Quebec Immigrants are Increasingly Bilingual

A growing number of immigrants to the province of Quebec are bilingual, with knowledge of both English and French.  In 2006, 34 per cent of the immigrants admitted to Quebec were bilingual, up from 11 per cent in 1997.  Most of Quebec’s newcomers settle in Montreal, making it an increasingly bilingual city.

Quebec immigration has an important focus on language and the Quebec government would like to increase the number of newcomers who speak French.  “Quebec’s emphasis on (the French) language no doubt influenced the federal approach to giving increased significance to (the English) language as a factor in immigration selection,” explains the executive director of the Association of Canadian Studies, which produced the study.  Because of this focus on language, a greater percentage of Canadian immigrants speak at least one of Canada’s official languages. 

In 2006, the number of new Canadian immigrants who knew neither official language had decreased by more than 10 per cent from 2002.  With more immigrants who can speak English and French, newcomers can more easily integrate into Canadian society and the Canadian work force.