Bombardier is celebrating a milestone: after more than 70 years of existence the founded-in-Quebec company received a francization certificate from the provincial government.

The certificate means that the main language used at Bombardier for internal communication is French, something that is considered an achievement considering the growth and expansion of the company as an international rail transportation and aerospace manufacturer.

The company says a key date toward achieving its certificate was in 2009, when union workers in Quebec complained that senior managers had little interest in changing the language of the company.

Managers apparently took that to heart, and took steps over the past five years to make French prominent, including purchasing French language software when upgrading computers.

The company has now achieved its target of having 60 percent of employees using French on a daily basis.

Provincial ministers Diane De Courcy and Jean-Francois Lisée were on hand Tuesday to present the company with a framed certificate, and were very proud that a home-grown international company could succeed in French.

Lisée said having the majority of employees working in one language is good for business.

"They will tell you that the key issue in competitiveness is productivity. And when you have the work force that speaks the language and has to use another language, then there is a loss of productivity, and in fact it's a good investment for your work force in Quebec to speak in French and to know the French words for their tasks," said Lisée.

The certificate of francization does not mean that Bombardier will use only French.

With multiple senior managers and hundreds of specialized workers coming from around the world, it's expected that other languages will still be heard and used, while clients will continue to be addressed in the language of their choice.

Bombardier is in the midst of restructuring its manufacturing process and last week announced it was permanently laying off 1,700 employees in the United States and Canada, with 2/3 of those job cuts coming from Quebec.

The third-largest manufacturer of aircraft worldwide, Bombardier has faced recent troubles with delays in developing its CSeries jet, along with the Learjet 85.