Oh, Canada! A sprawling, warm-hearted country that you might know for its famous friendliness, impressive mountains, cosmopolitan cities, maple syrup, and love of hockey. It’s a land where vast wilderness and wildlife meet bustling modern cities. But it would be a shame to paint all of this glorious country with the same brush. There is a rich variety of language and culture in Canada, including several Francophone areas—the biggest of which is Québec.
As a learner of French, a trip to French-speaking Canada might be at the top of your list, and we think that’s une bonne idée (a good idea)! But will your Standard French skills translate to French in Canada? Might there be some confusion between the French dialects? The French spoken in Canada is unique, but don’t panic—your Standard French will definitely come in handy.
We’ll take a look below at how Standard French and Canadian dialects differ. Plus, we’ll share a whole list of phrases that are bound to come in handy!
No matter what dialect or region you’re exploring, there’s more to a language than memorizing vocabulary and verb charts. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion can bring linguistic variety right to your fingertips, mirroring the way you first acquired language as a child. And if you’re looking to put your French skills to the test by booking a trip and soaking in the captivating charm of Québecois French, we are here to help you prepare!
>>You’ll want to know 100+ Basic French phrases for any situation before you pack your bags!
Why is French spoken in Canada?
Canada has a complex history with the French language, one that can scarcely be covered in a short blog post. It began during the 1500s when Jacques Cartier arrived in Newfoundland. French settlers, many of them fur traders, colonized the area, including what is now known as Québec, first founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain.
As the British colonized more of the land, wars, missionary activity, and further disputes over land and language resulted in a linguistically divided country. Even when French colonial rule came to an end, the French language and culture persisted in some areas.
In 1969, the Official Languages Act recognized both English and French as co-official languages and granted them equal status by law. The federal government operates in both languages, and provincial governments and territories are required to provide bilingual instruction to their students. To encourage more Anglophone citizens to pursue mastery of French, there are many bourses (scholarships) and opportunities available for Canadian citizens to pursue higher-level study of French as an additional language.
What dialects of French are spoken in Canada?
The British conquest, paired with the sheer geographical vastness of Canada, separated groups of French speakers into three separate entities. Isolated from each other, the dialects evolved individually, but they each share features that differ from European French. Québecois is the dominant dialect of the province of Québec, and will be the focus of this post.
There are also specific dialects associated with each of the provinces of Canada, as Francophone communities maintained their language and culture over centuries. Notable French dialects include Acadian, Franco-Ontarian, and Terre-Neuve (Newfoundland) French. Throughout Canada, and even south of the Canadian border, are other Francophone communities with related dialects.
What are the French-speaking areas of Canada?
Across the continent, over 7 million Canadians speak French as their first language. The majority live in Québec, with French being the sole official language in the province, and in bilingual New Brunswick, where French has co-official status.
In Québec, over 95 percent of people speak Québecois (the French dialect spoken in Québec) as their first or second language. Around one million French speakers live in other parts of Canada, with around a third of Canadians reporting that they have a conversational level of French. In nearly every province you will find pockets of Francophone communities, each with their own language distinctives.
Along the Atlantic we find the region called Acadia, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, which all have strong French-speaking traditions, unique to the area.
When it comes to Ontario, many newcomers of all language backgrounds choose to settle in Toronto. Over 60,000 people speak French in this dynamic and multicultural metropolis.
As you travel further west, you are more likely to find only smaller pockets of people maintaining their long standing francophone heritage, such as St. Boniface (part of Winnipeg) in Manitoba, Gravelbourg in Saskatchewan, and St Paul in Alberta.
If you’re traveling to Canada as a student or tourist, you’ll see signage and documents in both English and French. This is the case throughout the country, but if you really want to focus on French, opt for a community that is majority Francophone. Connect with a sympathetic local who is used to learners, and you’ll enjoy maximum exposure to their unique dialect.
What does a Canadian French accent sound like?
Everyone has an accent that reflects the pronunciation and cadences of their main language influences from childhood. Most English speakers are familiar with a general difference between American and British dialects, even though both groups have multitudes of smaller regional accents among them. This level of differentiation holds the same between Québecois and Standard French.
