNESCO task force wants to make Inuktuk an official language alongside English and French…Around 70% of Nunavut’s population speaks Inuktuk and it is recognized as an official language in the territory, But most children are taught in English
June 21, 2019 Bill C-91 “An Act Respecting Indigenous Languages” received Royal Assent. The AFN and the Métis National Council support the bill but the Inuit Tapariit Kanatami, the national advocacy voice for Canada’s Inuit did not. ITK did not see many of their recommendations incorporated into the languages Act, thereby leaving Inuktuk, their “national” language, with less protection than English of French in their own territory.