Practices unusual for your state

[mrsman]

Why does Quebec not use bilingual signs? Aren't about half of the Québécois able to speak English? Never mind all those travelling through.

Quebec is a french province. While plenty of residents can speak english, french is the first language for at least 80 percent of Quebecers. There are many places in the US with a lower percentage of native english speakers, but bilingual road signs are not standard or common in the US. People put a double standard on Quebec just because it's different from the rest of North America, but they have every right to preserve their language.

But Canada requires double language signage everywhere else, it seems.

Perhaps not everywhere, but you definitely see the directionals on highways in Ontrario as

North/Nord
South/Sud
East/Est
West/Ouest

and

Exit/Sortie

I don't see the point of this, as these words are easy enough that people can probably get without the need for translation.  I actually consider using both words to be more distracting than just using one or the other.  And I don't speak French.

So I probably won't freak out if I see Autoroute 20 Ouest, the same way that French Canadians shouldn't have a problem with ON-401 West.

Now for some of the longer statements, yeah, I think a translation would be helpful, especially in the Montreal or Quebec City area that has significant Anglo areas as well as significant tourists.  So the wordy sign about the sidewalk being closed should be translated in English.  But the "excepte autobus" should be readily understandable to English speakers without the need for a translation.

Or perhaps Canada needs to adopt more European signage.  The signage there says suprisingly alot with just the use of pictures.

[1995hoo]

Why does Quebec not use bilingual signs? Aren't about half of the Québécois able to speak English? Never mind all those travelling through.

Quebec is a french province. While plenty of residents can speak english, french is the first language for at least 80 percent of Quebecers. There are many places in the US with a lower percentage of native english speakers, but bilingual road signs are not standard or common in the US. People put a double standard on Quebec just because it's different from the rest of North America, but they have every right to preserve their language.

But Canada requires double language signage everywhere else, it seems.

Anything posted by the Canadian federal government will be in both languages, regardless of where you are in Canada. Anything else may vary, although as vdeane noted, in New Brunswick you'll normally see both languages on signs posted by the province.

I believe typically federal facilities, including national parks, will normally have at least some bilingual staff if possible. I remember the first time I visited the Fortress of Louisbourg in August 1982 the man at the entrance asked us, in both languages, whether we spoke English or French.

[andrepoiy]

4(+) Level Stack Interchanges are really rare in Illinois...like non-existent rare

Same in Ontario, there's only one in the whole province.

[andrepoiy]

Why does Quebec not use bilingual signs? Aren't about half of the Québécois able to speak English? Never mind all those travelling through.

Quebec is a french province. While plenty of residents can speak english, french is the first language for at least 80 percent of Quebecers. There are many places in the US with a lower percentage of native english speakers, but bilingual road signs are not standard or common in the US. People put a double standard on Quebec just because it's different from the rest of North America, but they have every right to preserve their language.

But Canada requires double language signage everywhere else, it seems.

Only officially bilingual jurisdictions will have bilingual signs. This means any federal institution (even out West, where nobody speaks French), and New Brunswick. In Ontario, bilingual signs are only posted in large numbers particularly in Ottawa and other places with large French populations. In Toronto, you only see some French on provincial freeways, and it's absolutely inconsistent.

Quebec is not bilingual, therefore the province does not post bilingual signs. (except for "radar detectors prohibited" and other very important signs).

[hotdogPi]

I thought Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island had bilingual signs.

[JoePCool14]

4(+) Level Stack Interchanges are really rare in Illinois...like non-existent rare

Same in Ontario, there's only one in the whole province.

No wonder I felt so at home there the last time I visited.

[1995hoo]

I thought Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island had bilingual signs.

You see them in a few places, but not for the most part. I can think of a few bilingual signs in Nova Scotia that are not federally-installed (IIRC, the sign on the Cabot Trail about the elevation change over Smokey Mountain is bilingual, and some of the welcome signs for Cape Breton Island are as well).

[andrepoiy]

I do know that Nova Scotia has English and Gaelic bilingual signs in some areas

[jakeroot]

Quebec is not bilingual, therefore the province does not post bilingual signs. (except for "radar detectors prohibited" and other very important signs).

Officially. But practically, they are absolutely bilingual. In fact, I would argue that Quebec is easily the most bilingual province in Canada. I think about half the population can speak French and English. Does any other province come close to that (any language combination)?

In Ontario, bilingual signs are only posted in large numbers particularly in Ottawa and other places with large French populations. In Toronto, you only see some French on provincial freeways, and it's absolutely inconsistent.

Not sure that's quite right. On the recent 401 extension through Windsor, French is on all the road signs. Including the speed limits signs ("BEGINS/DEBUT"): https://goo.gl/maps/1mCzZWc5oFZNPzZD9  --  Am I to believe there is a large French-only population in Windsor?

[andrepoiy]

Quebec is not bilingual, therefore the province does not post bilingual signs. (except for "radar detectors prohibited" and other very important signs).

