The Quebec government is giving the Montreal Board of Trade $500,000 to boost the use of French in certain parts of Montreal.

The three-month project will target three Montreal boroughs with a heavy anglophone or allophone presence: Cote-des-Neiges-NDG, Villeray-Saint-Michel-Park Extension, and Saint-Laurent.

Small businesses in those boroughs that use little or no French to speak the language in their workplaces with be paired with university students, who will provide free, weekly, two-hour lessons in the workplace.

While the statistics only show a minor increase in the use of English in Montreal, there is also the reality of immigration and businesses with employees who may be speaking a language other than English or French.

Quebec's minister for the protection of the French language, Marie Montpetit, and the Michel Leblanc of the Montreal Board of Trade said it's a great way to boost French without the heavy-handed approach of expanding the law.

“These students will go to the stores, will go the small shops, teach French as the owners or the workers work in their stores and eventually what we notice is that this match between students and workers on the workplace is quite successful,” said Leblanc, adding that that customers can play a role by using French with business owners.