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If you want to be better off, it’s best to be bilingual.

A new analysis of Canada’s 2016 census indicates those who know and use both of Canada’s official languages at work earn more than their unilingual counterparts.

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Among allophones in particular, the statistics show that knowledge of both languages translates into a considerable jump in salary.

Bilingual anglophones and francophones with a bachelor’s degree in Quebec make roughly eight per cent more than their unilingual counterparts. In Montreal the wage gap is even more pronounced, with bilingual workers earning on average 20 per cent more than their unilingual confrères. (Unilingual francophones make roughly seven per cent more than unilingual anglophones in Quebec. In all cases, comparisons were made among individuals with a bachelor’s degree to correct for differing education levels.)

But it is among allophones, defined as those whose mother tongue is neither French nor English, where the disparity is the greatest. Montreal allophones who speak both French and English earn nearly 60 per cent more than allophones who speak only English or French.