Public Education and Multicultural Policy in Canada: The Special Case of Quebec

Education is a provincial responsibility in Canada, but there is a sharing of expenditure and strong support of public education, health and other welfare programs between the provinces and the federal government. Although the federal policy of multiculturalism has been aimed at making Canada a 'just' society, the implementation of this policy in education in English-speaking Canada has been far from satisfactory, and there is great variation among the provinces in educational programs. In Quebec, the federal policy of multiculturalism is ideologically opposed to the vision of French-Québécois nationalism. While the federal policy of intercultural education has made some attempts to integrate immigrant populations, the focus remains on linguistic programs. In facing the dramatic changes driven by internationalization and a globalized economy, Canadians must respond – so the conclusion of the present study – to the urgent need to redefine the meaning of multiculturalism with radical educational programs.