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A survey shows bilingual Canadians value the importance of Canada’s two official languages much more highly than those who only speak one language.

That is one of the most striking findings of the poll conducted last spring for the federal Heritage department by Montreal-based Ad hoc Research, said Jack Jedwab, head of the Association for Canadian Studies.

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The report submitted to the Heritage department in November found francophones are far more likely to value bilingualism and to believe French is threatened than their English-speaking counterparts.

“Overall, francophones are more positive and engaged than anglophones with regard to bilingualism and the linguistic duality of Canada,” the report states.

For example, 84 per cent of francophones think having two languages is culturally enriching, compared with only 60 per cent of anglophones who think so.

Francophones are also more open to language-exchange programs in schools than anglophones (94 per cent vs. 73 per cent) and more likely to think knowing both official languages improves the chances of finding a job (94 per cent of francophones compared with 76 per cent of anglophones).