The Polish language in Canada: selected factors shaping its ethnolinguistic vitality

Joanna Lustański

doi:10.56583/pig.3045

Published : 2025-12-31

No. 6 (2025)

The Polish language in Canada: selected factors shaping its ethnolinguistic vitality

Joanna Lustański

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9346-364X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56583/pig.3045

Abstract

This paper offers a preliminary examination of the ethnolinguistic vitality of the Polish language in Canada, applying the framework developed by Giles, Bourhis and Taylor to assess the interplay of status, demographic and institutional factors shaping language maintenance and shift. Drawing on historical migration data, census statistics and community observations, it traces the evolution of Polish settlement from the late 19th century to the present, highlighting the erosion of intergenerational transmission, high rates of exogamy and declining recent immigration as major challenges. While Polish retains symbolic prestige within its ethnic community, its functional utility in Canadian public life remains limited, reducing incentives for active use. The analysis underscores the critical role of institutional support – particularly heritage schools, Catholic parishes and Polish-language media – in sustaining linguistic continuity, even as these institutions face declining enrolment, resource constraints and generational disengagement. Additional factors such as parental education levels, ethnic pride and technological advances in communication are examined for their mitigating or intensifying effects on language shift. The paper concludes that maintaining Polish in Canada requires deliberate and coordinated strategies to strengthen both the objective and subjective dimensions of vitality, integrate local initiatives into broader networks and enhance community awareness of the heritage language’s cultural and identity value.

Keywords:

language shift, Polish language in Canada, heritage language maintenance, language maintenance, ethnolinguistic vitality

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Lustański, J. (2025). The Polish language in Canada: selected factors shaping its ethnolinguistic vitality. Polonia Inter Gentes, (6), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.56583/pig.3045

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