It is in businesses in the census metropolitan areas (CMA) of Montreal and Gatineau that the greatest number of customers have been served in a language other than French in 2023. Indifference towards language service is also more widespread there than elsewhere.
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This is what a survey by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) revealed on the language of reception and service in businesses.
Thus, the data published Tuesday show that in businesses in the Montreal CMA, 59% of customers surveyed were served in French, while 39.4% were served in English.
In the Gatineau CMA, 55.7% were served only in French, and 43.2% in English.
Conversely, it was in the CMA of Sherbrooke (88.9%) and Quebec City (81.5%) that customers were served the most in French.
In terms of reception, i.e. the first contact between a merchant and the consumer, the survey also reveals that it was done in a language other than French for 40% of Montreal customers, and for 37% of that of Gatineau (30% for all of Quebec).
Across Quebec, in 2023, 78% of customers preferred to be greeted in French in businesses. Once again, it is in the Montreal and Gatineau CMAs that this proportion is lower (67% and 73% respectively).
The survey also shows that when the welcome is given in a language other than French, 43% of Quebecers agree to continue the exchange in another language.
Across the province, one in three Quebecers say they are “indifferent” when they are not greeted in French.
It is in the Montreal CMA that customers seem the most “indifferent” (29.7%).
Between 2012 and 2023, the proportion of Montreal customers experiencing “negative feelings” when greeted in a language other than French fell from 55% to 40%.
The survey was conducted among 3,822 Quebec adults, from November 7 to December 15, 2023.
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