The Handbook of World Englishes, 2nd Edition

4English in Canada

STEFAN DOLLINGER

1 Introduction

Canadian English (CE) is an Inner Circle variety of English that has been shaped in relation to American English and British English varieties since the early eighteenth century. In 1763, the French colony of New France was ceded to Britain, which laid the foundation of British North America spanning from the east to the west. In the aftermath of the American Revolution in 1776, thousands of Americans loyal to the British Crown relocated northwards and settled the land, a process that would take one and a half centuries.

Since 1969, Canada has been officially a bilingual nation in all areas of federal jurisdiction, with English and French being accorded equal status. This bilingual status is sometimes misinterpreted. As almost all French speakers are located in the Province of Quebec and its bordering regions in Ontario and New Brunswick, the practical implications for many Canadians are minimal. In Quebec, 77.1% of people report speaking French in their homes, while the rate outside of Quebec is only 2.7% (though up from 2.4% in 2011).¹ To complicate matters, since 1976, the Province of Quebec has been in all provincial matters monolingually French. In all other Canadian provinces English is the dominant language, as 84.2% of respondents report speaking English outside of Quebec at home, either alone or in combination with another language.

Monolingual English speakers amount to only 56% of the Canadian population of about ...