President of the Treasury Board appearance before the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages (OLLO) – Annual Report on Official Languages 2022–23 – December 2024

Background

OLLO invited the President of the Treasury Board to appear on December 9, 2024, as part of its review of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Annual Report on Official Languages 2022–23 and to discuss the President’s departmental responsibilities in implementing the Official Languages Act.

The President of the Treasury Board tabled the TBS Annual Report on Official Languages for the fiscal year 2022–23 in Parliament on June 17, 2024.

Following a legislative process to modernize the Official Languages Act, the new version of the Act received Royal Assent on June 20, 2023, granting increased responsibilities to TBS.

Day of: scenario (OLLO)

The meeting will take place on December 9, 2024, starting at 5 pm, subject to delays, and is expected to consist of one panel, lasting 60 minutes.

• The first hour (from 5 to 6 pm) will include the President of the Treasury Board and TBS representatives on the TBS 2022–23 Annual Report on Official Languages.
• The rest of the meeting is expected to be in camera to consider a draft agenda in the context of the committee’s study relating to minority-language health services.

Briefing binder

A binder has been prepared for the appearance that the President’s office and supporting witnesses received on December 3, 2024. The binder contains detailed information on various aspects of official languages in government. It begins with a scenario note and is divided into several sections, including annual reports, statistics and trends. It also covers:

• the monitoring of official languages in federal institutions
• the modernized Official Languages Act
• the responsibilities of the Treasury Board

Other important themes include:

• the accountability framework
• regulations for communications and services to the public
• bilingualism requirements for supervisory positions
• official languages in emergency situations

A placemat was also provided that focuses on the key issues of interest to TBS in the area of official languages.

Supporting officials

• Carsten Quell, Executive Director, Official Languages Centre of Excellence, People and Culture, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer

Other relevant information

The Commissioner of Official Languages tabled his 2023–24 Annual Report in Parliament on May 7, 2024. He appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages (LANG) and OLLO on May 27, 2024. In particular, he criticized TBS for its perceived slowness to develop the orders-in-council needed to fully implement the Official Languages Act.

On October 30, 2023, the President of the Treasury Board appeared at OLLO with the then Minister for Official Languages to discuss their new roles as ministers responsible for official languages.

More recently, on November 4, 2024, the former Minister of Official Languages, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Marc Miller, appeared at OLLO to discuss Francophone immigration and OLLO’s study on minority-language health services.

Besides the modernization of the Official Languages Act, OLLO has been working on other studies of limited interest to TBS since the beginning of the 44th Parliament:

• minority-language health services
• Francophone immigration to minority communities (including a study of the government’s response)
• the application of the Official Languages Act, and the regulations and directives stemming from it, within institutions subject to the Act
• minority-language health services

Issue

The President of the Treasury Board’s Annual Report on Official Languages 2022–23 was tabled before Parliament on June 17, 2024. The report provides an update on the application of Parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act, with a focus on the overall status of official languages programs within the Government of Canada.

Response

The 2022–23 report demonstrates strong official languages performance in the federal public service; 25% of public servants are now Francophones, which reflects the percentage of francophones in the Canadian population.

The report highlights the public service’s strength in offering services in both official languages. As of March 31, 2023, 95% of employees in bilingual positions meet the language requirements of their positions.

While progress has been made, some challenges remain in promoting bilingualism throughout the public service. Institutions must improve on:

• ensuring that contracts and agreements with third parties contain language clauses
• consistently making active offers of services in both official languages
• providing employees with the tools they require for linguistic success
• maintaining a work environment that encourages the use of both official languages

TBS is supporting federal institutions in addressing these issues through the development of a new Second Official Language Training Framework, which includes improvements to bilingualism in the workplace, and to second language security or, simply put, the confidence to speak in their second official language.

Background

The report presents the results of the most recent self-assessments of all institutions subject to the Official Languages Act before its modernization. The report shows that institutions indicated that measures were taken to ensure full compliance with the Official Languages Act in times of crisis. More specifically, the report discusses efforts to strengthen official languages coordination and accountability.

The annual report presents the results of the annual reviews submitted by federal institutions for the three-year 2020–23 cycle, comparing them, where possible, with those obtained during the 2017–20 cycle. Since 2023–24, TBS has adopted a two-year cycle. The results will be made available next year.

