Sébastien Arcand, joint holder of a research chair in Quebec

Sébastien Arcand, Professor and Director of the Department of Management at HEC Montréal and Richard Marcoux, Professor of Sociology at Université Laval, were officially selected on May 13, 2024 to co-lead the new Research Chair in the Demolinguistic Situation and Language Policies in Quebec.

This appointment is part of the creation of three research chairs on Quebec that will receive a total of $5,607,401 in funding over the next five years.

The allocated funds will be channelled into research on the specificities of Quebec that will focus on strategic themes where the role of the French language raises research questions and requires the implementation of public measures.

The two professors will oversee a team of around twelve researchers and fifteen collaborators from different universities and disciplines.

The aim of their work is to gain insight into immigration issues and their influence on demolinguistic dynamics in Quebec and to guide public policy.

The Chair will achieve this by focusing on 4 different thematic areas, and examining each one through three concepts (spaces-groups-practices/valorization):

1. Educational contexts, young people and their relationship with the French language over time
2. Languages and workplaces
3. Private spaces, public spaces and linguistic trajectories
4. Regionalization, francization and language Issues

A rich and promising 2024-2029 mandate

Some of the Chair’s aspirations and proposed activities for the next five years are as follows:

• Creation of a “demolinguistic data ecosystem” by identifying the various sources of existing quantitative and qualitative data on languages in Quebec and promoting access to this information.
• Enhancement of expertise in terms of data processing, analysis and interpretation in academia and among public policy makers.
• Proposal of an analytical framework with strategies for interpreting statistics and language surveys in Quebec from a historical and international perspective.
• Planning of different activities such as continuing education, university education, scholarship programs, scientific activities, etc.

In a show of support, the Government of Quebec has awarded a $1.8 million grant to the Research Chair in the Demolinguistic Situation and Language Policies in Quebec for the fulfillment of its mandate.

Find out more

Sébastien Arcand

Richard Marcoux [in French only]