It is the first sequel ever to win the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars.

It is the first Canadian film ever to win The Best French Film of the Year award at the Cesars (France's national film awards).

The film's predecessor The Decline of the American Empire (1986) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture, but lost out to the Dutch film The Assault (1986), a World War II drama. The Barbarion Invasions won the price in the same category 18 years later, again after contending with a Dutch WWII drama, Twin Sisters (2002).

It is the first Canadian film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

Denys Arcand: the union representative whose jacket says "Directeur."