This study examines verbal number agreement with subjects referring to human groups designated by morphologically singular but semantically plural nouns (i.e., collective nouns). It examines standard agreement in the singular versus vernacular agreement in the plural (e.g., ils engagent du monde qui dit pas un mot d’anglais vs je pense que ce sont du monde qui sont jaloux). The study draws on interview data from Welland Ontario’s French-speaking minority, collected in 1975 and again forty years later. It examines variation across time and measures the impact of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors: i) the type of collective noun (le monde, du monde, tout le monde, famille, parenté, name of a company or enterprise) and the absence/presence of a quantifier; and ii) speakers’ socioeconomic background, gender, and level of bilingualism. This study joins Tristram (2017) in providing a sociolinguistic variationist perspective on verbal number agreement with collective subjects.