This is the third post in a series of short blog posts focusing on data quality related to different countries around the world. I am not aiming at presenting a single version of the full truth but rather presenting a few random observations that I hope someone living in or with knowledge about the country are able to clarify in a comment.
Is Quebec a country?
No. Quebec is a province in Canada. But it was close on the 30/10/1995 with a referendum on sovereignty with only a very slim majority against sovereignty for the only province in Canada where French is the only official language.
What’s that date: 30/10/1995?
Besides having a different language Quebec also uses a different date format than else in North America. Where North Americans write month-day-year (like 10/30/1995) Quebecker’s write day-month-year like in most other parts of the world. I learned that from this blog post comment here.
The North American multi-cultural sandbox
A lot of software including tools for data quality and master data management comes from North America. When the international (and none English) capabilities of the software and related stuff are questioned, a good answer is always: Well, we did something in Quebec. Like here.
Previous Data Quality World Tour blog posts:
Liliendahl on Data Quality 
Hi,
A few things about the French language in Canada. Québec is the only province where French is the official language but other provinces have both languages (English and French) as official languages. You can find French population in the Maritimes (East Coast), Ontario and Manitoba but Québec has a majority of French speaking people.
Other differences about the French population which makes DQ interesting: accents in names, popular surname within a region, many city names starting with “Saint-“, regional slang. I can go on and on.
Nicole.
Thanks a million Nicole.
Good post Henrik. Most of Canada uses DD/MM/YYYY format, much to the chagrin of American ERP providers 🙂
Nicole is right on, there are a lot of French communities all over Canada (plenty in Saskatchewan as well)
Thanks a million Mark. Good to have firsthand knowledge from Canada.
Politically perhaps Quebec is not a country but culturally I suggest Quebec is a country. When you visit Quebec there is a distinct feel and ambiance.
Although surrounded by Anglophones, Quebec has maintained its cultural intendance. If you are considering behaviors of its citizens, Quebec should be considered different from the other provinces.
Quebec embodies a joie de vivre that is not evident in other provinces or US states except perhaps New Orleans.
If you are marketing to Quebecers I suggest you consider Quebec as a country, with a heritage and history that governs its behaviors.
I was born and raised in Quebec and have lived in other provinces in Canada and in the US and I consider Quebec as a country.
I also consider native Indians and Eskimos as sovereign nations which legally and politically they are.
Richard, merci de dollars pour le commentaire.