Details of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection – Promotion – Collaboration

OTTAWA, April 26, 2023

Today, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, unveiled the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection – Promotion – Collaboration.

The new Action Plan demonstrates our government’s commitment to promoting official languages and official-language minority communities. It provides historic investments in the order of $1.4 billion over five years, which, added to the $2.7 billion in the previous Action Plan, means a total of more than $4.1 billion over five years in support of official languages. This is the largest amount ever provided by a government in the area of official languages.

The Action Plan proposes some 30 measures based on the following four pillars:

Francophone immigration: Toward the re-establishment of the demographic weight of Francophones

In concrete terms, the Action Plan aims to encourage Francophone immigration to Canada and proposes measures that include the adoption of a new Francophone immigration policy. This policy will guide future actions, including improved efforts in promotion and recruitment support, both in Canada and abroad. The Government of Canada will put forward a series of measures to ensure recruiting abroad, with a particular focus on the socio-economic integration of Francophone immigrants in Canada.

Promoting lifelong learning opportunities

With the co-operation of the provincial and territorial governments, the investment will allow Canadians, particularly those living in a minority setting, to receive a complete education and develop their skills in their first official language. It will offer all Canadians opportunities to learn and appreciate their second official language. One of the goals of the investment is to strengthen the education continuum from an employability perspective to address labour shortages and to improve the recruitment and retention of French-language and French second-language teachers.

Strong measures in support of community vitality

With respect to this pillar, the investments will aim to increase community organizations’ capacity to respond to emerging needs and departmental priorities. Investments will also support women in official-language minority communities and in the early learning, arts and culture, and child-care sectors to improve access to quality programs and services.

Leading by example: Acting and collaborating to strengthen communities

The Action Plan includes funding for the creation of a centre within Canadian Heritage to strengthen Part VII of the Official Languages Act. This centre of expertise will be mandated to support the minister responsible for horizontal coordination of official languages and to support federal institutions in taking positive steps in favour of official-language minority communities. The funding will also be used to provide access to data on the estimated number of children eligible for minority official-language education.

Results for Canadians

The Action Plan 2023–2028 focuses on concrete measures and results. In addition to those listed above, the following measure are also included:

-Deploy a network of Francophone early childhood educators across Canada to contribute to the economic vitality of Francophone minority communities and to promote linguistic and cultural exchange in minority settings.

-Improve core funding for community organizations, including those in the justice and health sectors, to help them meet the challenges of recruiting, retaining and diversifying staff, for the benefit of the vitality of official-language minority communities and vulnerable groups, including women.

-Support the development of youth in minority communities to promote their linguistic security, sense of belonging and access to quality cultural products, and to expand the supply of internships in activity sectors experiencing a labour shortage.

-Support Canadians’ language rights by improving the Court Challenges Program and providing access to data on the estimated number of children eligible for minority official-language education.

Consult the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection – Promotion – Collaboration to learn more about official languages priorities and actions for the next five years.