According to the chart, what trends can you see about the percentage of
the population whose mother tongue
is English or French only?

the correct answer is

Language groups between 1981 and 2011 (census data, 1981 to 2011)1.1. Mother tongue1.1.1. Population by mother tongue in 2011

In 2011, English was the mother tongue of the majority (63.7%) of Ottawa’s population (see Table 1), while French was the mother tongue of 15.0% of Ottawans. The percentage of the population whose mother tongue was neither English nor French was 21.3%, due mainly to the strong increase in international immigration.

Table 1: Population by mother tongue, Ottawa census division, 2011Mother population872,450100.0Englishas mother tongue555,48963.7Frenchas mother tongue131,29915.0Other languagesas mother tongue185,66221.3

1.1.2. Population by mother tongue

Ottawa’s total population grew by 60.9% between 1981 and 2011, increasing from approximately 542,000 to more than 872,000 (see tables Table2 and Table3).

The number of Ottawans whose mother tongue is English grew by 45.9% between 1981 and 2011, for a total population of 555,500 in 2011. The population of Ottawans whose mother tongue is French had a more modest increase (26.1%), reaching 131,300 in 2011. In comparison, the population of people whose mother tongue was neither English nor French more than tripled (225.1%), reaching 185,700 in 2011.

Table 2: Population growth rates by mother tongue, Ottawa census division, 1981 to 2011Mother tongueGrowth rate (%)Total growth60.9Englishas mother tongue45.9Frenchas mother tongue26.1Other languagesas mother tongue225.1

Table 3: Population by mother tongue, Ottawa census division, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2006 and 2011YearTotalEnglishas mother tongueFrenchas mother tongueOther languagesas mother 1981542,095380,86070.3104,12019.257,11510.51991671,335455,61367.9116,74817.498,98514.72001763,790492,68064.5119,91015.7151,20519.82006801,275508,70663.5124,01815.5168,55121.02011872,450555,48963.7131,299

Table 4: Proportion of population by mother tongue, Ottawa census division, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2006 and 2011YearTotal (%)English as mother tongue(%)French as mother tongue(%)Other languages as mother tongue(%)1981100.070.319.210.51991100.067.917.414.72001100.064.515.719.82006100.063.515.521.02011100.063.715.021.3

Table 5: Population by first official language spoken, Ottawa census division, 2011First official language population872,450100.0Englishas the first official language spoken717,88082.3Frenchas the first official language spoken143,04516.4Neither French nor Englishas the first official language spoken11,5301.3

Table 6: Population growth rates by first official language spoken, Ottawa census division, 1981 to 2011First official language spokenGrowth rate (%)Total growth60.9Englishas the first official language spoken66.3Frenchas the first official language spoken35.0Other languagesas the first official language spoken163.1

Table 7: Population by first official language spoken, Ottawa census division, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2006 and 2011YearTotalEnglishas the first official language spokenFrenchas the first official language spokenNeither English nor Frenchas the first official language 1981542,093431,74879.6105,96419.54,3830.81991671,335541,91380.7121,35318.18,0701.22001763,790625,15381.8128,51316.810,1251.32006801,275656,10881.9135,22316.99,9451.22011872,450717,88082.3143,04516.4

Table 8 : Proportion of the population by first official language spoken, Ottawa census division, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2006 and 2011YearTotal (%)English as the first official language spoken(%)French as the first official language spoken(%)Neither English nor French as the first official language spoken(%)1981100.079.619.50.81991100.080.718.11.22001100.081.816.81.32006100.081.916.91.22011100.082.316.41.3

a and b because with the other three, they simplify to something else.