The present article examines discourses on bilingualism in French immersion schools and connects local ideologies of bilingualism to a more global view of what it means to be bilingual in Canada. Bilingualism is usually regarded as two isolated monolingualisms (or monolingual systems) in which there is no place for code-switching, uneven language proficiencies, or certain varieties of French. Although French immersion students choose French because it is one of the official languages and it is valuable to speak additional languages, they face the challenge of not speaking like native speakers of French. The present article presents ethnographic and sociolinguistic research, conducted in two junior high schools in Alberta, which indicates that although French immersion offers cognitive and social benefits to students, their challenge is to be recognized as bilinguals. Looking at discourses on bilingualism is important for enabling every student learning French in Canada to have a "voice". (Contains 1 table and 4 notes.)