Household Structure
Financial stability, career, job opportunities and cost of living all affect the structure of a person’s life. Whether it be the decision to marry, move into an apartment or to start a family, specific factors often help shape these choices.
Language Spoken at Home
What does this measure?
The census asks individuals for the language spoken most often at home. The response can be a single language or a combination of languages.
Why is this important?
Canada is officially a bilingual country, with both French and English official languages. In Ontario, The French Language Services Act has designated specific areas where French language services must be provided by government agencies. For an area to obtain designation, French-speaking residents must usually make up at least 10% of the population. In urban centres, the French-speaking population must usually be at least 5,000. High rates of immigration may also require English as a Second Language courses.
How are Hastings and Prince Edward Counties doing?
In comparison to Ontario, in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties (HPEC) there is more English and less of other languages as the language spoken most often at home. The vast majority (97%) of residents of HPEC speak English and about 1500 (0.9%) people speak French most often at home. Non-official languages that more than 140 people speak include South Asian languages (e.g. Punjabi, Gujarati), Chinese languages (e.g. Mandarin, Cantonese), German, Spanish, Korean and sign language.