How students address their teachers is part of a new push by Quebec’s Education Minister Bernard Drainville to bring a culture of respect back to classrooms. Going forward, students won’t be able to call their teachers by their first names and must use the formal “vous” when addressing them. “It’s a show of respect for the status and function,” Drainville said at a press conference Thursday. French schools have until January 2026 to change their codes of conduct. Many students already use “vous” when speaking to their teachers, according to Alexandre Limoges, who teaches French Literature and Language at John Abbott College. But there are nuances to using “vous” that can be open to interpretation. It’s especially confusing for anglophones, who don’t have a formal “you” equivalent in English. But it can even be difficult for francophones to explain when to use “vous”. “I would say that for a French speaker, there’s going to be very clear situations in which you’re going to say ‘vous’, and very clear situations in which you’re going to say ‘tu’,” Limoges said. “And then there’s a middle that becomes very muddled and subjective.” Student Zain Moos said he normally uses “vous” in a formal setting but uses “tu” in much of his day-to-day activities. “I use ‘tu’ no matter the person’s age or what they’re doing, I use ‘tu,’” he said. Though he added he would use “vous” to address a doctor. Michelle Bilak, a John Abbott College student who went to high school in French, said her default is “vous” for most situations. “I always use it, let’s say, with teachers or anybody who’s, like, a stranger to be somewhat respectful,” she said, but added she wouldn’t use it with a stranger who is the same age as her. Student Amir Benkhalid, who works in restaurants, said he sometimes gets it wrong. “It’s mostly older people, when you just say “tu” by accident, and they feel kind of offended, like you can see in the, in their face, you know, their expression,” he said. Reading non-verbal cues is a big part of knowing what term to use in each situation, according to Limoges, and it gets easier with practice. When in doubt, he suggests using “vous” to start and let the person you’re speaking with let you know how they want to be addressed. Though not all rules will apply to English schools, Macdonald High School teacher Kaila Freeman said respect goes beyond how teachers are addressed. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a problem of feeling disrespected, even if some of us go by Ms. first name instead of Mr. or Mrs. last name,” she said. “In terms of, you know, showing respect, they show disrespect in so many other ways that this is really not the place that it needs to be addressed.”
