# Are the Canadian Forces bilingual? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319 "2004-11-12T02:38:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hadrian0117](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hadrian0117](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian0117)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/1 "2004-11-12T02:38:58Z")
Is the Canadian military fully bilingual? Since Canada has two official languages I wonder how that works with military units? Are there seperate Francophone & Anglophone units in the Army & Air Force? What about the Navy? Are some ships Francophone and others Anglophone? Would you need to have all the members of a given unit speak the same language (at least on duty)? Do they speak French on bases in Québec & New Brunswick and English on bases in the rest of Canada? ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/2 "2004-11-12T02:48:28Z")
The Canadian Forces are fully [bilingual](http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=884). Officers are expected to speak both English and French, and **must** in order to achieve the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel (Air/Land) or Commander (Sea). ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/3 "2004-11-12T02:51:03Z")
The Forces is officially bilingual. In practice it is largely bilingual. I suspect Quebec is over-represented (by population) in the Forces. I have frequent dealings with Base Borden. Most of the soldiers speak at least some of the other language, and many are fully bilingual. In practice, I think the army tries to mix it up as much as possible. In war time, I don’t know… but in WW1 and WW2 I think there was a lot more language segregation than would happen today. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/4 "2004-11-12T05:04:09Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I suspect Quebec is over-represented (by population) in the Forces. Slight Hijack: why would that be? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/5 "2004-11-12T13:35:48Z")
> [@Hadrian0117](#): > > Is the Canadian military fully bilingual? Since Canada has two official languages I wonder how that works with military units? Are there seperate Francophone & Anglophone units in the Army & Air Force? What about the Navy? Are some ships Francophone and others Anglophone? Would you need to have all the members of a given unit speak the same language (at least on duty)? Do they speak French on bases in Québec & New Brunswick and English on bases in the rest of Canada? Having been in the Forces, most soldiers are NOT bilingual. I met very few enlisted ranks who could effectively speak both languages, and a surprising number of junior officers can’t speak French. As already pointed out, bilingualism is a requirement for getting to senior positions. Quebecois soldiers are usually bilingual; soldiers from English Canada usually aren’t, but in some positions they have to be. Most Army units are practically uniligual one way or another. I dunno about ships. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/6 "2004-11-13T02:35:24Z")
[hijack] People go into the military for different reasons. Few Canadians are homicidal types. Most go into the military since it is a job (hard to come by in some places) that provides some education, travel, opportunity for advancement, skills, camaraderie, etc. I know one guy who joined because of “the really cool camping equipment they give you”, but I think this is the exception. The education can be very good. I know lots of military doctors and engineers who funded their schooling with service. Perhaps in Quebec or Eastern Canada jobs or skills are harder to come by. Certainly in Eastern Canada the military is seen as a respectable career option. In snobby Ontario, I don’t think a military career would be seen as a prestigious choice. I don’t know about out West. From my significant exposure (I worked as a civillian on a military base, work at a Hospital which sees many military personnel, and use the excellent military fitness facilities), I believe Eastern Canada and Quebec are both very well-represented in the military. I don’t know the statistics, though. I’d guess the local job markets and status given to a military job would be big factors. [hijack] All of the military base signs are in both languages. English people I know who trained at miltary schools had to take French. Most military francophones I see at the hospital know some English (my knowledge of French is quite good, my accent is not but I can make myself understood). Bilingualism is officially encouraged. In practice, fluency is a difficult goal – Quebecois French has its own little challenges. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/7 "2004-11-13T03:49:40Z")
Hijack: where are the military academies for Canada? ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/8 "2004-11-13T04:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Hijack: where are the military academies for Canada? If you mean The Royal Military College, there used to be three; St Jean, Quebec; Royal Roads, in Victoria, BC, and the oldest, Kingston (which is still in operation). Kingston: [http://www.rmc.ca/](http://www.rmc.ca/) (note that all Department of National Defence sites are in both French and English–as are all federal government websites). St-Jean: [http://www.cmr53.visionglobale.ca/f/450039.html](http://www.cmr53.visionglobale.ca/f/450039.html) Royal Roads officer cadets were known, inevitably, as “Royal Rodents.” Roads was a huge (600 acre) estate and castle built by the Dunsmuir family in the 1890s (coal money). It is now a public university campus. If you’ve seen any of the X-Men movies, it’s the castle that was used as Prof. Xavier’s School for Gifted Young People. I go to the gym there, myself. [http://www.rrmc.ca/](http://www.rrmc.ca/) (an “unofficial website” comemmorating the military’s use of the property from 1942 until 1995) There are lots of other training establishments across the country for various specialties and trades, of course. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-canadian-forces-bilingual/274319/9 "2004-11-13T06:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > In snobby Ontario, I don’t think a military career would be seen as a prestigious choice. What the hell are you talking about?