Canadian English
Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or ""mother tongue"", of approximately 19 million Canadians or 58% of the population, which is relatively low due to strong French (c. 22%) and allophone (non-English, non-French, 21%) population segments (based on 2011 Census data). However, 28 million use English as their dominant language. 82% of Canadians outside Quebec speak English fluently, but within Quebec the figure drops to just 7.7% as most residents are native speakers of Quebec French.The vocabulary and spelling of Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English, as well as many unique Canadianisms. The phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon for many regions/areas in Canada are similar to that of the Western and Midland regions of the United States; in fact, linguist Charles Boberg concluded that ""the English spoken in Canada is most closely related to the variety recognised around the world as 'General American'."" The Canadian Great Lakes region has similarities to that of the Upper Midwest & Great Lakes region, in particular Michigan (and its Upper Midwestern speech), which has extensive cultural and economic ties with Ontario, while the phonological system of western Canadian English is virtually identical to that of the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the phonetics are similar. As such, Canadian English and American English can be classified together as North American English, emphasizing the fact that the vast majority of outsiders, even from other English speaking countries, cannot distinguish Canadian English from most varieties of American English by sound. It should be noted, however, that ""while a local East Anglian English speaker may confuse a Torontonian for an American, Canadians usually have little difficulty telling the one from the other."" In Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, speech is influenced by French, with many English words being replaced by their French counterparts.