Health Sciences Calendar
2005 - 2006

1.1.9 Language Requirements for Professions

Quebec law requires that candidates seeking admission to provincially-recognized professional corporations must possess a working knowledge of the French language, that is, be able to communicate verbally and in writing in that language.

To demonstrate this capability, candidates will be required to pass an examination set by the Office de la langue française, unless they can show that three years of full-time instruction in a French post-primary school have been completed. Candidates who have completed their secondary education in Quebec in 1986 or later and have received their certificate from secondary school are exempt from writing the examination. The professional corporation will require this certificate, proof of attendance or of successful completion of the Office examination.

The examination may be attempted by registered students during the two years prior to the date they receive a degree giving access to a professional corporation. Application forms for sitting the exam while still a student may be obtained from the Admissions, Recruitment and Registrar's Office or the Student Affairs Office, Laird Hall, Macdonald Campus. Priority will be given to those closest to graduation. Examinations take place every three months and may be attempted an unlimited number of times.

More information may be obtained from the Office de la langue française, 125 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec, H2X 1X4. Telephone (514) 873-4833.

Students who need to acquire a functional level of proficiency in French may take courses from either the English and French Language Centre, Faculty of Arts, or the Centre for Continuing Education, 688 Sherbrooke Street West; telephone (514) 398-6200.