Canada's minus: language discrimination

In Canada you may face discrimination because of the language you speak. I will tell you where this happens and why I moved from Quebec to another Canadian province.

Official languages of Canada

For some reason, many people think that only French is spoken in Canada. But in Canada there are two official languages: English and French.

If you want to increase your chances of immigration, I advise you to learn French. It will give more points in the system Express Entry, there are also special programs for Francophones. French is also required if you want to work for the government. That's about it.

In Canada, English is still predominant, so a second language is not necessary, unless you are talking about Quebec. It's a special province with its own laws. For example, my wife is an immigration consultant and helps people move to all of Canada except Quebec. You have to get an additional license there. There's even an expression: "Quebec is not Canada". Without French it will be very difficult there. You can say that the English-speaking population is even somewhat disadvantaged there. But more about that later.

Is it possible to speak the native language?

The first time my wife and I went to Canada was in 2011. We flew to Montreal, this is the province of Quebec, to learn French. Not only did we have a lot of experiences during our month in Canada, but we also bought a lot of gifts and needed an extra suitcase. We went to the supermarket for it by bus, got off at the bus stop and didn't know where to go. Some African-American guy followed us. Imagine: we're on the outskirts of town, no people, and someone is following us. It was uncomfortable.

In the end the guy came up to us and asked us in good Russian if we needed help. I was shocked. It turned out that he had studied in Kharkiv and then moved to Canada. He took us to the store and told us where to find the suitcase.

In Canada, you can speak any language you want. There is no penalty for doing so. But, of course, you should be aware that, for example, in the workplace, it is not good to speak a language that others do not understand. They might think you are a gossip. Similarly, studying in higher education takes place in English or French. As far back as I can remember, when I was at McGill University we had a paper on the walls asking us to speak only in English.

When my youngest son went to kindergarten, the teacher asked me to teach her Russian words so that she could use them when talking to him. And a letter came from the school in spring that a new system was being introduced and official letters would be dubbed into the parents' native language with the help of an automatic translator.

Discrimination in Quebec

If you have already thought that all is well with languages in Canada, I will disappoint you. There is discrimination, and I left Quebec for a reason. Historically, French is the mother tongue of more than 80% of the population of Quebec, and it is also the only official language in the province.⠀⠀⠀⠀

Quebec has a so-called language police. It literally monitors the way French is used in the province. And there are many amusing stories associated with its officers, by the way.

The strangest situation happened in 2013, when the language police tried to force an Italian restaurant to remove the word "pasta" from its menu because it was not French. But the menu simply listed Italian cuisine — it's an Italian restaurant, after all! Also in Quebec, they can block a website if it doesn't have a French version.

It could get worse in the province this year because its government is tightening requirements for businesses, restricting admissions to English-language colleges, and forcing immigrants to learn French. If you immigrate to Quebec, you can't have your child enrolled in an English speaking school. For example, my kids went to a special class for immigrants after moving to Quebec.

Is it worth the trip to Quebec?

I think everyone has to decide for themselves. I lived in the suburbs of Montreal for almost 4 years and for various reasons I did not learn French. I didn't feel any obvious discrimination during that time, but I was very uncomfortable when picking up my son from daycare or going to a parent-teacher meeting and everyone there was speaking French. This is one of the reasons why I moved from Montreal to Ottawa. In one year of living in Ontario, I straight up exhaled from freedom and have never once regretted the move.

Now, when I read the news about the stiffening in Quebec, I remember life in Ukraine. I always spoke Russian, and now they practically force me to speak Ukrainian there, too.

I have nothing against French or Ukrainian. Even though we moved to an English-speaking province, our older children were enrolled in a French school. But I am against restrictions, I think that everyone should decide for himself what language to speak.

Alex Pavlenko, Founder of Immigrant.Today