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I’ve met a few people over the years who believe that all Canadians are bilingual and that you should know at least some French before visiting us, but neither of those things is true.
According to Stats Canada, French is the first language of about 20% of thepopulation, English is the first language of 57% of us, and the other 23% learned another language first. About 18% of Canadians speak both French and English.
If you’re visiting a rural village in Quebec and speaking to a group of elderly people who have lived there for their entire lives, you will probably either need to speak French with them or bring an interpreter with you. The same can be true if you’re going deep into Northern Canada to visit small indigenous or First Nations communities as sometimes the oldest living generations there don’t speak English well (or at all) either from what I have heard, although I know more about the French angle due to how much higher the percentage of French speakers is in southern Ontario as compared to indigenous languages.
The largest cities in all of our provinces and territories are filled with people who speak English fluently and the vast majority of the other rural areas in the rest of Canada can say the same.
It might be their second, third, fourth, etc. language due to how much immigration we’ve been lucky enough to have, but you should have no problem communicating with most people in big cities if you need directions or other types of assistance.
People who immigrate to Quebec are required to speak French on an A2 proficiency level in order to receive Permanent Residency.
(For anyone who doesn’t know, proficiency levels range from a low of A1 to a high of C2 from what I understand, so they are basically asking new residents to be able to have short, simple conversations in that language and know enough about it to be able to fill out a form that, say, asks for your name, phone number, and home address. Fluency takes much longer to acquire and is not required).
It is not at all necessary to know French (or Pikanii, Tlingit, or any other non-English language) in order to have a great vacation here or live in any of the other provinces or territories, though.
Once I become fluent in Spanish, French is next on my list to learn. After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll try one of the many amazing Indigenous languages next.
This was really interesting, Lydia. I find languages fascinating. I’m learning German and Italian on and off via Duolingo. I did try learning French but I found it difficult.
I’m glad you liked it, George. It’s interesting that French was difficult for you. Thanks for the heads up.
I’ve always wanted to visit Canada…it’s definitely on my wish list. One of my friends who lives in Tifton is actually a Canadian. His wife (who was born here in the south) has introduced us to a lot of Canadian foods (like poutine and Nanaimo bars) and we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with them every year at their home. My post is here if you want to stop by: https://jhthomas.blogspot.com/2026/06/wwbc-something-to-know-before-visiting.html
Oh, that’s so cool! I hope you’ll get to visit Canada someday, and I’ll take you out for coffee or something if you do, you’re in my area, and are interested. 🙂
Having a basic understanding of French would have helped that poor cab driver we had in Montreal a couple of years ago. Poor guy. Eventually, I will get back to Canada. I want to visit Toronto and Vancouver, and so many other places. You have a gorgeous country!
Here is my post.
Thank you. I hope that will happen for you!
A few years back I had a French obsession and tried to learn a little, but I got so tired of memorizing which letters don’t simply evaporate into air when you pronounce them. XD
Honestly, that’s totally valid. 😂
I loved Montreal when I was there. Our family is from Quebec, but I’ve never been there.
That’s awesome!
You don’t have to study French at school?
Up to about 1960 French was the international language of diplomats and was taught to children whose parents thought they might get into some university somewhere someday. I started in grade three and can now say “Je lis mais je ne parle pas.”
My brother had someone to speak French with–a French Canadian school friend–and became much more fluent. I found people to speak Spanish with, was given Spanish books and records too, and can now have a conversation with people from Mexico or Colombia if they speak slowly.
Languages fascinate me but I’m in awe of people like Andrei Codrescu (on Substack these days) or Bjorn Rudberg (on dVerse Poets Pub) who write in languages that are foreign to them.