Introduction of the bill — An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages
The Official Languages Act (OLA) is the key instrument ensuring that Canada’s two official languages, English and French, are promoted and protected for the benefit of all Canadians. The unique reality of French in North America and Canada’s evolving linguistic dynamics called for changes to our language regime and the modernization of the OLA, a statute that had not undergone a major reform since 1988.
Background on the bill
On March 1, 2022, the Government of Canada introduced a bill modernizing the Official Languages Act to reflect an evolving society and enacting the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (Bill C-13). Linguistic realities are changing. More than ever, the exchange of digital content and the globalization of trade are favouring the use of the English language. In order for the French language to continue to flourish in Canada, it must be further protected and promoted. There continue to be numerous challenges, including the need to strengthen the use of French in multiple sectors, such as culture and diplomacy; the need to provide English speakers in majority communities with more opportunities to learn French; and the need to vigorously support the institutions of English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada.
Adoption and content
The Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages received royal assent on June 20, 2023, modernizing and strengthening the Official Languages Act and creating the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (which will come into force by order-in-council). The adoption of this statute stands as a testament to the Government of Canada’s efforts to adapt the language regime in order to strengthen the official languages in a fast-evolving society.
The Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages (the Act)recognizes the diversity of the provincial and territorial language regimes, and focuses on opportunities to learn one’s first language in minority settings and opportunities to learn a second official language in majority settings, in order to improve the rate of bilingualism among Canadians.
The Act also seeks to protect the institutions of official language minority communities — Quebec’s English-speaking communities and Francophone minority communities in the rest of the country — and provides for stronger tools to protect French in Canada. For example, the Act enacts a new statute, the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act, that establishes the right to receive services in French and to work in French in federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence.
Expected results of the Act
The expected results of the Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages are as follows:
- Canadians have better access to opportunities to learn the official languages.
- Federal institutions better understand their official languages obligations and fulfill those obligations to the benefit of all Canadians.
- Certain discretionary powers of the Treasury Board become mandatory, resulting in increased monitoring by the Board and stronger official languages accountability and compliance across the federal government.
- The Commissioner of Official Languages is able to intervene more effectively thanks to new powers over and above those previously wielded. For example, the Commissioner now has the power to impose administrative monetary penalties on certain privatized entities and Crown corporations that are currently subject to the Official Languages Act (OLA), operate in the transportation sector and serve the travelling public, allowing the Commissioner to play a stronger role.
- Official language minority communities see benefits, the French language is protected and promoted, and the official languages are better promoted thanks to new clarifications on positive measures to be taken by federal institutions.
- The institutions of official language minority communities across Canada are better protected.
- The modernized OLA more clearly identifies those sectors that are key to enhancing the vitality of official language minority communities (for example, immigration, education — from early childhood to post-secondary — health, culture and justice) and explicitly seeks to protect and promote the presence of strong institutions serving those communities.
- The French language is better supported across Canada, including in Quebec, and on the international scene.
- Canada has an obligation to adopt a policy on Francophone immigration that contains objectives, targets and indicators in order to increase Francophone immigration to Francophone minority communities.
- An existing exception in the OLA is removed so that the Supreme Court has the same duty as other federal courts to ensure that judges who hear proceedings can do so directly, in the official language or languages chosen by the parties, without the assistance of an interpreter.
- The Government of Canada is committed to financially supporting an independent organization responsible for administering a program, such as the Court Challenges Program, whose purpose is to provide funding for test cases of national significance relating to language rights to be brought before the courts.
- A new statute (Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act), distinct from the OLA, is enacted, ushering in new rights to work and to receive service in French in federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence.
For more information on the bill:
Next steps
The Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages will begin the process of adopting individual sets of regulations on the following matters related to the bill: administrative monetary penalties and the new obligations of federally regulated private businesses.