Part VII of the Official Languages Act - Advancement of English and French

Context

The measures taken by the federal government to support official language minority communities (OLMCs) in the context of the pandemic and to mitigate the impact of the crisis on them mainly concern Part VII of the Official Languages Act (OLA) – Promotion of English and French.

Positive measures in support of OLMCs take various forms depending on the mandate of the federal institution and the nature of its programs: dedicated funds; OLMCs identified as part of the program’s priority clientele; language clauses in transfer payment agreements; programs adapted to better meet the needs of OLMCs, etc.

Part VII of the Official Languages Act at a glance

Part VII, specifically section 41, sets out the Government of Canada’s commitment to:

• enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada;
• supporting and assisting their development; and,
• fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.

This commitment applies to all federal institutions, which must ensure that positive measures are taken to implement it.

According to section 42 of the OLA, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, in consultation with other federal ministers, shall encourage and promote the coordinated implementation by federal institutions of this commitment. This responsibility was transferred by Order in Council to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages.

Section 43 sets out the measures that the Minister of Canadian Heritage may take to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society, including measures to encourage the provinces and territories to foster the development of linguistic minorities.

Although section 41(3) stipulates that the Governor in Council may make regulations to prescribe the manner in which the obligations of the Part VII commitment are to be carried out by federal institutions, no Part VII regulations have been made to date.

Since the Gascon ruling (FFCB v. EDSC), in which Judge Denis Gascon points out that the lack of regulations or clarifications surrounding the concept of “positive measures” prevents him from agreeing with community representatives, many stakeholders have been calling for a strengthening and clarification of Part VII of the OLA. Following this ruling, the Commissioner of Official Languages (COL), as well as the Senate and Parliamentary committees on official languages, also came out in favour of strengthening Part VII of the OLA.

Administrative tools for the implementation of section 41

The implementation of section 41 of Part VII of the OLA within federal institutions is carried out using a number of administrative tools, developed by the Official Languages Branch of Canadian Heritage, which recommends a course of action to federal institutions, but is not binding. These tools are all available on Canada.ca.

• Guide on Part VII of the Official Languages Act: Support to communities and promotion of English and French, which explains the obligations and role of federal institutions in enhancing the development and vitality of official language minority communities (OLMCs) and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society, as provided for under Part VII of the Official Languages Act.
• Reflection tool for the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act which proposes a series of questions to help federal institutions identify the measures to be taken according to their mandate.
• Key questions to facilitate decision-making that may have an impact on the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act, which allows federal institutions to reflect on the impact of their decisions on the implementation of section 41 of the OLA when, for example: adopting or reviewing a policy; creating or abolishing a program; or establishing or eliminating a point of service.
• Guiding Principles for the consultation process with official language minority communities, which provides federal institutions with guiding principles for planning, holding and evaluating their consultations with OLMCs. This tool was co-developed with representatives of official language minority community organizations.
• Best Practices digest on Fostering the Full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian Society, which aims to provide suggestions of best practices to promote linguistic duality that federal institutions could incorporate under their respective mandates.