Issues of Bilingual Education in Quebec's English-Language Schools

The authors note that Quebec Anglophone youth are the most bilingual and become bilingual at a younger age than Francophone or Allophone youth. The reason for this is that Quebec’s English-speaking parents have been able to rely on schools to develop their children’s bilingual skills, thanks to French immersion and other enriched French-second language programs, and in some cases by crossing over to the French sector. However, the authors also note that English-language schools in Quebec face an important double challenge. These schools need to contribute to the vitality of the official language minority community, as well as prepare students to be bilingual, biliterate and comfortable in French-speaking environments so that they can integrate into society and the workforce and remain in Quebec. To this double challenge must be added the need to provide students from all language backgrounds enrolled in schools with bilingualism skills. The authors explain that these challenges are costly ones for an English-language school sector already seriously affected by a decline in student numbers and, consequently, with dwindling access to financial resources.

Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN)

[Research Brief no. 6]

2021; revised 2023

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