Montreal

Quebec launches $750K campaign to promote French classes

The classes are offered at both a part-time or full-time level, as well as online.

Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil hopes more immigrants will take courses offered by provincial government

Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil said "French is the official language of Quebec." (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

A new campaign by the Quebec government is underway to encourage more immigrants to take French-language courses.

Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil announced the launch of the $750,000 campaign this afternoon. Of that total, $250,000 will be spent promoting the free classes through social media and advertising until August.

"French is the official language of Quebec," Weil said in a statement Monday. "Our collective language, the language of work and an indispensable vector of integration."

The classes are offered at both a part-time or full-time level, as well as online.

The money is part of a $4 million set aside in the last budget to increase and diversify opportunities for French language education for immigrants.

With files from Arian Zarrinkoub