Population by Asian Mother Tongue by Province

Mother tongue is defined as the first language a child learns and still understands at the time of the census. Chinese is the most widely spoken mother tongue across all provinces, with the exception of Saskatchewan and Manitoba where Tagalog (Filipino) is the largest group. In British Columbia and Ontario, Punjabi is the second most common Asian mother language. In New Brunswick, Korean is the second most common Asian mother tongue.

Population by Asian Mother Tongue by Province
	Canada	Western Canada
	Canada	BC	AB	SK	MB
Chinese*	1,072,560	357,870	105,130	8,610	13,495
Punjabi	430,700	182,915	49,945	2,105	9,875
Tagalog (Filipino)	327,450	66,120	60,085	9,265	34,265
Vietnamese	144,880	25,105	21,195	1,745	3,320
Tamil	131,265	3,135	2,645	275	400
Korean	137,925	48,975	13,885	1,225	2,795
Urdu	172,800	8,450	19,900	3,215	1,660
Gujarati	91,450	6,595	8,680	695	1,220
Hindi	90,545	24,635	12,290	845	1,420
Japanese	39,985	19,670	4,565	280	470
Bengali	59,370	2,410	5,025	1,310	700
Other**	179,775	25,750	26,050	3,540	5,695

Total	2,878,705	771,630	329,395	33,110	75,315

Population by Asian Mother Tongue by Province
Central & Eastern Canada
	ON	QC	NB	NS	PEI	NF
Chinese*	513,170	64,760	1,825	4,320	1,590	1,230
Punjabi	173,970	11,145	90	370	40	115
Tagalog (Filipino)	140,810	13,745	580	1,185	105	260
Vietnamese	65,915	26,560	285	450	40	30
Tamil	111,060	13,240	95	265	15	85
Korean	64,085	4,085	1,810	815	135	70
Urdu	128,730	9,805	200	540	35	195
Gujarati	68,105	5,940	45	110	5	45
Hindi	47,645	2,750	250	520	35	95
Japanese	12,210	2,175	115	305	75	35
Bengali	38,685	10,405	180	370	35	195
Other**	95,585	20,945	455	890	150	360

Total	1,459,970	185,555	5,930	10,140	2,260	2,715

Source: Detailed Mother Tongue. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, October 24, 2012. 2011 Census of Population. Statistics Canada catalogue no. 98-314-XCB2011017. October 25, 2012.

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Notes: 1. Mother tongue refers to the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census.
2. Figures are taken from the single response category.

* The figures for Chinese include Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Taiwanese, Chaochow (Teochow), Fukien and Shanghainese, as well as Chinese languages not otherwise specified.
** Other Asian Mother Tongue includes: Konkani, Marathi, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Pashto, Indo-Iranian languages (not included elsewhere), Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Dravidian languages (not included elsewhere), Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan languages (not included elsewhere), Lao, Thai, Khmer (Cambodian), Bisayan languages, Ilocano, Malay, Pampango and Malayo-Polynesian languages (not included elsewhere).