New 2016 census data on families and language show Richmond continues to lose native English speakers, gain Chinese speakers and remain grounded in marriage and family as it continues to age.
Since 2011, Richmond – which now has an official population of 198,309 – has lost 4,110 people who identify English as their mother tongue. English speakers number 65,350 and now constitute 33.1 per cent of the city, whereas in 2011 they made up 36.7 per cent (69,460 speakers).
Over the past five years, the number of people who speak neither English nor French has risen 12 per cent, from 19,740 to 22,110. As a percentage of the population, 11.2 per cent of residents cannot speak an official language in this city (the national rate is 1.9 per cent). Meanwhile, English-French bilingualism is on a downward trend by a hair, with 9,615 such speakers. Richmond’s French-English rate is roughly one-quarter that of Canada.
On the upswing are Chinese speakers – Cantonese and Mandarin. In 2011, 75,520 Richmondites claimed Chinese as a mother tongue. That number is now 88,455. Cantonese speakers (43,295) slightly outpace Mandarin ones (39,450). Across Canada eight per cent of all Cantonese speakers reside in Richmond, which represents 0.6 per cent of the country of 35.2 million.
Between 2011 and 2016 Tagalog speakers (primarily from The Philippines) went from 7,305 to 7,780, whereas Punjabis lost a bit of ground, going from 5,795 speakers to 5,250.
Aside from one’s mother tongue, the census also counted what languages are most spoken at home. English barely remains the language most spoken at home (90,050 speak only English and 19,820 speak English and another language). There are 70,455 Richmondites who speak Chinese at home. English remains the city’s common language, with 174,345 able to communicate in it to some degree.
Meanwhile, Richmondites continue to show a strong commitment to marriage and children.
The number of married/common-law residents to non-partnered residents (over age 15) was 94,525 to 69,305, respectively. Richmond was above the national average for folks living as a couple (59.5 per cent to 57.6 per cent). In 2016, 92.5 per cent of persons living in a couple were married, while 7.5 per cent were living common-law. Across Canada the rates are 78.7 per cent and 21.3 per cent, respectively.
Some 230 of 48,260 couples identified as same sex. Notably, Vancouver had 4,110 same-sex couples. Nationwide there are 72,880.
In Richmond, 58.5 per cent of families have children; in Vancouver that rate dropped to 47.3 per cent; across Canada 51.1 per cent of families have children. Of Richmond families with children, 47 per cent have one child. From 2006 to 2016 data show household sizes shrinking, from 3.0 people per household to 2.7. Richmond has 9,710 single parents, of whom 8,075 are women.
If you are a young adult, age 20-34, you’re likely living in Richmond with your parents (52.9 per cent). Those in Vancouver have spread their wings a bit more (only 25.1 per cent live with parents). Across Canada, it’s 34.7 per cent.
The 2016 census data on languages and families was the third set of data released by Statistics Canada this year. Other data included households and population. Data on income, immigration, mobility, education and industry will be released by the year’s end.
The data show that over the past decade, Richmond has lost school age children by a sliver as it ages.
In 2006, there were 27,055 children up to age 14 years. By 2016, that figure rose to just 27,240. In 2006, teenagers (age 15-19) numbered 11,990 while in 2016 that figure declined to 11,530.
Meanwhile, the number of seniors has shot up dramatically. In 2006, there were 22,250 seniors, while 10 years later, in 2016, the number rose to 33,650. Richmond has a larger working age population (age 15-65) with a rate of 69.3 per cent compared to Canada at 66.5 per cent. Its senior population is on par with the national average although the city’s average age is 42.2 whereas it’s 41 across Canada. Richmond has 65 centenarians with 320 super seniors less than five years away from a big celebration.
