A bilingual job requires or values the ability to use two languages in the work.
To understand a bilingual requirement, look for the languages, how the employee will use them and the level of proficiency expected. Reading documents, writing reports and speaking with clients need not place the same demand on a candidate. Québec has specific rules for requiring a language other than French. The Office québécois de la langue française explains that the duties must require it and the employer must first take the prescribed steps to avoid imposing the requirement. An advertisement’s wording alone does not establish compliance.
In job listings
Birks described written and spoken English and French as essential in a Montréal finance manager vacancy. The requirement names both languages and both modes of communication. A listing that only calls a second language an asset makes a different claim about what the job requires. Search local jobs for “bilingual”.
