Central Okanagan

The numbers are in and, according to Statistics Canada, the Okanagan is bucking the provincial and nation trend when it comes to who speaks what language.

Figures released Wednesday were from the 2011 census..

According to 2011 census figures, 11 per cent of Okanagan residents (37,320) claim a language other than one of Canada's two official languages as their native tongue.

That compares to 27 per cent across BC (1.15M) and 20 per cent nationally (6.59M).

In the Okanagan, of the 337,000 people who cited a specific mother tongue, more than three-tenths of one percent (10,870) indicated German as their native language.

That was number two behind English and far ahead of the .016 per cent (5,690) who indicated French as their mother tongue.

More than 291,000 (87%) claimed English as their native language.

Punjabi (4,550), Dutch (2,460) and Ukrainian (1,770) ranked fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the Okanagan.

Only seven-tenths of one per cent (20,665) claimed to be bilingual while .004 per cent (1,640) are unable to speak either English or French.