This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
Canada: 
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Newly released figures of a study conducted by the Statistics Canada show that the percentage of Canadians being able to carry on a conversation in both official languages has somewhat declined in 2011 in comparisons to 2011, despite four successive decades of growth. According to the report released on Tuesday morning, it was observed that the bilingualism rates have slightly declined down to 17.5 per cent of the population from 17.7 per cent ten years earlier.
It was speculated that the decline is caused by several factors, most influential of which were international immigration and constant decline in the amount of students learning French as a second language in public schools. The proportion of young bilingual Anglophones, aged between 15 and 19, outside Quebec has been decreasing endlessly in every census year since 1996. On the other hand, at the same time, the number of students enrolling in French immersion is increasing. The number of students registered in such programs in Canada rose 28 per cent over the 10-year period ending in 2011.
The report of Statistics Canada was released as Canada marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism on the state of bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada. The commission concluded an Official Languages Act, i.e. a signature piece of legislation for the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau, requiring services in English and French across Canada. The legacy of the legislation is now being debated as Canada becomes more multilingual.
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