It’s important to note that there is no one particular Canadian French accent. Just like in English, there are regional differences, even between areas that are only separated by a couple hours’ drive. For someone who has grown up in Québec, different accents might be obvious between cities, but several things distinguish most Québecois from Standard French.
- Many vowels are pronounced differently, with more diphthongs created in Québecois.
- The “o” in words like chose (thing) in Québecois will sound as though you are pronouncing both “o” and “oo.”
- The “oi” sound in moi (me) sounds more like “oé.”
- The final “ain” sound in words like main (hand) sounds like “a-in” with a very nasal sound.
These vowel sounds reflect an older form of French, as pronounced by the aristocratic pronunciation of the colonizers.
- Speech in Canada is considered to have more of a “sing-song” quality when compared with France.
- Vowels and word endings with silent consonants have more of a nasal sound, which can even lead to confusion between words, such as parents (parents) which could be confused with parrains (godparents).
- A careful listener will hear an “s” or “z” sound in some words with t or d consonants, such as mardi (Tuesday) which sounds more like “mardzi” or “extraordinaire” (amazing) which sounds like “extraordzinaire.”
It can be really fun to compare and contrast how new friends and acquaintances pronounce words. Though adapting to the Québecois accent is considerably more difficult for a European French speaker than say, a Swiss French accent, having patience, a sense of humor and curiosity is the name of the game!
What are the differences between Canadian French and Standard French?
Less formality
Canadian French speakers use the more informal tu (you) instead of vous (you) much more often than in France, which may make Canada seem like a friendly place to master the language. The use of tu with strangers is considered impolite in France, but would be more common in Canada. It’s still not a bad idea to use vous just in case, though you may be given permission right away to tutoyer (to use the tu form).
You’ll also notice more use of on (informal “we”) instead of nous (standard, formal “we”). In this case, verbs are conjugated like the il/elle form, so it’s a little simpler to form some sentences, too.
Influence of English and First Nation languages
There are many First Nation communities throughout Canada, leading to loan-words that are specific to other indigenous languages.
| French Word (borrowed word) | Meaning |
| un carcajou | a wolverine |
| un mocassin | a moccasin |
| un achigan | a black bass |
| une babiche | a snowshoe |
| un maringouin | a mosquito |
English is also a heavy influence in Canada, so anglicismes (words and phrases influenced by the English language) are quite common. They do not necessarily correspond with the anglicismes used in France, however!
| Canada | France | English meaning |
| J’ai parqué mon char | J’ai stationné ma voiture | I parked my car |
| C’est très le fun. | C’est très amusant. | It’s really fun. |
| Je vais faire du magasinage | Je vais faire du shopping | I’m going to go shopping |
| cette fin de semaine | ce weekend | this weekend |
| le courriel | le mail | the mail |
| le chien chaud | Le hotdog | the hot dog |
| un joke | une blague | a joke |
| ARRÊT | STOP | STOP (on a stop sign) |
Names of meals
If you’ve studied the difference between the names of meals in France versus Switzerland or Belgium, this is a familiar difference. The words for “dinner,” “supper” and even “tea” can cause confusion in English as well, so it is useful to know the norms in the region you are visiting.
| Canada | France | Meaning |
| Le déjeuner | Le petit-déjeuner | the first meal in the morning, breakfast |
| Le dîner | Le déjeuner | mid-day meal Lunch, luncheon, dinner (depending on English-speaking region) |
| Le souper | Le dîner | evening meal Dinner, supper (depending on English-speaking region) |
Use of both older and newer terms
Just like in Switzerland and Belgium, there are traces of older French dialects that are still in use today, but have disappeared or are now considered antiquated in France. For example, barrer means “to lock” in Québec, but has been replaced with fermer à clé or verrouiller in France.
On the other hand, terms that have been invented specifically for things that exist only in Canada, such as some terms in government, technology, or words for newer products or ideas, will be different from France as well.
un dépanneur = a small grocery store/corner store
Formation of questions
In informal conversation in Québecois, questions can include the word tu as a marker of a question, in place of est-ce que. This is absent in formal French and in Europe.
