ARCHIVED - Summary of the Health Canada Annual Report on Results for the Implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act 2010-2011

In 2010-2011, Health Canada continued to make progress in implementing its 2009-2013 Action Plan in support of Part VII of the Official Languages Act by carrying out various activities and administering the Official Languages Health Contribution Program (OLHCP).

Thanks to the OLHCP, over a thousand French-speaking students outside Quebec were able to enrol in health training programs through the Consortium national de formation en santé, which consists of 11 post-secondary educational institutions across Canada. In addition, nearly two thousand people working in Quebec's health sector were given access to language training so they could better serve English-speaking minority communities.

Besides the successes attributable to the "training" component of the OLHCP, which seeks to expand the pool of human resources available to serve Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs), OLHCP funds were also used by health networks to sponsor multiple projects, including a French health services information line in Alberta, health promotion and prevention workshops across Canada, strategies for recruiting bilingual health care workers in rural Quebec and the translation of health information documents.

Health Canada's Official Language Community Development Bureau was awarded the Regions and Programs Branch Assistant Deputy Minister's Award as well as the Deputy Minister's Award for its contribution to improving the health of Canadians, notably through its programs in support of OLMCs. Moreover, the Deputy Minister highlighted Health Canada's record with respect to support for OLMCs and promotion of linguistic duality - which had earned the Department an "A" rating (Exemplary) in the Commissioner of Official Languages' 2009-2010 Annual Report when she appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages on February 15, 2011.

Health Canada also helped promote the vitality of OLMCs through other contribution programs, particularly in the areas of smoking, substance abuse and health human resources. In addition, the Department conducted numerous internal awareness activities, communication activities geared to partners, and interdepartmental and intergovernmental coordination activities in order to implement section 41 of the Official Languages Act.

Once again, Health Canada took part in a number of events organized by the communities, including an important meeting in March 2011 to discuss the health of English-speaking individuals and communities in Quebec and the Rendez-vous Santé en français held in Charlottetown in June 2010.

The Department also took the initiative of actively consulting OLMCs by organizing a consultation session with French-speaking communities on March 22 and 23, 2011, to take a snapshot of current access to health care in the communities and to establish priorities for the 2013-2018 period. A separate consultation process will be undertaken by Quebec's English-speaking community in 2011-2012.

For a complete copy of the Health Canada Annual Report on Results for the Implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act 2010-2011, please contact the Official Language Community Development Bureau.