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Hi all. First post; please be gentle. I did a search but nothing specific came up.
I am an Australian who is travelling to Canada with my girlfriend in November on the WHP visa. Montreal is our first choice as it seems to tick all the boxes. I am hoping to go to Montreal to pick up work for a construction/mining/EPCM company in a Contracts Specialist/Quantity Surveyor role as it seems many large companies are actually based in Montreal (SNC Lavalin, Ausenco for example) and I have the right experience coming from a background on mega projects here in Australia's northwest. I am aware of the hub in Alberta, however I want to live in either Montreal, or Toronto as a second preference.
Neither of us speak french although we have started lessons. Its a steep learning curve and its going to be highly unlikely either of us will be fluent in 2 months time.
Many of the job postings for various companies do not specify the need for bilingualism. Therefore, my question is for those that work for larger multinational companies in Montreal; is it an unspoken prerequisite for employment as it is assumed you are conversant in french? Is french spoken in the workplace?
Quebec takes its language laws to absurd levels as you may find out if and when you move to Montreal,
Plenty of resourceful reading on the issue. Heres one of many articles talking about the legal aspects of speaking French in the work place. Expanding to Quebec: Small business, Bill 101, French Language laws and OQLF | Toronto Star
If i were a prospective immigrant to Canada i think i'd avoid the bs and linguistic hassle all together and move elsewhere than Quebec, using the adage Quebec is a great place to visit not so great place to live if you are English.
An article on what the general attitude is from the rest of Canada. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...-quebec-to-go/
It is entirely possible that a multinational corporation in Montreal could hire you even if you speak no French.
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Thats a possibility if there are less than 50 employees, if not then only until some separatist zealot rats him and the company out to the language police. its the law!
Thats a possibility if there are less than 50 employees, if not then only until some separatist zealot rats him and the company out to the language police. its the law!
Not really true Jambo, I work for a multinational company which is one of the top 10 "largest investment bank" in the world. We have 500+ people employed here and we do not conduct business in French. English is must for day to day work. Don't forget we employ 95% of the locals though and they all must speak English because of global environment. Well Language police tried but what they could achieve is to force some labels and instructions on equipments to change into French.
Some reading pertinent to any one thinking of moving to Quebec,heres the rules Charter of the French language
Somewhere in there is this stipulation =
Quote:
The current language law makes it mandatory for companies with 50 or more employees to impose French as the language of communication in the workplace.
While your tech company is allowed to communicate with its out of province customers in another language other than French all inter office communication is supposed to be done in French.its the law..
Quote:
Under Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, also known as Bill 101, all businesses in the province are required to have a French-language name and signage.
If a business isn’t using enough French to meet the OQLF’s standards, they must go through a “francisation” process to increase their use of the language in the workplac
I don't know how the language laws are enforced but I worked in a couple of multinational companies in Montreal and all internal communication and meetings were conducted in English. Some of the companies were American branches but other were companies based in Quebec with French speaking owners. I am not going to name the companies here to cause any trouble but they are well known companies.
The official e-mails and communication were always bilingual with the French being the first language used. Let's say an e-mail sent to all the employees or an announcement or policy would be always bilingual. The day to day work, processes, e-mails was 100% English. You have to be fluent in English to geta job in any of these companies. French was a bonus and sometimes required but English was an absolutely must. Plenty of my co-workers have very basic French skills. Some are born in Montreal, some are recent immigrants but definitely they wouldn't be able to work in French. They can order a bagel and coffee at Tim Hortons in French but not write and express themselves in a French company.
Politics are politics but when it gets to business the companies are doing what they have to do to survive. They will find way to go around the laws.
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