Quebec Premier François Legault’s fears of the French language losing ground in the province were bolstered this month by a report which reveals the number of complaints to the Office de la Langue Française more than tripled in five years.
Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has been limiting immigration to the province due to worries the Québécois identity, which includes the use of the French language, is being eroded by high numbers of immigrants who are failing to integrate into the dominant culture.
The premier has gone so far as to put forth proposals to limit all economic immigration to the province to French-speaking immigrants by 2026.
“As premier of Quebec, my first responsibility is to defend our language and our identity,” Legault has said.
“During the past few years, the French language has been in decline in Quebec.
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“Since 2018, our government has acted to protect our language, more so than any previous government since the adoption of Bill 101 under the Levesque government.
“But, if we want to turn the tide, we must do more. By 2026, our goal is to have almost entirely francophone economic immigration. We have the duty, as Québécois, to speak French, to daily pass on our culture and to be proud of it.”
In the report, Langue D’Accueil Et Langue De Service Dans Les Commerces Du Québec En 2023 : Observatrices Et Observateurs (Language of greeting and language of service in Quebec businesses in 2023: Observers), the provincial government department responsible for promoting and preserving the French language, the Office Québécois De La Langue Française, notes the use of French was widespread throughout the province last year.
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The use of French only as a language of greeting customers on the island of Montreal, though, has dropped over the past 13 years, from 84 per cent in 2010 to 71 per cent last year.
That’s due to the rise in the number of businesses greeting their clientele in English only, which rose from 12 per cent in 2010 to 17 per cent last year, as well as the number of businesses using both of Canada’s official languages in greeting customers.
The use of both French and English in greeting customers tripled in percentage terms from 2010 through to 2023 on the island of Montreal, jumping from four per cent to 12 per cent.
Use Of French Only As Language Of Greeting Customers Is Dropping
That means that the use of French to greet customers on the island of Montreal, either as the only language used by the business or as one of two for bilingual operations, only fell from 88 per cent to 83 per cent during those years.
“Despite this widespread use (of the French language by businesses in Quebec), the number of complaints received by the (Office of the French Language in Quebec) between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 concerning the language of service has more than tripled from 674 complaints in 2018-2019 to 2,341 in 2022-2023,” notes the report.
The gradual drop in the use of French only in Quebec and the housing affordability crisis there have both led to politicians blaming immigrants for both a loss of the Quebecois culture and the rising cost of living.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data reveals that Quebec welcomed 52,810 new permanent residents last year but also issued 77,890 new study permits to international students, 74,080 work permits through the International Mobility Program (IMP) and another 58,790 work visas through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
That has led to a minor political party in Quebec to call on the provincial government to put a freeze on all temporary immigration over which it has control in a bid to lower rents and other housing costs.
Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has claimed the high levels of temporary immigration to the province are making housing unaffordable for Quebeckers.
PQ Leader Wants To Limit Temporary Immigration To Quebec
“If we have 44 per cent more people on the street who do not have a roof over their heads, then if we are no longer able to afford housing and that impoverishes the vast majority of households, we will have to do something,” Plamondon has reportedly said.
“We can’t just sit idly by, and, unfortunately, that’s what the CAQ is doing.”
Although it has not formed either the government or the official opposition in the past two elections, the PQ is rising in the polls and has announced it will finance the construction of at least 45,000 housing units over the next five years if it takes power in the 2026 election.
The PQ’s proposal to limit temporary immigration to the province comes as the CAQ is under fire for its management of the housing affordability crisis in Quebec.
While Plamondon’s party cannot itself limit temporary immigration to the province, the proposal could resonate with the premier who has previously blamed the housing situation on Ottawa’s open door policy on temporary immigration to Canada.
Legault has repeatedly stated he will hold the line on immigration and made it clear his government is deeply-committed to ensuring the survival of the French language.
Temporary workers who come to the province on work permits and international students in Quebec who are there on study permits often later seek to immigrate to Canada through either the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the provinces.
