The Federal Government has recently strengthened its policy with respect to hiring and promoting bilingual staff. COMPAS asked business leaders about language policy and training in their organizations and about the benefits of knowing a second language.

Business leaders believe that individuals derive a great deal of benefit from knowing a second language. In fact, half of respondents say that people who speak more than one language are more likely to find employment more easily. Many say that those who speak another language are more culturally sensitive and more likely to get better paying jobs.

In fact when looking for potential staff, respondents say that bilingualism (English and French) is a consideration, with bilingualism in a second language other than French slightly less.

With respect to offering language training or assistance in their own organizations, almost 2 in 5 organizations from our business leader panel say they offer language training or assistance. French is the most common language but those organizations who do offer training tend to offer assistance for more than one language.

Looking to the next decade of business in Canada, respondents say that English will be the most important language for Canadian Industry.

Those are the principal conclusions to be drawn from this past week’s FP/COMPAS web poll of CEO’s and business leaders under the sponsorship of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

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