This was the question put to me by one of my students who is studying for DELF examination with the sole purpose of applying for Quebec PR status.
Not at all is my short answer, quite on the contrary Quebecers are renowned to be one of the most welcoming and accepting people in the whole world, so I don’t see why racism should be more of a problem here than anywhere else be it US or Australia ( Have u heard an Indian student getting killed in Quebec unlike Aussie?? ) .
Ontario has a lot more immigrants than Quebec does, but just because a province has more immigrants doesn’t that they’re more accepting. Immigrants are mostly attracted to Ontario because of the fact that it is English-speaking and very business-oriented, which means good job opportunities for an immigrant.
In my opinion, Quebec might be more careful about its immigration and does strive to protect its language and culture, which is completely normal. But the fact of the matter is that Quebec does not hide it from anybody and any immigrant coming to this province is aware of their moving into a society that prides itself on being French-speaking.
There’s some racism everywhere, but try smiling instead of looking for the bad in people and you’ll often find a smile being returned. In Quebec it helps in French areas to make an attempt to speak French. Then people will often happily try to speak with you in English. Then you can decide who speaks which language better and you may end up speaking BOTH. (Make no attempt to speak French and you may experience a different type of discrimination that has nothing to do with your race!!!)
Based on my students who have gone there, Quebec is one of the more accepting provinces, with people from many countries calling this part of Canada home. There are great Chinese, Japanese, Indians and lots of Vietnamese restaurants in Montreal for example, where they speak their own languages, and English and French.
Few years back I had gone to Quebec on a short trip & the people at our hotel were bilingual.
So things are not that bad if you know some French, but to say that if you do not know French, the Quebec people will become racist will be an outrageous and false statement in today’s globalized world.
Moreover, may immigrants work in US and other cities of Canada just because they get opportunities there and immigration to Quebec is lot easier now then to rest of Canada.
Hope this helps you all who have the same doubt in mind.
Regards
Haru MEHRA
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