Changing census question raises concerns about language data: expert

OTTAWA — A Canadian polling expert is raising concerns about the results of the Statistics Canada language census after the order of two questions were swapped on the national questionnaire last year.

The national statistics agency flipped the order of two questions related to which language Canadians spoke at home on a regular basis and which languages they spoke most often.

Association for Canadian Studies CEO Jack Jedwab says the results showed an unprecedented rise in the number of Canadians who spoke both English and French as their mother tongue.

He says the massive increase might be due to the change in the questionnaire rather than a true rise in the number of people who speak both official languages as their mother tongue.