The English is on the rise in Quebec

Photo Simon Clark
Nora Loreto and her husband Jesse Greener have experienced a period of major adaptation, when they left Ontario, in 2012, to settle in Quebec.

Pierre-Paul Biron

Wednesday, August 2, 2017 20:27

UPDATE
Wednesday, August 2, 2017 20:37

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While the French declined a little everywhere in the province, the English, itself, progresses. In Quebec, the anglophone community has jumped by 53 % in five years, but the French would not be for as much threatened since most of these newcomers are quickly to the language of Molière.

• READ ALSO: Census 2016: the French in decline across Canada
• READ ALSO: the Decline of French in Quebec: the PQ blame the LIBERALS

This is the case of Nora Loreto and her spouse Jesse Greener, who arrived in Quebec in 2012.

Originating in Ontario, neither the one nor the other was not able to get by in French, but the reality of Quebec has not given you the choice.

“This is not an easy city to integrate because everything is done in French. You can’t really live in Quebec city in an environment of only English-speaking, ” says Ms. Loreto, who admits to having found the first difficult months after the transfer of his spouse who is a researcher at the University of Laval.

Learning of Ms. Loreto even forced in some occasions, especially during the birth of her twins Riel and Della.

No choice

After a complicated labour, and numerous hospitalizations, she had to fend for themselves to understand what was going on in this French environment.

“A part of my integration and my learning has been made in the health system “, she said in French in a now almost perfect.

The situation of the couple is not unique to Quebec, provides the director-general of Voice English Quebec (VEQ), an organization that assists newcomers to English-speaking people in the region.

“It is simply impossible to live only in English in Quebec city. It shouts loud and clear to newcomers, if they want to thrive, they must learn French “, stresses Brigitte Wellens, illustrating the predominant place that continues to hold the French at Quebec.

And must admit that English-speaking people of Quebec will follow the advice to the letter. On 16 605 persons for whom English is the mother tongue in the greater region of Quebec, only 1945 to speak only in this language.

“The English here does not feel like a threat at the French. Rather, it is a wealth of having two languages, ” adds the director of the VEQ who is delighted to see the community develop.

More than 90 % French-speaking

According to the data of the census 2016, French is the mother tongue of 93.2 % of the estimated 790,000 people in the region of Quebec. The English account for a 2.10 %, from 10 850 in 2011 to 16 605 people.

Nearly 4 % of the population speaks a language other than the two official, of which 5200 people who speak Arabic and 7300 Spanish.