In Quebec, English is often necessary for finding a job

A survey by the Institut de la statistique du Québec, reveals the language requirements of employers in the Province during the hiring process.

If the province of Quebec is officially French-speaking, it is better to have some knowledge of English to get a job, especially in Montreal. This is what reveals a study, entitled "Survey of language requirements from the companies, municipalities and boroughs of Montreal" and carried out by the Institut de la statistique du Québec at the request of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF).

ATTACHE TA TUQUE >> The Canada beyond the clichés: receive the newsletter Valérie Lion by signing up here

The research, made public on 11 August, was conducted on a sample of 2 460 institutions (representative of the whole of the 97 528 quebec businesses employing 5 persons and more) as well as on the 181 municipalities in quebec of more than 5 000 inhabitants and the 19 boroughs of Montreal.

summer Offer : Take advantage of the special offer 2 months for 1€ I subscribe

It highlights that 39,8 % of québec businesses were "required or desired" that the last people hired have skills in English. On the island of Montréal, this percentage increases to 62.9 %. The municipal structures are not in rest : 23.5% of the cities of Québec and of Montréal's boroughs "required or desired" that the candidates have skills in both French and English - or only English. In the montréal metropolitan region, the figure rises to 50 %.

Of bilingual candidates preferred

what's more, faced with candidates of equal skills, the one-quarter of businesses (25.4 per cent) say they "always" retain bilingual candidates for a position, that it does or does not require linguistic knowledge in particular. The institutions of Montreal (37,3 %) are proportionally more likely to prefer a candidate is bilingual that those outside of Montreal (to 21.6 %). It is among the companies in the sector of manufacturing and services "with a strong concentration of knowledge" that this trend is most marked.

About six in ten companies say they have also assessed the language level of job applicants in hiring, most often by asking questions in the language required (note that the vast majority of employers require skills in oral and written form, less frequently and strong communication skills understanding written). And 26.2% of employers have rejected an application because of a lack of competence in English (in Montreal, they are nearly 30% have already done so). The municipalities and districts, for their part, are more "soft" : in Montreal, 20 % said no to a candidate who was not able to express themselves in English (outside of Montreal, the percentage drops to 1.8%).

Same oral communication in the business

The reasons invoked by employers to justify this obligation to master the language of Shakespeare ? In the first place, the oral communication outside the company (50.9%) and the written communication outside of the company (42.1 %), but also the oral communication inside of the company (to 38.9 %). In Montreal, the proportion of firms that have sought-after skills in the English language for oral communication within the company has even climbed to 41.4 %...

on The side of public structures, the numbers are certainly lower, but not negligible : at the scale of Quebec, 7.5% of the municipalities and boroughs have so required or desired English for oral communication within their organization. On the island of Montreal, the proportion is 20 %.

results "very worrisome"

In a province that fiercely defends its exception language within a country to an English-speaking majority, this report has not failed to make cringe. The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), which represents more than 600,000 workers, has welcomed the report with "fright". "You have to wake up, the anglicization of our society is a reality and it will take a serious blow from bar to finally get some respect," responded in a press release Denis Bolduc, secretary general of the FTQ, which calls for "concrete gestures" on the part of the québec government, and particularly of the minister responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette.

Read our complete file

Work in Canada

Journées Québec and Destination, Canada-post-Covid : mark your calendars ! "Month in Quebec," 2020 : entries open on the 15th August Program of the quebec experience : the reform comes into force

On Twitter, he described these findings as "very worrying". "It is abnormal that a worker may not be able to work in French, at home, in Quebec. Quebecers have the right to earn a living in French in Quebec", has hammered the minister, who has promised, "in the coming weeks," a plan "beefy" to meet these challenges. Since his election, in October 2018, the Prime minister of the province, François Legault has repeatedly said that a strengthening of bill 101