Languages

Canada is officially bilingual, and all services provided by the federal government are available in English and French. The selection of Ottawa as the national capital, located on the Ontario-Québec border, reflects the long-standing political and cultural importance of the two founding nations. The 2001 census¹⁷ reported that only 1.5 percent of Canadians don’t have at least some ability to speak one of the official languages; 18 percent of Canadians are fluently bilingual. The majority speak English: 59 percent reported English as their mother tongue in 2001, while 23 percent reported French and 18 percent a nonofficial language. The most prevalent nonofficial languages in Canada are, in order of prominence, Chinese, Italian, Punjabi, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish.

The indigenous peoples spoke dozens of different languages, and many are still spoken today. Almost all fall into groups of related languages traceable from a common ancestral tongue.

Way of life

The complex regional and cultural composition of Canadian society means that there is no single Canadian way of life, but certain generalizations can be made. Perhaps the clearest is that Canada shares with the United States, most European countries, and Japan a high standard of living relative to the remainder of the world. Most Canadians are well housed, fed, and clothed. Canadians also enjoy an advanced, efficient health care system that is universally available to all citizens and landed immigrants (immigrants who are allowed permanent residence in the country) regardless of their location, income, or social standing. In fact, recent opinion polls have shown that Canadians see this system of socialized medicine as a defining characteristic of their national identity.

Generally, Canadians devote the highest portion of their income to housing (22 percent of household expenditures in 1992). Most (63 percent) own their homes, and the majority (57 percent) reside in single-family detached homes. Housing quality is generally high, and only about 1 percent live in units defined by government agencies as crowded. However, housing quality is not as high in rural and northern areas as it is in Canada’s cities. Problems are especially prevalent on Indian Reserves¹⁸ (lands set aside for Status Indians); in 1991, some 39 percent of all dwellings on Indian Reserves required major repairs as opposed to a national average of 8 percent. Housing in the Arctic region poses special problems; permafrost can cause foundations to shift and makes providing water and sanitary services difficult. Frequently, aboveground, insulated utility systems are the only feasible solution.

The nature of Canadian households has changed considerably over the past quarter-century. With the liberalization of divorce legislation in the late 1960s and changing social attitudes about marriage, the number of single-parent households and common-law unions has increased.

Canadian eating habits are also being transformed. Concern for better health has led to a small decline in total meat consumption; Canadians are also spending more on fruits, vegetables, pasta, and other complex carbohydrates. Canadians, especially those in the larger cities, have also acquired more cosmopolitan tastes. The range of foods and beverages available is far greater than ever before, and includes dishes from Ethiopia, Thailand, Latin America, and a variety of Chinese regions. Still, many traditional regional eating habits have been retained, such as the distinctive diets of the Inuit and other indigenous groups, and the French-influenced cuisine of Québec.

Although lacrosse (a team game, originally played by North American Indians, in which the ball is thrown, caught, and carried with a long-handled stick having a curved L-shaped or triangular frame at one end with a piece of shallow netting in the angle) was Canada’s first national game, ice hockey is its most popular sport. At the professional level, there are six National Hockey League (NHL) teams in Canada, including two of its most venerable, the Montréal Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadian Football League was created in 1956. Baseball has been played in Canada since at least 1838, and a Canadian professional league was established in 1876.

Amateur sport also thrives, and Canada consistently produces Olympic medal winners in a variety of sports, such as rowing, track and field, and, most notably, ice skating. Ordinary Canadians are participating in sporting leagues, fitness classes, and individual exercise to a greater extent than ever before.