Language map illustrates diversity of P.E.I.

Almost one in 10 Prince Edward Islanders told the 2021 census their mother tongue was not one of Canada's two official languages, but how those other language speakers were spread across the province varied widely.

The results for the top 10 languages, as tabulated for each of the province's 98 census regions, can be seen on this map.

Not surprisingly, Charlottetown is the most diverse region, with about one in six residents having a mother tongue other than English or French. Mandarin speakers are the most common. At 3.9 per cent of the Charlottetown population, there are half again as many of them as French speakers. There are also significant numbers of Punjabi and Arabic speakers.

Outside of the capital, there are some large pockets of native speakers of other languages.

In Kings County you will find speakers of Mandarin, many of whom live in monasteries in the region, and German speakers, representing Amish and Mennonite farmers.

Islanders whose mother tongue is Tagalog, the language of the Philippines, can be found in increasingly large pockets as you travel west on P.E.I. In the town of Tignish, more than one in 10 residents listed Tagalog as their mother tongue.

For confidentiality reasons Statistics Canada suppresses some information. This means some areas on the map have no information, and on others numbers may appear to not add up correctly.