English, French and the many languages of Toronto

Newcomers commonly notice that:

• English is the working language of daily life, shops and most workplaces in Toronto, while French, Canada's other official language, is used in many government services and documents.
• Many languages are spoken around them. At the 2021 census, 42.5% of Toronto residents had a mother tongue other than English or French, and 44.9% reported speaking at least one non-official language at home. Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Spanish and Tamil were the most common.
• Services are available in other languages, from City of Toronto 311 interpretation to multilingual staff at settlement agencies and phone help from Legal Aid Ontario in over 300 languages.

Canada has two official languages, English and French. In Ontario, the French Language Services Act gives you the right to provincial government services in French in designated areas, and the whole City of Toronto is a designated area; this covers services such as driver's licences and birth certificates. Ontario reports more than 652,000 francophones in the province.

Toronto's linguistic diversity reflects its immigration history: the City reports that 4.5% of residents had no knowledge of either official language in 2021, down from 4.9% in 2016. The City's 311 line can help callers in more than 180 languages through interpreters, and the toronto.ca website can be machine-translated into more than 50 languages, with some limits.

• Neighbourhoods differ: some areas have many businesses and services in particular languages, and the City notes that people with no knowledge of English or French are concentrated in a few areas, such as north-west Scarborough and Kensington-Chinatown.
• Workplaces differ: most use English, but some employers, especially in federal or bilingual roles, require French.
• Schools: eligible families can choose French-language school boards, and the Toronto District School Board offers French programs.