Speaking German falling in popularity in the region

Speaking German is getting less and less popular among Waterloo Region residents.

Chinese is now the second most popular local language besides English, according to new census data by Statistics Canada.

In 1996, German was the most common language spoken at home in the region next to English, with 7,486 speakers.

There's been a long tradition of German immigration to the region and you can hear the language still spoken among some Mennonites. 

But by 2021, the number of people who spoke German at home fell to 5,800.

There are 9,085 speakers of Chinese, including Cantonese and Mandarin.

The other top languages spoken at home are Punjabi, Arabic, and Spanish.

While English is still the most common language in the Region, the number of people who speak it at home has declined.

87 per cent of residents most often spoke English at home in 1996, while in 2001, the figure fell to 80 per cent.