About official languages and bilingualism
Official Languages Branch
Our Goal
- To promote French and English Languages in Canadian society.
- To encourage the development of Francophone and Anglophone communities in minority situations.
Our Areas of Involvement
Cooperation with other governments
Our partnership with the provinces and territories aims to enable official-language minority communities:
- to have access to education in their mother tongue;
- to manage their schools;
- to receive provincial and territorial services in their own language;
- and to enable all young Canadians to learn French and English as a second language.
Community Development
Our support enables official-language minority communities:
- to establish and maintain organizations that will allow them to fully contribute to the economic, cultural and social aspects of Canadian life;
- to benefit fully from federal programs in all regions of the country through the coordination role that we undertake with other federal institutions.
Interdepartmental Relations and Accountability
We ensure a coordinated approach among federal institutions (FIs) to further the development of official-language minority communities (OLMCs) and to promote English and French in Canada. We fulfill our mandate in the following ways:
- Supporting federal institutions in the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act;
- Facilitating networking among federal institutions and promoting best practices;
- Developing training tools for federal institutions;
- Tabling in Parliament the Official Languages Annual Report (Volume 2 - Achievements of designated federal institutions);
- Coordination with central agencies;
- Creating and maintaining a network of resource persons for regional interdepartmental coordination.
Promotion
The bilingual character of our country is a fundamental part of our national identity:
- we emphasize its advantages and rewards both in Canada and abroad;
- we help voluntary organizations to reflect the bilingual character of our society in their own activities;
- we encourage activities that foster mutual understanding between Anglophones and Francophones.
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