Officially. But practically, they are absolutely bilingual. In fact, I would argue that Quebec is easily the most bilingual province in Canada. I think about half the population can speak French and English. Does any other province come close to that (any language combination)?

Sure, even if the province is 50% bilingual, I'd say that the bilingual population is not uniformly spread. A large number of the bilingual population resides in the Montreal area, and Montreal has a significant percentage of Quebec's population. However, outside of Montreal, a lot of people are simply not comfortable with English even if they do consider themselves bilingual.

In Ontario, bilingual signs are only posted in large numbers particularly in Ottawa and other places with large French populations. In Toronto, you only see some French on provincial freeways, and it's absolutely inconsistent.

Not sure that's quite right. On the recent 401 extension through Windsor, French is on all the road signs. Including the speed limits signs ("BEGINS/DEBUT"): https://goo.gl/maps/1mCzZWc5oFZNPzZD9  --  Am I to believe there is a large French-only population in Windsor?

Interesting. The newest completed and open Toronto-area project is the 407 East, which opened in 2018, and I see little French on that one. It also opened after the HGB 401 Extension, which was completed in 2015.





Right now, there's also one that's largely finished but still hasn't opened, with is the Highway 427 extension. I have linked the project website's gallery, where you can take a look at pictures taken. If you see the signs, some have French, some do not.

https://427expansion.ca/about-link-427/photo-gallery/


This is why I say it's inconsistent.

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

Quebec is not bilingual, therefore the province does not post bilingual signs. (except for "radar detectors prohibited" and other very important signs).

Officially. But practically, they are absolutely bilingual. In fact, I would argue that Quebec is easily the most bilingual province in Canada. I think about half the population can speak French and English. Does any other province come close to that (any language combination)?

Quebec made a very deliberate choice in the 1970s that French would be the only official language. To this day proposals to strengthen the language law (which requires french to be the sole/predominant language in the province) are approved by a large majority of Quebecers. Just because many Quebecers *can* speak English does not change the fact that a substantial majority of them would conduct all of their business in French if given the choice.

Also, in my opinion, bilingual signage often looks cluttered and is less legible. You really do not need a high level of French education to understand basic road signage, I only took high school French and it's more than adequate to understand what all of the signs in Quebec mean.

And this is coming from someone from a family of Anglo Quebecers. The same way someone shouldn't come to America and expect to be accomodated in a language other than English, you shouldn't come to Quebec and expect to be accomodated in a language other than French (although in my experience, Quebecers are much more helpful to English speakers than other Americans or Canadians are towards French speakers).

[bcroadguy]

Here's some info on bilingual signs in Ontario from the Ministry of Transportation

It looks like bilingual signs are supposed to be posted on provincial highways if the highway is in a designated area under the French Language Services Act.

The French Language Services Act is intended to ensure that French speakers can access provincial government services in French if they live in an area with a significant number of French speakers. An urban area only needs to have 5,000 French speakers to be designated, so Toronto, where 0.1% of the population can only speak French and 7.9% are bilingual, qualifies under the Act. Therefore, a provincial highway in Toronto is required to have bilingual signs (I'm not sure how strictly followed that is), while municipalities are exempt from the act and are free to post unilingual English signs on municipal roads, as Toronto does. The Highway 407 extension, despite being a provincial highway, is in Pickering which is not designated under the Act, explaining the unilingual English signs there.

TL;DR: Bilingual signs aren't necessarily posted in Ontario because the MTO thinks they're useful, they're just complying with another law and are happy to post English-only signs when they don't have to.

[andrepoiy]

Here's some info on bilingual signs in Ontario from the Ministry of Transportation

It looks like bilingual signs are supposed to be posted on provincial highways if the highway is in a designated area under the French Language Services Act.

The French Language Services Act is intended to ensure that French speakers can access provincial government services in French if they live in an area with a significant number of French speakers. An urban area only needs to have 5,000 French speakers to be designated, so Toronto, where 0.1% of the population can only speak French and 7.9% are bilingual, qualifies under the Act. Therefore, a provincial highway in Toronto is required to have bilingual signs (I'm not sure how strictly followed that is), while municipalities are exempt from the act and are free to post unilingual English signs on municipal roads, as Toronto does. The Highway 407 extension, despite being a provincial highway, is in Pickering which is not designated under the Act, explaining the unilingual English signs there.

TL;DR: Bilingual signs aren't necessarily posted in Ontario because the MTO thinks they're useful, they're just complying with another law and are happy to post English-only signs when they don't have to.

Thanks for that. I didn't know the Act also affected provincial road signs.

[LilianaUwU]

If I'm not mistaken, the law in PEI is to have bilingual signage due to the heavy traffic to/from the Magdalen Islands ferry in Souris and the rest of Québec (via NB). Ironically, such a trip before bilingual signage was widespread is what led me to learn English.

