In Canada, and in Quebec, it means particularly to know English and French. Currently, the Canadian census considers ability to hold a conversation in the other official language as proof of bilingualism. While many Canadians are not bilingual, few would deny that bilingualism, along with multiculturalism, is fundamental to Canada. At the level of principle, it is so universally supported in Canada as to constitute an element of the ethic of Canadianism.
Bilingualism is both a legal requirement and a fact of life in Quebec.
By extension, governments in Quebec have made a wide array of publications and services available to individuals in English and in French. The Federal Government of Canada has pursued similar policies since the enactment of the Official Languages' Act of Canada issued in 1969. However, the need to use English in Quebec does not come so much from legal requirements, as it does from the sheer strength and importance of the language in the North American context. The rest of the continent is dominated by English, and that language is essential for commercial and cultural purposes today. Few have ever denied that in Quebec.