Canada's language laboratory

The Constitution Act guarantees the linguistic minority, whether French or English, the right to have its children educated in their mother tongue. Public school systems provide education in both official languages in every province and territory. In 2001, more than half the population in Canada spoke English as their mother tongue, while almost a quarter spoke French. The remaining population speaks an array of other languages. Chinese is the third most common mother tongue in Canada followed by Italian and German.

The terms 'second language enrolment' and 'minority official language group' therefore have special meaning for students across Canada.

The category 'second language enrolment' includes francophone students in Quebec taking English-language courses and anglophone students in most of the rest of the country learning French. In 1999/00, just over half of Canada's elementary and secondary students were enrolled in a second language program.

The designation 'minority official language group' applies outside Quebec to francophone students attending French language schools; within Quebec, the term refers to anglophone students attending English language schools. Combined, these students make up 5% of the total school population.

Some Canadian students are even taught in languages other than French or English. In Nunavut, for example, the language of instruction is Inuktitut until Grade 4, whereupon students switch to English instruction.