[vdeane]

Here's some info on bilingual signs in Ontario from the Ministry of Transportation

It looks like bilingual signs are supposed to be posted on provincial highways if the highway is in a designated area under the French Language Services Act.

The French Language Services Act is intended to ensure that French speakers can access provincial government services in French if they live in an area with a significant number of French speakers. An urban area only needs to have 5,000 French speakers to be designated, so Toronto, where 0.1% of the population can only speak French and 7.9% are bilingual, qualifies under the Act. Therefore, a provincial highway in Toronto is required to have bilingual signs (I'm not sure how strictly followed that is), while municipalities are exempt from the act and are free to post unilingual English signs on municipal roads, as Toronto does. The Highway 407 extension, despite being a provincial highway, is in Pickering which is not designated under the Act, explaining the unilingual English signs there.

TL;DR: Bilingual signs aren't necessarily posted in Ontario because the MTO thinks they're useful, they're just complying with another law and are happy to post English-only signs when they don't have to.

And, sure enough, the City of Windsor is one of the municipalities designated for French services.
https://files.ontario.ca/ofa_designated_areas_map_en.pdf

[kphoger]

The question shouldn't be how many people in Quebec are bilingual.  The question should be how many people in Quebec don't understand French.  Because bilingual signs only matter if the driver doesn't understand the dominant language.

[mrsman]

Here's some info on bilingual signs in Ontario from the Ministry of Transportation

It looks like bilingual signs are supposed to be posted on provincial highways if the highway is in a designated area under the French Language Services Act.

The French Language Services Act is intended to ensure that French speakers can access provincial government services in French if they live in an area with a significant number of French speakers. An urban area only needs to have 5,000 French speakers to be designated, so Toronto, where 0.1% of the population can only speak French and 7.9% are bilingual, qualifies under the Act. Therefore, a provincial highway in Toronto is required to have bilingual signs (I'm not sure how strictly followed that is), while municipalities are exempt from the act and are free to post unilingual English signs on municipal roads, as Toronto does. The Highway 407 extension, despite being a provincial highway, is in Pickering which is not designated under the Act, explaining the unilingual English signs there.

TL;DR: Bilingual signs aren't necessarily posted in Ontario because the MTO thinks they're useful, they're just complying with another law and are happy to post English-only signs when they don't have to.

This is very helpful info.  Thanks.

I read a little further and this is basically a provincial level act in the province of Ontario, not based on national Canadian law.  So French signs will exist in areas with significant French speakers in Ontario.  There is no equivalent rqmt in Quebec to put up English signs anywhere, even in Montreal which probably has significant English speakers.

Here's a qn for Canadians:

Do the different Candian driver license tests require knowledge of road signs in both French and English?

In the US, of course, all of the road signs are in English or pictogram.  To have a driver's license in the US, you need to know what those road signs mean, even if you don't otherwise speak English.  Many states provide drivers handbooks and even the driving test itself in multiple languages.  I wonder if there is a base language requirement for Canadians that have to be familiar enough with both some English and French to decipher the most common traffic signs.

[ethanhopkin14]

The winner for Texas has to be "END" shields.

[kphoger]

In the US, of course, all of the road signs are in English or pictogram.

https://goo.gl/maps/vxYZWFQSMNm1eM898   

[ethanhopkin14]

In the US, of course, all of the road signs are in English or pictogram.

https://goo.gl/maps/vxYZWFQSMNm1eM898   

Que lastima

[kphoger]

In the US, of course, all of the road signs are in English or pictogram.

https://goo.gl/maps/vxYZWFQSMNm1eM898   

Que lastima

What's a pity?

[andrepoiy]

Here's a qn for Canadians:

Do the different Candian driver license tests require knowledge of road signs in both French and English?

In Ontario, no. In fact, our written test can be written in various languages other than English or French. It may even be easier than the US test due to the larger number of pictogram signs vs written signs.

[rlb2024]

The only place I've ever seen this is in London, but I think it makes a lot of sense -- painted in the street is an indication which way to look for traffic at a crosswalk.  Really comes in handy in an area with lots of one-way streets.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4975027,-0.1354275,3a,51.5y,348.44h,64.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgOICTwT16Z3sRMvAJeWqqw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[ethanhopkin14]

In the US, of course, all of the road signs are in English or pictogram.

https://goo.gl/maps/vxYZWFQSMNm1eM898   

Que lastima

What's a pity?

If you read the comments in order, mrsman stated all US signs are in English.  You debunked that.  I went with the Bumble Bee Guy quote from The Simpsons.  Sounded funnier in my head.

[ethanhopkin14]

The only place I've ever seen this is in London, but I think it makes a lot of sense -- painted in the street is an indication which way to look for traffic at a crosswalk.  Really comes in handy in an area with lots of one-way streets.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4975027,-0.1354275,3a,51.5y,348.44h,64.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgOICTwT16Z3sRMvAJeWqqw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I have seen it somewhere in the US.  I don't remember where though.