Bern: living, going out and working in the canton

In 2024 the canton had 8,727 births and 9,872 deaths: its growth comes from arrivals (31,220) more than from births.

French and German are the national and official languages of the canton (art. 6). Official languages are spread by region:

The Bernese Jura has a special status (art. 5): it must allow it to preserve its identity and its linguistic and cultural distinctiveness, and to take part in the canton's political life. Anyone can approach the canton-wide authorities in the official language of their choice (art. 6).

The canton lives under the Constitution of 6 June 1993, in force since 1 January 1995; the version read is the one of 1 January 2026.

Popular rights:

• Popular initiative: 15,000 citizens within six months (30,000 for a total revision of the Constitution) (art. 58).
• Optional vote (referendum): 10,000 citizens within three months of the publication of the draft law, among other cases (art. 62).
• Early general re-election: 30,000 citizens can ask at any time for a general renewal of the Grand Council or the Executive Council (art. 57).

Who votes? In cantonal matters, all Swiss men and women who live in the canton and are 18 or over (art. 55). The cantonal Constitution does not deal with foreigners' right to vote: we have not read Bernese legislation on this point; ask your municipality of residence.

According to the IS10 notice of the Tax Administration of the canton of Bern (valid from 2025):

• Tax: in France. French cross-border workers are not taxed at source in Switzerland: they are taxed in France, which passes 4.5% of their gross salaries to the Swiss tax authorities. In every case where the procedure does not apply, income is taxed at source.
• Who is a cross-border worker? A person who proves they live in France with the 2041-AS/ASK residence certificate issued by the French tax authority, works as an employee in the canton of Bern, has no home in Switzerland and returns every day to their tax home in France after work.
• 45 nights: you keep the status as long as you spend no more than 45 nights in Switzerland or a third state during the year, that is one night per week worked. The limit is reduced to 20% of working days if you do not work all year, and proportional to the activity rate if part-time. Beyond that you are a “weekly resident” taxed at source.
• Distance: when the home in France is more than 110 km from the workplace, or the trip takes more than 1 h 30 each way, a daily return is not presumed: you must justify it (train tickets, fuel receipts…), otherwise you are not a cross-border worker.
• Remote work: up to 40% of your activity rate per calendar year, from France, without losing the status. Above that you lose it. In addition to the residence certificate, you must hand in a certificate showing the days worked at home and at the office.
• G permit: it is not a sufficient document to establish cross-border status; the situation is examined case by case.
• Couples: if both spouses or partners live in France and work in Switzerland, each must ask for a residence certificate; with several employers, one certificate per employer.
• Validity: the certificate is valid for one year and is renewed at year-end, or after a move or a change of employer.
• Your employer must send the original of the certificate to the Tax Administration within 10 days of your start, or at year-end for the following year, at the latest by 31 March of the next year; it also declares the total gross wages paid. If it fails in these duties it risks a fine of up to CHF 1,000 (up to CHF 10,000 in serious or repeat cases).
• Exceptions: Swiss or Franco-Swiss people living in France and employed by a Bernese public-law employer are not covered by this procedure.

The minimum wage: we have read no Bernese text setting a cantonal minimum wage.

• Hospitality collective agreement (CCNT): its minimums run from CHF 3,713 to 5,293 gross per month in 2026 depending on qualification (CHF 4,528 with a CFC), for a full-time job. It is this agreement, or your contract, that sets the minimum for your job.
• G permit: we have not read a Bernese cantonal page on the G permit; follow the site's guide and ask your employer.

We have not read the canton's fares or fare community, nor SBB timetables towards Alsace, the French Jura or the Basel area: check before accepting a job.

Specialities to know

• Tête de Moine PDO: a mountain raw-milk cheese made in four districts of Jura and the Bernese Jura, ripened at least 75 days. Registered on 8 May 2001. Bellelay abbey was already making it around 1192, and the girolle was invented in 1982 by a Jura precision mechanic. In Bellelay, the Maison de la Tête de Moine brings together a museum, an old-style cheese dairy, a café and a delicatessen.
• Berner Alpkäse and Berner Hobelkäse PDO: raw-milk cheeses made on alpine farms of the Bernese Oberland. Registered on 26 April 2004.
• Berner Zungenwurst PGI: a scalded sausage of pork and beef, bacon and spices, with a coarser grain; made only in the canton of Bern with Swiss meat. Registered on 9 August 2019.
• Lake Biel wines: more than 40 grape varieties have found their home here, between the deep blue of the lake and the green of the vines. The Cour de Berne in La Neuveville belonged to Bellelay convent (built in 1631); its 20 hectares of vines belong to the City of Bern.
• Chocolate: the Camille Bloch Visitor Centre in Courtelary offers a discovery trail with live production demonstration lines.

Where to taste them

Not to be missed

• Bern: the Zentrum Paul Klee, “the most complete collection of works by Paul Klee in the world”; the Kunstmuseum Bern, with works by Picasso, Hodler and Meret Oppenheim.
• The Oberland: the Jungfraujoch (“Top of Europe”), Grindelwald-First, Schynige Platte, Harder Kulm in Interlaken, Kleine Scheidegg; Lake Thun and Oberhofen castle.
• Biel/Bienne: the Cité du Temps and the OMEGA Museum, the Taubenloch gorge, the heights of Macolin and Evilard.
• Lake Biel and St Peter's Island, reachable by boat, on foot or by bike.
• The Bernese Jura: the Chasseral (1,606 m, one of the most spectacular panoramas in Switzerland), the Longines Museum in Saint-Imier, the former Bellelay abbey.
• The Seeland: the Smuggling and Customs Museum in Lyss.

Museums

No official list of clubs or discos could be read for the canton of Bern: the section relies on the Biel/Bienne bars listed by Tourisme Bienne Seeland. The list is not exhaustive: nightlife venues open and close quickly.

1. Constitution of the canton of Bern (RSB 101.1): version in force since 1 January 2026; art. 5, 6, 55, 57, 58, 62, 72, 73, 84, 85.
2. Canton of Bern, Finance Administration: key figures 2014-2024: population, foreigners, age structure, languages, unemployment.
3. Tax Administration of the canton of Bern, notice IS10: reporting procedure for French cross-border workers (valid from 2025).
4. Site guides, checked against official sources: G permit, contract and pay (CCNT).
5. Swiss Association of PDO-PGI: Tête de Moine PDO; Berner Alpkäse and Berner Hobelkäse PDO; Berner Zungenwurst PGI.
6. Jura & Trois-Lacs (Tourisme Bienne Seeland, Grand Chasseral Tourisme): Chasseral, St Peter's Island, OMEGA Museum, Maison de la Tête de Moine and the page of each place.
7. Websites of Bern's museums: Zentrum Paul Klee, Kunstmuseum Bern; Oberland websites: jungfrau.ch, Thunersee.
8. Map coordinates: © OpenStreetMap contributors, checked address by address where the address is known; base map © swisstopo.