Immigrants in Quebec say cancelled French classes are a loss for both them and the province [Video]

Thiago Moreira says back home in Brazil, he didn’t like France or French. But after he started learning Quebec French, he grew to love it.

“The là, là?” says Moreira, laughing. “Là, là, c’est très fantastique!”

Married with two children and armed with a degree in automation engineering, Moreira spent two years searching for a job in Canada as a skilled worker. He had offers in other provinces, but he felt Quebec values best lined up with his own.

So he accepted an offer from a hardwood flooring company in Saint-Georges, in the province’s Beauce region south of Quebec City.

The family arrived in the small town, in one of the most francophone regions of Quebec, in January. Professionally, he was ready to hit the ground running. The challenge was living in French.

“It was so hard. But people here helped me and corrected me,” he says.

Moreira and his wife enrolled in government-funded …