Vocational training in English: the CAQ could legislate

The CAQ government could legislate to close a “loophole” in Bill 101: thousands of young immigrants take their vocational training in English, even if both their parents are allophones.

The Minister for the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, reacted on Wednesday to an article in the Le Devoir newspaper, revealing that over the past 20 years, more than 140,000 new Quebecers have taken vocational training in English, in contradiction with the spirit of the Charter of the French Language.

Roberge refused to speak of a breach, but instead referred to a loophole.

On Tuesday, the Parti Québécois (PQ) had tabled a motion to make vocational training centers and adult education centers subject to the provisions of the Charter of the French Language. The CAQ had refused to debate it.

“There’s a gap that was identified by Le Devoir that hasn’t been filled, so we tried to do something, and the CAQ told us no,” said PQ MNA Pascal Bérubé, in a press scrum.

“He went so far as to say that we were refusing to debate, but it’s the opposite,” Roberge fired back on Wednesday morning, in an attempt to justify his refusal.

He maintained that he had wanted to broaden the scope of the motion by adding general adult education, an amendment that would have been rejected by the PQ, according to him. However, the wording of the PQ motion that was rejected by the CAQ did refer to adult education centers.

Roberge has asked his ministry for an analysis of the situation, and has many questions to which he has no answers.

“How many students study in vocational training? In general adult education? In English-language vocational training? Where are they from, are they newcomers? What is their basic language? Are they francophones, allophones or anglophones?”

Without having these answers, the Minister admits that he “finds what’s happening at the moment very, very, very worrying”.

Adding that he’s not ruling out a bill to strengthen the Charter of the French Language.

“More and more people are using this oversight or loophole in the law. If there’s a need to legislate, we’ll do it.”

Ministry of Education data collated by Le Devoir revealed that by 2021, 10,000 new Quebecers aged 16 and over were enrolled in English-language vocational training.

The data also showed slightly more than a third of all Quebec allophone students in secondary vocational training graduated in English in 2021. And the real number could be even higher, since these figures exclude unsubsidized schools.

“We’re still waiting for their plan for French,” denounced Bérubé. “I don’t know if you have a date between now and Christmas. We don’t, but French doesn’t wait, and then it keeps going backwards.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 22, 2023.