Overall, there is evidence of stability and strong performance with respect to official languages in the federal public service for 2022–23:

• Over 90% of institutions apply human resources management, governance and monitoring practices that promote the advancement of English and French. For example, almost all say they conduct the linguistic designation of positions objectively or that they ensure that senior management is informed of the results of monitoring activities. However, some official languages management practices are not sufficiently widespread, contributing to the shortcomings noted in various sections of this report.
• Anglophones and francophones participate in an equitable manner in the workforce of institutions subject to the Official Languages Act across the country. It will be important to ensure that recruitment efforts are equitable between both linguistic groups, including for English-speaking Quebecers seeking employment in federal institutions in Quebec.
• The core public administration of the public service maintains its capacity to provide services in both official languages to the public and to its employees.
• As for language of work in 2020–23, significant gaps remain. In many institutions, employees are not fully able to exercise their right to write materials or to participate in meetings in the official language of their choice in regions designated as bilingual. Also, the senior management team does not always communicate in both official languages.
• TBS is stepping up its efforts to improve the language of work situation. TBS launched a new Second Official Language Training Framework that will support federal institutions in their learning approach aimed at fostering bilingualism in the workplace and increasing employees’ language security to regularly use their second official language.
• Within the core public administration as of March 31, 2023:
  • 41.4% of positions are bilingual (105,547 positions)
  • 94.9% of incumbents in bilingual positions meet the linguistic requirements of their positions (100,207 of the 105,547 bilingual positions)
  • 37.6% of bilingual positions require a higher competency level in oral interaction (39,737 positions)
  • the proportions of public servants that have French as their first official language (25.1%) and that have English as their first official language (74.8%) in all the institutions subject to the Act are still representative of the Canadian population

TBS plays a key role in the implementation of various parts of the Act. This role includes, for example, in 2022–23, the analysis of over 650 Treasury Board submissions for compliance with official languages requirements.

Issue

The Commissioner of Official Languages published two reports in 2023–24: Annual Report 2023-2024 and A Shared Future: A Closer Look at Our Official Language Minority Communities. Neither of the two recommendations from the Commissioner’s annual report directly target the Treasury Board.

Response

On May 7, 2024, the Commissioner published his annual report.

• One of the two recommendations indirectly implicates the Treasury Board. It requires that, by June 2026, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, with the support of the President of the Treasury Board, will develop and publish indicators for reviewing the provisions and operation of the Official Languages Act in preparation for the 10‑year review in 2033. Canadian Heritage can count on the Treasury Board’s close collaboration.
• The Commissioner positively acknowledges all the work done by TBS and underscores their successful working relationship.

On October 9, 2024, the Commissioner published A Shared Future: A Closer Look at Our Official Language Minority Communities with the objective of enhancing ways to promote the vitality of official languages minority communities. TBS is taking the following steps to address the findings:

• In the Part VII Regulations, TBS plans to include details about federal institutions’ obligation to promote the inclusion of language clauses in federal-provincial/territorial agreements, as well as guidelines for conducting dialogue and consultation activities with official language minority communities.
• Regarding the linguistic designation of federal offices, TBS has launched an exercise to update the linguistic designation of some 10,000 federal offices by reapplying the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations (Official Languages Regulations) using language data from the most recent decennial census.

Background

Issue

Statistics on official languages are represented by subject.

Response

The Government of Canada is committed to having a bilingual federal public service.

In 2023, 41.4% of positions in the core public administration were bilingual, and 94.9% of incumbents met the language requirements of their position.

Background

Issue

The modernized Official Languages Act strengthened and reinforced TBS’s responsibilities for monitoring, auditing and evaluating official languages in federal institutions. Enhanced monitoring is through the Annual Official Languages Review Exercise.

Response

The modernized Official Languages Act enables TBS to enhance its monitoring, auditing and evaluation capabilities of institutions’ official languages obligations to better demonstrate compliance.

As part of its reinforced responsibilities, TBS has revised the methodology of its Annual Official Languages Review Exercise and updated the questions to reflect its new monitoring responsibilities.

The new methodology now includes a biennial cyclical exercise for those institutions not already required to submit a review on an annual basis. The launch of the new biennial cycle began in 2023–24 and ends in 2024–25.

The review exercise provides an institutional and horizontal diagnosis that identifies strengths and challenges, and trends and best practices. It is also used to draft the Treasury Board’s Annual Report on Official Languages.

Background

The Annual Official Languages Review Exercise questionnaire was developed to monitor compliance with policy requirements. The approach adopted for the Official Languages Review is consistent with the general monitoring and reporting mandate of TBS. The modernized Official Languages Act strengthens and broadens TBS’s responsibilities in terms of monitoring, auditing and evaluating official languages within federal institutions.

