I keep thinking about moving there, actually - I checked out their immigration requirements a few years ago (I suppose I should re-check in case they changed a lot) and all I needed was some savings and a job lined up. I qualified on all the other bits. Only problem is that I can't take all my loved ones with me, and they don't want to come :-(
Actually one needs to speak English or French. There is a fairly small points bonus for being bilingual. In reality Canada isn't bilingual at all. One province even makes English illegal in certain contexts. To the best of my knowledge, no province has banned the use of French.
Seriously, the Federal government and the governments of New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba are required to offer services in both languages. That's as far as it goes. Speaking French in Vancouver is about as useful as speaking Swedish in Milan.
And lest you blame this more or less bilingual immigrant I would point out that both my children were educated in French immersion programmes. However the experience of an educated middle class immigrant in a major urban area is just not typical at all.
This isn't quite the whole story for academics; a few universities (I know UofOttawa, and I think also Concordia, maybe) require faculty to be able to teach in French and in English. It's one of the reasons I'd not want a job at UofO, even though I kind of like Ottawa.
Sure, there are jobs where one needs to be bilingual (most any customer facing job in Montreal for example) and a couple of bilingual institutions like U of Zero but in general I'd say Canada is much, much less bilingual than a lot of people overseas imagine.
Yes, that's certainly true. I kind of feel like I should learn French, but that's mostly because I would vaguely like to imagine going on vacation in the one part of this country that has artisanal cheeses and being a little more able to communicate. But even then, I'd probably be ok with a smile and my English.
These days, it requires a fair amount of effort on your part: it's harder than in the past, as George W. Bush is our most useful recruiting person. Lots of US academics are trying to move here...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:14 pm (UTC)*nudges Anglo Canadians around her*
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:25 pm (UTC)Seriously, the Federal government and the governments of New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba are required to offer services in both languages. That's as far as it goes. Speaking French in Vancouver is about as useful as speaking Swedish in Milan.
And lest you blame this more or less bilingual immigrant I would point out that both my children were educated in French immersion programmes. However the experience of an educated middle class immigrant in a major urban area is just not typical at all.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:52 pm (UTC)And you do need Swedish in Milan when you're showing the J. Lindeberg autumn collection...
no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 02:13 am (UTC)And it looks like you need near-perfect Swedish. Not just any Swedish will do.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:29 pm (UTC)