Kicou c'est moi

Kicou a écrit:

(Hi Olivi€r, nice to see you here, what a coincidence)

Indeed!! :-D

Hi Kicou,

Welcome on expat-blog

One question: Toronto is in the english-speaking part of Canada isn't it? Is there places in Canada where you can hear both languages? (maybe everywhere?)

All the best,

Julien

The only bilingual province in Canada is New-Brunswick.

Quebec's only official language is French, and the others provinces and territories use English as their main language.

Ottawa, Ontario, the capital city of Canada is officially bilingual.

English and French are both official languages at the federal level, and you can ask to be served in either language for federal services. At the provincial level, your mileage may vary depending on how important the French speaking (francopohone) population is in your area.

In Toronto, the biggest minority group is the Chinese - they represent roughly 12-13% of the whole population of Canada, most of them being in the Vancouver (over 25%) and Toronto areas.

I would say that apart from English, le language I hear most in Toronto is Chinese (Cantonese). But as over 50% of the population are immigrants, almost everybody seems to use English as a second language, and speak another tongue at home.

French being an official language, there are French public schools throughout the country (my daughter attends one of these).

Toronto's diversity is amazing, and I love this mix of people from all over the world. And what is great is that they live together, without living in separate communities (although you will find ethnic nieghbourhoods, with a higher population of Chinese, Italians, Portuguese, Indians... you-name-it).

To tell you the truth, I find it much more surprising to overhear somebody speak French than Russian or Tamil in the streets of Toronto.

However, if you speak French you know you will find a job, there are tons of bilingual positions.