Just a quick post about something which I was surprised about over 8 years ago.
At the time I was in Bosnia, and we worked with a Canadian detatchment. Only the officer spoke English, the other 3 only spoke French. This came as quite a surprise, especially within a country's defence force. Effectively making it a 2 tier organisation.

So; How important is bilingualism in the Canadian immigration process?
Luckily, the wife is studying French as a hobby; I can affect a rather stilted conversation.
(I understand that a good working knowledge of French is important in Quebec.)

Just one of those little memories which pop up from time to time.

Thanks.

Hi,

It isn't necessary to be bilingual, at least not if you live in English speaking Canada. Even in Montreal you can get away with speaking English to a certain extent. I think some parts of New brunswick are Francophone and maybe even some communities near the Ontario/Quebec border.

Welcome to th board!

Int.

Although it is nice to be able to speak French and English!

Depends where you are ... most of the bilingual signs you see in downtown Calgary are in English & Chinese ... French is pretty useless here.

I know people who send their kids to French immersion schools ... they're federally funded so they get more money than local schools, and French is pretty much mandatory of you want any sort of government job.

However ... I've heard of people being sent off to take a French course to increase the number of points they get ... if your score is marginal, it's worth thinking about ... even if you don't use it when you get here.

Near Ottawa (in Ontario!) there are quite a few villages (Rusell, Embrun) where you have to speak french to get around!

In our neck of the woods I'd say French???Wossat??? You're more likely to need Ukranian, German or Dutch. There are some towns that ask for french when advertising for jobs (last one was in Gravelbourg) and the government jobs usually require fluent french but unless you're going to the obvious place then don't consider it unless for a fun/learning excercise.

For the main applicant, it's useful - extra points as per the federal grid.
If you're competent in French, and happy to live in Quebec, you may even find you can qualify for Quebec even if you don't have the points for federal immigration.

Leaving aside Quebec ...

It's near-essential if you want to work for the federal government (you also need Canadian citizenship).

It's also near-essential for many government and municipal jobs in provinces with francophone communities, especially New Brunswick. Some parts of Ontario (eg Ottawa) are also effectively bilingual and French is certainly an asset even for non government jobs.

As for Quebec, the only positions which do not require French are likely to be in larger corporations headquartered in Montreal and even there it would put you at a disadvantage compared to locals.

Jeremy

Important for points, if you need them. In ontario, largely irrelevent, but nice to have if visiting Quebec or aiming to work for the government eventually.

All canadian military (officers anyway) are brought up to standard in both languages as part of (officer) training I believe.

Can't speak a word of French tried in school when working clearing French Wine trucks into England but just can't do it.

French is as useful as you want to make it. When in Montreal met some locals who Organised the Soccer tournament lived there all their lives could speak a word. For immigration points it could be worth a little but unless you actually looking for it you'll probably never have a problem.

PS The French in Canada isn't the same french as in Europe it's le québécois.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu%E9b%E9cois_French

But the process doesn't worry about.

Have fun

We saw a few signs in Nova Scotia saying "On parle Fracaise" mais quand j'esseyer, toute le monde ne connait pas toute les mots que je dite.

Bilingualism isn't important for immigration (unless, like you say, you want to land in Quebec). You don't even need to be able to speak either of the official languages to get in under the current rules... however, it will certainly make life easier if you speak one or both. I've spent time in Ontario and the Maritimes and you can generally get by without French there.

Suze

I was told and it may just be a get off my back response that unless you are fluent to the point where you are French the CHC will not count your abilities towards points.

I just loved spending 6 months re-living my O'Level to no avail!

Mind you I quiet like the idea of learning a second language.

Going to have a stab at English one day- especially the spelling bit which I am crap at! So the wife has told me for 20 years or so.

Is billingual a Karma Sutra Position?

If you're short on points to meet the passmark, you might try the TOEFL-test (I guess that's what it's called) to throw in your ability to speak/understand/write/read French. Since for most of you english is your first language, the french language will be your second, thus enabling you to score a maximum of 8 points. I'm not fluent in english, but I managed to get the maximum score, so with a reasonable fluency in french one must at least be able to score SOME points.

You were never taught in school? In Holland I had to learn, besides dutch of course, english, french and german. Through my work I learned a bit of spanish and during my holidays in Portugal i picked up the portuguese language. But that was years ago! I was rather fluent in portuguese, but because I never used it anymore I forgot most of it.

Try page 684!

Who told you that? If you take the TEF then they will give you the points you deserve based on your result. If not, they have to guess and you might end up with nul points.

It's "Kama" Sutra

Suze

I said I was crap at spelling.

I have a good go at the Sutra though...

Yes I would agree. But as we have more than enough at the outset...points that is, I am told that to make headway at this stage might hold up the application as we are adding paperwork. If, and If it becomes a problem ...If and If the points go way up I was told that that bridge would be crossed when need be and not before. Steady as she goes. North by North west. Actually West would just suit fine.

But to claim any points post application would invlove some formal exam - and I never thought about that until we had all the paperwork in. Then some lawyer person put the idea of retrospective applying of points being raised and just about everyone freaked. In the lap of your God who ever it may be.