The Importance of English in Quebec Workplaces: A Growing Trend in 2024

You will tell me that I often found myself in so-called bilingual jobs because I spoke English, English learned both at the knees of my father who saw it as a great advantage in life and in front of the television screen and perfected later in England.

I admit it: I even attended an English-speaking university, not by choice but because I was refused at the University of Montreal and UQAM (you have to do it!). Without Concordia, I would not have been able to pursue higher education. Should I have done without it?

When I was younger, I worked as a telephone operator overseas at Bell: English required, of course. And so on until today. (A journalist who does not speak English is extremely rare.) Speaking English opened doors for me that I would never have been able to cross otherwise, those of a great pan-Canadian career in the publishing of magazines in French and in English. On a daily basis, I had to communicate with my colleagues in Toronto or New York. What else can we do other than communicate in English, a reality for a large number of Quebec workers?

What will be the language of communications between Northvolt headquarters in Sweden and the Quebec factory? It will definitely not be Swedish but English. It can’t be otherwise. Will this contribute to the decline of French in Quebec? Find me someone who believes this and who suggests that we then stop doing business all over the world.

The more Quebec gains in economic stature, the more English will be used at work.

Unless you only do business with companies in French-speaking countries or regional SMEs. And even. Many regional SMEs transact with clients outside Quebec. Small does not mean closed.

The report from the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) on French at work published Thursday tells us that the proportion of Quebecers who use only French at work is declining in the province. For some, it’s a disaster.

But before we shout loudly, let’s take a closer look. It’s not a disaster: 66% of adult workers use French at least 90% of the time in the context of their jobs. A proportion that has changed little since 2010.

I am surprised to hear the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, say that French must take its rightful place at work, recalling that working in French is a right in Quebec. Either. But when we look at the reasons why workers must speak English in 2024, nowhere is there any question of coercion, of speaking white.

When asked why they use English at work, 31% explain that they do it to serve customers, communicate with people or consult documents from outside Quebec. Not to please English-speaking bosses. On the other hand, 29% say that they must speak English to serve Quebec customers who do not speak French.

We are opening here on the issue of the common language in Quebec where great efforts remain to be made. Too many English speakers have not yet understood the message, especially in these times of identity discontent. For a certain number of them, speaking English even when they know French is a gesture of civil disobedience, of revenge against Quebec’s linguistic policies. A linguistic snub. Great attitude that will take them far…

Know that they laugh in their sleeves when they find themselves the only English speakers around a meeting table and everyone switches to English to accommodate them.

It is up to us French speakers and lovers of French to stand up in these still too frequent situations.

But having to speak English to clients or colleagues outside Quebec is of a completely different order.

The use of English at work in 2024 is a sign of Quebec’s growing influence throughout the world. The OQLF study also reveals that English is most often used by more educated workers who therefore occupy more interesting and better paid jobs. We’re still not going to do without it. We have to see things differently than just through the victim lens.

I cringe every time the OQLF publishes a wall-to-wall study which suggests that French is in free fall everywhere in Quebec: it is false, absolutely false. It is certainly subject to continental pressures – we must be able to communicate with our neighbors – to the omnipresence of American culture and to unavoidable economic imperatives, without forgetting the effects of massive immigration which we cannot make French by real lack of political will (what smoke and mirrors in this regard).

French is not threatened because a Northvolt employee must be able to communicate easily with his counterpart in Sweden. French is threatened by our cultural weakness, because we don’t go out often enough without buying anything from a store where English is spoken to us. Because we have failed in the task of making our young people proud to speak French, because we underestimate our unique mission in North America. In short, because we don’t put our foot down often enough.

Yes, living in French in Quebec is a constant struggle. But we must recognize that to become and remain an important player on all levels, the use of English at work is more often than not to our advantage.

Unless you want to fold sheets for a lifetime or have convenience store savings.

2024-03-10 08:13:06
#English #work #good