More Canadians than ever before are bilingual, according to a new report released Monday by Statistics Canada.
In the 2016 census, nearly 18 per cent of Canadians reported they could hold a conversation in English and in French.
Among youth aged five to 17, the bilingualism rate rose to 19 per cent in 2016, up from 16 per cent a decade before.
The study followed a cohort of youth for a decade, starting in 2006 when they were between five and 17 years old.
In 2006, 17 per cent of them could hold a conversation in both official languages. Ten years later, their bilingualism rate had risen to 27 per cent.
But the rate rose significantly among youth from the same cohort who lived in Quebec and New Brunswick.
In Quebec, just over one-quarter were bilingual in 2006. Ten years later, two-thirds were bilingual.
The bilingualism rate among those youth in New Brunswick rose from 37 per cent in 2006 to 50 per cent in 2016.
The report also found 94 per cent of Quebec youth who learned both languages were still bilingual.
Outside of Quebec, about two-thirds of youth who were bilingual in 2006 were still bilingual in 2016.
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