Did you know that Canadian French is spoken by more than 84% of the population of Quebec, according to data from the 2021 Census of Canada? That is true, and although many Quebecers or Québécois are bilingual in English and French (or speak another language as their mother tongue), more than 7.07 million people still speak French as their first language.

While Quebec City (la Ville de Québec) is the province’s capital, Montreal (Montréal) is its largest city. Behind Paris, Kinshasa (Republic of Congo), and Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Montreal is the fourth-largest French-speaking city in the world. So, when planning a trip to practise your French, why not consider crossing the Atlantic to discover French-speaking Canada? 

If you do, not only will you get the chance to discover the beautiful old town of Quebec and have a taste of some poutine, but you’ll also be greeted by a new accent and many differences in vocabulary from the standard French you may have been learning. Here are four aspects of Canadian French which prove that learning another dialect of a language can be a wonderfully enriching experience!

1. Je prends mon déjeuner à 8 h et mon dîner à 12 h 30

Surprised? Here’s difference number one between French in France and Canadian French:

For the French, their breakfast is le petit déjeuner, lunch is called le déjeuner and dinner is le dîner. French Canadians, however, opt for:

• breakfast le déjeuner
• lunch le dîner
•   dinner le souper

So don’t be confused if you understand someone as saying they have lunch as soon as they get out of bed! Note that these words can also be heard in Belgium and Switzerland.

2. Your boyfriend is your buddy and your girlfriend is your blonde!

You may have learned that mon petit-ami means my boyfriend and ma petite-amie means my girlfriend. However, in Canadian French, your boyfriend is your chum, and your girlfriend is your blonde, regardless of her hair colour!

For example:

• Voici mon nouveau chum. This is my new boyfriend.
• Voici ma nouvelle blonde. This is my new girlfriend.

While the word blonde doesn’t necessarily have derogatory connotations, it is slang and should only be used in informal, conversational contexts.

3. C’est là là !

As you may already know, là can be translated as there and is used in standard French in contexts such as je l’ai trouvé là I found it there. However, in informal, spoken québécois or Canadian French, this two-letter word is found at the end of many sentences, often without a translatable meaning!

It is often used for emphasis or to add more emotion to a statement. For example, if you’re getting frustrated at a person who is looking for something which is right in front of their nose, you might say regarde, c’est là là ! While the first là would explain the position of the object, the second one is almost like a spoken exclamation mark, expressing the speaker’s impatience.

4. Les anglicismes

Finally, in case you’re starting to worry about having to learn a whole new language when travelling to French-speaking Canada, don’t panic – many English words are used too!

In larger cities like Montreal, French and English merge together and influence one another, sometimes referred to as franglais. Some young Québécois will even start a conversation in French ,then suddenly change into English and back into French again within a few sentences.

This means that Canadian French borrows and adapts many words from English.

Here are some of the most common ones (English / standard French / québécois French):

• to check / vérifier / checker
• to direct or “be the boss of” / diriger / bosser
• cute / mignon / cute (English pronunciation)
• anyway / de toute façon / anyway (English pronunciation)
• a joke / une blague / une joke (English pronunciation)

Sometimes, it’s almost easier for English speakers to understand what a québécois person is saying than it is for people who speak standard French!

5. À tantôt

In québecois or Canadian French, the phrase à tantôt is a charming way to say see you later which in standard French would be à tout à l’heure. This sentence is widely used in Quebec as an informal farewell among friends and family.

Interestingly, the use of à tantôt demonstrates how Québecois French often preserves linguistic elements that have fallen out of common usage in France. Historically, tantôt was used more broadly in European French to signify a near-future time. In Quebec, it has endured as part of a living language, reflecting the province’s rich linguistic heritage.

Embracing Canadian French

Of course, the idea of travelling to a place with an unfamiliar accent and new vocabulary that you haven’t learned may seem daunting, but we hope you can see how interesting and fun it can be visiting many different countries where the language you’re learning is spoken.

Have you had any experience travelling to a country where the language you’re learning is spoken with an unfamiliar accent and vocabulary, such as Canadian French? If you would like to hear different French accents in the comfort of your home, check out the blog post we prepared with the best movies for French learners!