this article aims to explore the impact of 11 September on the concept of living together in Canadian society, characterised, like its American neighbour, by a diversity of cultures. The debate on national identity in Canada constantly revolves around the policy of multiculturalism, which, adopted in 1971, aimed to manage pluralism and enable the various groups involved to preserve their cultural particularities, but which has never ceased to be a source of controversy. The challenge to the multiculturalist model is all the greater in the province of Quebec, where the French language is central, but the difficulty of integrating newcomers into this language remains very real. This problem is compounded by the heated debate on reasonable accommodation in the province. Requests for derogations from laws submitted by members of ethnic and religious minorities who, in the name of their religious beliefs and practices, build on multicultural policy and the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Charters, cause tensions in society and undermine the social cohesion project that Québec has long defended. This article is based on a theoretical corpus, but also on a mapping of the Canadian and Quebec press from May 2008 (date of submission of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission report — the consultation committee on accommodative practices linked to cultural differences — including its conclusions on the social, linguistic, economic and political integration of minorities) to 2011.