Corrected census: anglophone figures stable

After recognizing it erred in its recent calculations on the number of English-speaking Quebecers, Statistics Canada released new figures Thursday showing the proportion of English speakers in Quebec has slightly decreased since 2011, and not increased as first suggested.

The agency announced last week that a thorough review of the 2016 census numbers showed a computer error had affected how roughly 61,000 people had responded to questions about language.

The error “resulted in an overestimation of the growth of English in Quebec between 2011 and 2016, both as a mother tongue and as a language spoken at home,” Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The new numbers no longer show the significant boom in anglophones that had been reported in certain Quebec regions. The proportion of Quebec’s population with English as its only mother tongue, the corrected numbers show, is 7.5 per cent, not 8.1 per cent as first reported — a difference of roughly 55,000 people, the agency noted, and a decrease from 2011.

When it comes to the language Quebecers speak at home, the new numbers also show that French declined less than initially reported.

The corrected results are easier to explain and more in line with national trends, said Jean-François Lepage, a senior analyst of language statistics with Statistics Canada.

“There’s an increase in number but a decrease in proportion because languages other than English or French are growing way faster due to immigration, mostly,” Lepage said. “It’s something we’ve observed for a couple of censuses now.”

For instance, the percentage of Quebecers who say English is the language spoken most often at home inched downward to 9.7 from 9.8 per cent in 2011. But that still represents an increase of nearly 15,000 people since 2011.

Statistics Canada first acknowledged the error last Friday.

Saying the numbers defied logic, Jack Jedwab, the executive vicepresident of the Association for Canadian Studies, had contacted the agency to express his concerns about the results and ask for a formal investigation.

“If you were in the anglophone community last week, you were celebrating a remarkable level of growth,” Jedwab said on Thursday. “If you’re an anglophone leader this week, you’re not celebrating very much other than the community remaining stable.”

Recalling the importance of accurate figures given how emotional language debates can be in Quebec, Jedwab said he was glad Statistics Canada moved so quickly to correct the errors.

“The need for accuracy is paramount,” he said. “I think we’re going to see people look more closely at these releases now, and that’s a good thing.”

After recognizing the error, Statistics Canada came under fire from representatives of the English-speaking community, who feared how the since-debunked numbers could be used by politicians and influence policies.

Some have argued that despite the correction, the damage has already been done. Reacting to the initial numbers last week, Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée called for stricter language laws to stem the trends that seemed to be emerging concerning the use of French in Quebec.

On Thursday, Statistics Canada specified that it was a new computer program developed for the 2016 census that caused the error, noting that it specifically affected French-language questionnaires.

On some questions concerning language, the order of the response boxes changes depending on the language of the questionnaire, but the software didn’t pick up on the differences.

“Obviously, it’s something that we should have caught, but that was not the case,” Lepage said.

Asked if the public should be concerned about the accuracy of the rest of the data in the 2016 census, Lepage said he’s confident the problem has been identified, didn’t affect other areas and won’t be repeated.

By making the correction so quickly, he added, the agency showed it operates with transparency and takes every comment it receives into consideration.

“We’re obviously not happy that our first release wasn’t perfect,” he said. “But we’re happy now that the data is of the highest quality possible.”

I think we’re going to see people look more closely at these releases now, and that’s a good thing.