Canada's two official languages are English and French.

Official bilingualism in various forms dates back to Canadian Confederation in 1867, when the British North America Act allowed both French and English for parliamentary debates and federal court cases.

However, for many decades French was given an inferior position in Canadian confederation. The use of French, especially in education, was on several occasions curtailed in mainly English-speaking provinces such as in the Manitoba Schools Question and Ontario's Regulation 17. Bilingualism in its more extensive modern form began with the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which started work in 1963 and eventually led to the original Official Languages Act in 1969.

Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions.

The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.

English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively,[68] and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively.

To become a citizen one must be able to speak either English or French, and 98.5% of Canadians speak at least one (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%).. English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.

Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern parts of New Brunswick. Ontario has the largest French population outside Quebec.

The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official.

Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.