Thinks that make you go hmm/Choses qui te font dire hmm...

• 17.5 million Canadians (59% of the population) are native speakers of English and 6.7 million Canadians (23%) are native speakers of French.
  
  
• 25 million Canadians (85% of the population) can speak English and 9.1 million Canadians (31%) can speak French. No other language in Canada is spoken by more than 2.9% of the population.
  
  
• About 1.9 million Canadians live in official language minority communities. The 2001 census showed that there were 918,955 people in Quebec whose first official language was English, while 987,640 people outside Quebec stated that French was their first official language spoken.
  
  
• By using English and French as official languages, the Government of Canada can communicate with more than 98% of the Canadian population.
  
  
• The number of bilingual Canadians increased significantly from 1971 to 2001, rising from 2.9 million (13% of the population) to 5.2 million. (17.7%).
  
  
• Nationally, 43% of Francophones report that they are bilingual, compared with 9% of Anglophones.

I had no idea the percentage of bilingual Anglophones was so bloody low. Holy crap. Living in Ottawa and spending a lot of time downtown or at Ottawa U leaves you thinking everyone can speak both, but yowch, 9% is not a hell of a lot. Then again apparently about 25% of people aged 15-29% say they're bilingual, so that's encouraging.

Most bilingual cities
Montreal 53% (1,792,750)
Moncton 47% (54,410)
Ottawa-Hull 44.2% (464,485)
Halifax 11.5% (41,105)
Winnipeg 11.1% (73,690)
Toronto 8.5% (393,415)
Edmonton 7.7% (71,540)
Vancouver 7.5% (147,775)

Public Opinion

• About 7 in 10 Canadians say that they are personally in favour of bilingualism throughout the country, and this support is largely confirmed by the CROP/CBC poll.
  
  
• The high level of support for bilingualism throughout Canada is due mainly to the growing support of Anglophones outside Quebec, up 19% from 2003 to 2006.
  
  
• Among young people 18 to 34, support for Canadian bilingualism is now at 80%.
  
  
• According to 9 out of 10 Canadians, bilingualism is a factor for success in the world.
  
  
• For 70% of the population, Canada’s policy on official languages is part of what defines our country.
  
  
• More than 9 out of 10 Canadians expect the Prime Minister of Canada to be bilingual.
  
  
• The vast majority of Canadians expect political leaders and senior civil servants to be bilingual.
  
  
• Most Canadians (57%) think that the bilingualism rate outside Quebec is too low (1 person in 10); 74% of Francophones think so.
  
  
• In total, 83% of Canadians think that it is important for their own children or those in their community to learn a language other than English, and almost all Quebecers (98%) think that it is important for children to learn a language other than French. French is the first choice for a second language in all regions (except Quebec, where English is the choice of 88%).
  
  
• In total, 77% of Canadians think that both official language groups should receive education of the same quality, even if the language group is in the minority.
  
  
• About 7 out of 10 Canadians outside Quebec think that French should be compulsory in all primary schools.

Huh. Well that was unexpected. Inesperado.

If your children were to learn another language, which language would be most important for them to learn?

British Columbia	French: 44% Chinese:13% Spanish: 7%
Alberta	French: 57% Spanish:15% Chinese: 6%
Manitoba & Saskatchewan	French: 64% Spanish: 6% Chinese: 5%
Ontario	French: 71% Chinese: 7% Spanish: 5%
Quebec	English: 88% Spanish: 7%
Atlantic Canada	French: 90% English: 3%

The Evolution of Public Opinion on Official Languages in Canada, Decima Research, September 2006.