- Elle a-tu dit oui? = Did she say yes?
- Il veut-tu aller au marché? = Does he want to go to the market?
As you can see, this tu as a question-making add-on can get confused with the subject pronoun tu (you), but serves the purpose of forming questions more quickly.
What words or phrases should I know if I’m traveling to French-speaking Canada?
Good news! Though there are many differences in Québecois French, your French will be helpful in Canada, especially with those who are used to communicating with learners.
Socializing
| Québecois French | Standard/ European French | English meaning |
| Bienvenue! | De rien ! Je vous en prie | You’re welcome |
| Bonne journée! | Au revoir ! | Goodbye / Good day |
| Il fait frette! | Il fait froid ! | It’s cold! |
| C’est amusant! | C’est le fun ! | It’s fun! |
Common words
It would take a great deal of space to list every vocabulary difference in Canadian French, but here are a few you’ll encounter!
| Canadian French | Standard/ European French | English meaning |
| des bas | des chaussette | socks |
| des souliers | des chaussures | shoes |
| la boucane | la fumée | smoke |
| la facteur | une addition | a bill/check (at a restaurant) |
| le soccer | le football, le foot | soccer, European football |
| les vidanges | les poubelles | garbage, trash, rubbish |
| un bicyclette (un bicyc) | un vélo | a bike |
| un breuvage | une boisson | a drink |
| un char | une voiture | a car |
| un chum | un copain | a boyfriend |
| un costume de bain | un maillot de bain | a bathing suit/swimsuit |
| une balayeuse | un aspirateur | a vacuum-cleaner |
| une blonde | une copine | a girlfriend |
| une camisole | un débardeur | a sleeveless t-shirt |
| une cellulaire | un portable | a cell phone |
| une débarbouillette | Une petite serviette/ Un gant de toilette | A washcloth/face cloth |
| une efface | une gomme | an eraser (from a pencil) |
| une laveuse | une machine à laver | a washing machine |
| une liqueur | une boisson gazeuse | a carbonated beverage |
| une pinotte | une cacahuète | a peanut |
| une sacoche | un sac à main | a handbag |
| une tuque | un bonnet | a beanie/wool hat |
Vulgar language… from where?
You get the impression that it’s “spicier” language, but when you look it up, it all seems to be religious in nature. What’s going on? Canadian French is known to intersperse multiple swear words whose literal meanings relate to the Catholic church. Just in case you hear someone shout words such as “chalice,” “baptism” or “tabernacle,” keep in mind that these are called sacres (curse words that come from holy language), and they are considered fairly weighty vulgar language, so use caution.
These colorful words do not usually translate nor correspond with the bad language used in other French speaking regions, and may even confuse French speakers from France!
Explore French in every region with Rosetta Stone
Whether you’re planning a trip, or just connecting with Canadian culture online, learning about the French in Canada will enrich your language learning experience. Just a bit of awareness of regional language differences helps us stay curious and ask questions to avoid too much confusion.
Already have a trip to Canada on the calendar? Brush up on your expressions while enjoying a visit to La Ville de Québec (Québec City) to try some poutine (french fries with cheese curds and gravy), or tourtière (Québecois meat pie). Visit a cabane à sucre (sugar shack) and participate in some fun traditions!
Navigate these common travel situations and more with ease. Rosetta Stone’s Phrasebook teaches you useful phrases related to dining out, getting around, health and safety, and more. Hear a native speaker pronounce each expression and practice saying them yourself, so you’ll be prepared for any real-world encounter.
Since most of us can’t travel as much as we’d like, bring other French regionalisms straight to you! We’d rather give you the tools to make memories rather than focus on memorization alone, so Rosetta Stone focuses on vocabulary and structures in engaging contexts. Discover the world while learning French naturally right from home!
Written by Jamie Edwards
Jamie is a learner and teacher of Spanish and French. When she’s not learning new words, you’ll find her on the soccer sidelines, ski slopes, and track and field bleachers enjoying the four seasons of Western New York.
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