Issue

Bill C-13 received Royal Assent on June 20, 2023. The modernized Official Languages Act brings several changes that impact the Treasury Board, its President and its secretariat.

Response

The Treasury Board has long-standing responsibilities under the Official Languages Act, including:

• communications with and services to the public
• language of work in federal institutions
• participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians in the federal public service

As President of the Treasury Board, I also have the responsibility for coordinating the government-wide implementation of the modernized Act, in consultation with other ministers, and for ensuring good governance.

TBS is now coordinating the work and setting of the agenda of the Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers on Official Languages and has assumed responsibility for the network of officials responsible for the implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, which supports community vitality and the promotion and protection of French.

The modernized Act grants the Treasury Board greater powers to monitor, audit and evaluate the compliance of federal institutions to ensure:

• that Canadians receive services in the official language of their choice
• that public service employees work in an environment conducive to the use of both official languages
• that the needs of official language minority communities are taken into account when developing policies and/or initiatives that may have an impact on their vitality
• improvements on language clauses in federal-provincial and territorial contracts and agreements

Background

Issue

The modernized Official Languages Act assigns new responsibilities to the Treasury Board regarding Part VII.

Response

The Treasury Board is responsible for developing regulations to implement Part VII of the Official Languages Act, which will provide a framework for the application of the sections of the Act dealing with positive measures to promote:

• the vitality of official language minority communities
• the recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society
• the protection and promotion of the French language
• strengthening opportunities for English- and French-speaking minorities to learn in their own language throughout their lives, including language clauses in federal-provincial/territorial agreements.

TBS has completed pre-consultations with organizations representing official language communities, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and federal institutions. These pre-consultations have led to the development of regulatory proposals that will be the subject of statutory consultations with the communities, prior to the tabling of draft regulations in Parliament in early 2025.

Background

Issue

The modernized Official Languages Act now contains an obligation to promote the inclusion of language provisions in federal-provincial/territorial agreements.

Response

Provinces and territories have an important role to play in supporting official language minority communities, and the success of the modernized Act depends in part on strong intergovernmental cooperation.

That’s why the modernized Official Languages Act requires that federal institutions promote the inclusion of language clauses when negotiating agreements with provincial and territorial governments, where applicable, particularly when these agreements can contribute to the development of official languages minority communities.

The regulations on Part VII of the Act will provide guidance to federal institutions on how to comply with this new obligation while respecting areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction. Statutory consultation on the new regulations will take place in 2025.

Federal institutions continue to work in partnership with all provinces and territories to support official languages and official language minority communities.

Background

As part of its new responsibilities under Part VIII of the Official Languages Act, the Treasury Board must verify whether, when negotiating agreements with provincial and territorial governments, federal institutions have taken the necessary steps to promote the inclusion of language clauses, where relevant.

Currently, the requirements for transfer payment arrangements are set out in the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments and the Directive on Transfer Payments. The policy states that deputy heads are responsible for ensuring that “transfer payment programs support activities that benefit members of both official language communities, that their design and delivery respect the obligations of the Government of Canada as set out in Part VII of the Official Languages Act and that services and benefits are made available in both official languages in compliance with the Official Languages Act.”

In a case where the province or territory is acting on behalf of the federal government within the meaning of the Act, a language clause(s) that reflect(s) the federal obligations under Part IV of the Act must be inserted in the agreement.

In a case where transfer payment programs support activities for the benefit of members of both official languages communities, their design and implementation must respect the Government of Canada’s obligations under Part VII of the Act.

The modernized Official Languages Act strengthens the obligations under Part VII, particularly with respect to the obligations of institutions to take positive measures. Also, the modernized Official Languages Act now requires federal institutions to promote the inclusion of language clauses when negotiating agreements with the provincial and territorial governments, including funding agreements, that may contribute to the implementation of the commitments under subsections 41(1) to (3) of the Official Languages Act, which fall under the responsibility of the President of the Treasury Board. The nature of this requirement recognizes that intergovernmental agreements are negotiated, not imposed, and must respect the constitutional distribution of powers.

In addition, the modernized Official Languages Act requires the Treasury Board to verify compliance by federal institutions with its official languages policies, directives and regulations, including those relating to the taking of positive measures. It is important to note that federal institutions that negotiate agreements with the provinces and territories must do so in accordance with the legal framework and areas of jurisdiction.

