IMMIGRANT LANGUAGES AND THE LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN CANADA

The article concerns the position of the languages of immigrants and their impact on the linguistic situation in Canada. The waves of immigration, the origin of immigrants and their linguistic competence have always had a decisive influence on the linguistic situation in Canada. For historical, political and geographical reasons, it is Asians that prevail among the immigrants who settle down in Canada and the linguistic situation in the country is also changing in favour of Asian languages (mainly Chinese). By contrast, Quebec takes in fewer Asians and many more immigrants come from Africa, South America and the Antilles. The immigrants who arrive in Quebec contribute to the amelioration of the position of the French language in this unilingual francophone province.