Canadian Gaelic

For the Irish language in Canada, see Irish language in Newfoundland and Permanent North American Gaeltacht.
Canadian Gaelic
Cape Breton Gaelic
Gaelic
A' Ghàidhlig Chanadach
Pronunciation[əˈɣaːlɪkʲ ˈxanət̪əx]
Native toCanada
RegionCape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland
EthnicityCanadians Gaels
SpeakersL1: 1,545 in Canada (including 285 in Atlantic Canada) (2016)[a][1][2]
L1 + L2: 3,980 in Canada (including 2,000 in Atlantic Canada) (2016)[a][2][1]
Early forms
Latin (Scottish Gaelic orthography)
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
Linguasphere50-AAA-acp
IETFgd-CA
Distribution throughout the Maritimes c. 1850
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Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic: Gàidhlig Chanada, A' Ghàidhlig Chanadach or Gàidhlig Cheap Bhreatainn), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada.

Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scotia from 1773, with the arrival of the ship Hector and continuing until the 1850s. Gaelic has been spoken since then in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island and on the northeastern mainland of the province. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages and the Canadian dialects have their origins in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The parent language developed out of Middle Irish and is closely related to modern Irish. The Canadian branch is a close cousin of the Irish language in Newfoundland. At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were as many as 200,000 speakers of Scottish Gaelic and Newfoundland Irish together, making it the third-most-spoken European language in Canada after English and French.[3]

In Atlantic Canada today, there are approximately 2,000 speakers, mainly in Nova Scotia.[4][5][6][7] In terms of the total number of speakers in the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of "Gaelic languages" in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic.[8][9] The 2016 Canadian census also reported that 240 residents of Nova Scotia and 15 on Prince Edward Island considered Scottish Gaelic to be their "mother tongue".[2][1] The 2021 Canadian census reported 2,170 Scottish Gaelic speakers in Canada (including 425 as an L1),[10] 635 of them living in Nova Scotia (including 65 native speakers).[11]

While there have been many distinctive Canadian dialects of Scottish Gaelic that have been spoken in other Gàidhealtachd communities, particularly in Glengarry County, Ontario and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Atlantic Canada is the only area in North America where Scottish Gaelic continues to be spoken as a community language, especially in Cape Breton. Even there the use of the language is precarious and its survival is being fought for.[12] Even so, the Canadian Gàidhealtachd communities have contributed many great figures to the history of Scottish Gaelic literature, including Ailean a' Ridse MacDhòmhnaill and John MacLean during the days of early settlement[13] and Lewis MacKinnon, whose Canadian Gaelic poetry was awarded the Bardic Crown (Scottish Gaelic: Crùn na Bàrdachd) by An Comunn Gàidhealach at the 2011 Royal National Mòd at Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.[14]


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  1. ^ a b c "Census Profile, 2016 Census [Nova Scotia and Canada]". Statistics Canada. 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Canada, Table: Detailed mother tongue
  3. ^ Bumsted, J. M. (2006). "Scots". Multicultural Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-12-26. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
  4. ^ Ethnologue – Canada, Scottish Gaelic
  5. ^ Nova Scotia Office of Gaelic Affairs
  6. ^ "Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census". Statistics Canada
  7. ^ Statistics Canada, NHS Profile 2011, by province.
  8. ^ Statistics Canada, 2011 NHS Survey
  9. ^ Our Community – Gaelic Affairs, Nova Scotia/Alba Nuadh
  10. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population – Canada [Country]". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  11. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population – Nova Scotia [Province]". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  12. ^ McEwan-Fujita, Emily (2013). "Gaelic Revitalization Efforts in Nova Scotia". In Newton, Michael (ed.). Celts in the Americas. Cape Breton University Press. pp. 160–186. ISBN 978-1-897009-75-8.
  13. ^ Sumner, Natasha; Doyle, Aidan, eds. (2020). North American Gaels: Speech, Song, and Story in the Diaspora. McGill–Queen's University Press. pp. 14–16.
  14. ^ Ross, David (19 October 2011). "Non-Scot is Gaelic Bard for first time". The Herald.