Quebec is becoming more linguistically diversified but French is still strong, a report from the province's French-language watchdog said Wednesday.

The Office québécois de la langue française based its report on 18 studies done during the last five years.

The report said that Quebec's low birthrate and the aging of its population played a role in the state of French but more and more immigrants are choosing French as their second language.

But it also said French is losing ground in Montreal, saying the French-speaking population in the city had dropped below 50 per cent for the first time. English is stable and the number of allophones is increasing.

Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre said there is work to do to solidify the position of the French language but noted that there has been great progress in the use of French in the workplace, something that Statistics Canada also reported a day earlier.

"The government intends to use all its energy to affirm, defend and preserve Quebec's French character," St-Pierre said.