Concerns over expansion of Quebec language law to adult education, vocational school

MONTREAL — The Quebec government has introduced a bill that would force people seeking training in fields such as machining, cabinet making and professional cooking to study in French.

The legislation, tabled Thursday, expands the province’s strict language laws to adult education and vocational training, drawing criticism from English school boards, community groups and a teachers union. Adult education is often for people who did not finish high school; vocational training offers short-term specialized classes in areas such as carpentry and secretarial studies.

The bill would require students to study in French unless they already qualify for English-language education under the Charter of the French Language. Critics warn the bill could restrict access to training programs and complicate efforts to address labour shortages.

Speaking in Quebec City, French-language Minister Jean-François Roberge said his bill respects existing language rights while closing what he described as a gap in the province’s language laws. Quebec restricts public English-language primary and secondary school education to students with at least one parent who went to English school in Canada.

The bill, Roberge said, would bring adult education and vocational training under the same restrictions, ensuring “that the entire pre-university educational pathway will now be covered by the French Language Charter.”

The Lester B. Pearson School Board, one of Montreal’s largest English-language school boards, said the measure could discourage some adults from pursuing education.

“This bill is not about offering opportunities for adult learners to choose an educational pathway with the best guarantee for success,” board chairperson Judith Kelley said. “It is about creating barriers and removing options for individuals whose learning could be best served in the English system.”

Joe Ortona, president of the Quebec English School Boards Association, which represents 300 elementary and secondary schools in the province, said in a statement the bill reflects a “political agenda” and would restrict access to education ”while weakening pathways to employment and economic participation.”

Ortona described English-language adult education and vocational training programs as well established and highly successful, and which already incorporate French-language instruction.

He also argued that English-language vocational programs help address labour shortages in sectors including construction and health services.

A group that represents Quebec’s English-speaking community — TALQ — said the bill risked aggravating labour shortages.

“At a time when Quebec faces persistent labour shortages in health care, construction, transportation and the skilled trades, limiting access to vocational training is difficult to justify,” said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, the group’s director general.

If adopted, the bill would take effect two years after it is signed into law, allowing current students to complete their programs, said Roberge. ”The goal is not to disrupt students’ educational path,” he added.

A major Quebec teachers union — Fédération autonome de l’enseignement — questioned how the bill would be implemented amid teacher shortages.

The minister said the proposal is part of the government’s broader effort to reverse what it says is the decline of French in Quebec.

Roberge pointed to provincial data suggesting that people who complete their studies in French are far more likely to use French later in life, including at work.

He said about three-quarters of the 27,000 students who would be affected by the measure live in Montreal, where the use of French is more fragile than elsewhere in the province.

Roberge said he hoped the expansion would be adopted by the national assembly before it’s set to adjourn for the summer on June 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2026.

Charlotte Glorieux, The Canadian Press