Indigenous language use in Sask. falls behind Filipino

Darian Agecoutay teaching Cree at Indigenous Language Day Camp on Aug. 8. (Kaylyn Whibbs/CTV News)

More people in Saskatchewan have grown up speaking the Filipino language compared to Indigenous languages.

Census data released on Aug. 17 show that 2.6 percent of residents in the province have Tagalog as their mother tongue. That is slightly higher than the 2.5 percent of those who claim indigenous languages as their mother tongue.

However, the majority of residents identify English as their main language, 84.5 percent.

Just 1.5 percent reported Canada’s other official language, French, as their mother tongue.

The Embassy of the Philippines reports there are 32,340 Filipinos that call Saskatchewan home.