Quebec’s new language law has dozens of municipalities in the province shoring up their bilingual status, with few considering giving up the right to serve their citizens in both English and French.
Almost 90 cities, towns or boroughs in Quebec are considered officially bilingual, a designation allowing them to offer services, post signage and mail communications in the country’s two official languages. Jurisdictions without this status must communicate only in French, with few exceptions.
Bill 96, the new language law that came into effect June 1, proposes that a municipality’s bilingual status be revoked in places where fewer than 50 percent of citizens have English as a mother tongue. However, a bilingual town or city can avoid losing its status by passing a resolution within 120 days of receiving notice from the province….