[dirktheman]

Never been there, but I met a french-speaking couple from Montreal once. I could understand them just fine, but couldn't place the accent. It didn't really occur to me hearing white people speaking french were from another country than France. (My former neighbour was from Congo and I was able to converse with him in french although his patois was hard to follow).

[younohoo]

It is said that the Quebec French accent is the same as was spoken in France in the 1600’s and hasn’t changed that much over the years whereas the French accent, has. I’m not sure if this is true, however.

[Bayart]

That's bad popular linguistics. Québec French has kept features that are archaic by Mainland French standards (the most blatant being the unfinished separation of oi and ai, which was solidified around the French Revolution), but it also has its own innovated features.

You've got the same thing going on with American accents, and some of them keeping older English features. Simon Roper made a nice video about that [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rb0HPDnc8Y

[kergonath]

I think it’s a case of divergent evolution. We notice archaic phrases because they are funny, but québécois French also evolves.