Issue

In June 2024, the President of the Treasury Board established a new Official Languages Accountability and Reporting Framework to support good governance in the application of the Official Languages Act.

Response

The President of the Treasury Board is now responsible for providing leadership within the federal government for the implementation, coordination and good governance of the Act.

In June, the Treasury Board announced the publication of a new Official Languages Accountability and Reporting Framework as a measure to support good governance.

This new framework describes the roles and responsibilities of the key players in official languages governance, both within the government and within federal institutions, and clarifies accountability expectations.

The framework therefore supports federal institutions by providing clear guidelines and mechanisms to help them meet their official languages obligations effectively.

Background

In 2021, the Government of Canada introduced a series of regulatory and administrative measures in its reform document English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada to provide a modernized vision of the federal language regime and work towards amending the Official Languages Act.

One of the administrative measures proposed was the creation of an accountability and reporting framework to guide federal action on official languages and provide a framework for the application of the amended Act.

The amended Act, which was adopted in 2023, expanded and strengthened the role of the Treasury Board and established that the President of the Treasury Board is responsible for providing leadership within the federal government for the implementation, coordination and good governance of the Act.

The new Official Languages Accountability and Reporting Framework expands and replaces the 2003 Official Languages Accountability and Coordination Framework. This is a key measure to ensure good governance while fulfilling one of the commitments expressed in the President of the Treasury Board’s mandate letter, namely, to support the Minister for Official Languages in the full implementation of the measures set out in the reform document English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada.

Issue

The amendments to the Official Languages Regulations include significant improvements to better serve the public in both official languages. Many of these improvements are being implemented for the first time as part of the Official Languages Regulations Reapplication Exercise (OLRRE), currently underway.

Response

The Official Languages Regulations were amended in June 2019 and provide Canadians with better access to federal services in both official languages.

As part of a regular decennial review process, most of the new provisions of the amended regulations are currently being applied for the first time in light of the latest census data.

The review process to assess the linguistic designation of offices is currently underway and being conducted in phases. The review of rule application is part of the OLRRE. This exercise began in September 2023. Many new provisions from the amended regulations are being applied for the first time during this exercise.

It is estimated that approximately 700 additional offices could become bilingual as a result of the amended regulations, increasing the percentage of bilingual offices from 34% to more than 40%.

The review process should be completed by 2027.

Background

The Official Languages Regulations establish the circumstances under which federal offices are required to offer their services in one or both official languages, including the criteria that determine whether there is significant demand in the official minority language.

Between 2016 and 2019, the regulations were revised in depth for the first time since their coming into force (1991). As part of this review, TBS carried out extensive consultations across the country, notably with official language minority communities, representatives of provincial and territorial governments, and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

The amended regulations came into force on June 25, 2019, and include significant changes, including:

• a new, more inclusive calculation method for estimating significant demand in the official minority language that takes into account everyone who speaks the official minority language at home
• a qualitative criterion of vitality which recognizes that the existence of an official language minority school constitutes a stable indicator of community vitality and of significant demand for services in the minority language in the region where the school is located
• the demographic protection which recognizes that the official language minority population does not necessarily grow as quickly as the majority population and ensures that a federal office will remain bilingual if the official language minority population served has been maintained, even if its proportion to the general population has decreased

Most of the new provisions of the amended regulations are being applied for the first time to the offices of institutions using linguistic data from the 2021 decennial census as part of the OLRRE. The OLRRE was launched in September 2023 and takes place in several steps culminating by the end of 2027. In October 2024, the first of these OLRRE steps was completed: the language designation of some 1,900 offices subject to automatic rules of the regulations have been updated and published on Burolis, the public-facing website to obtain information on federal offices and whether they offerservices to the public in English, French or in both official languages.

It is estimated that approximately 700 additional offices could become bilingual following the OLRRE, increasing the percentage of bilingual offices from 34% to more than 40%. It is after the next steps of the OLRRE that the language designation of the majority of the 700 offices that could become bilingual will be confirmed.

Issue

The modernized Official Languages Act addresses concerns related to the language of work in the federal public service brought forward by some stakeholders and parliamentarians.

Response

TBS ensures language of work rights in the federal public service.

The public service is becoming increasingly bilingual, with more bilingual positions and more employees meeting language requirements.

As of 2025, all employees in bilingual regions will have the right to be supervised in their preferred official language, and supervisors in bilingual regions will need a higher level of second language proficiency for new appointments.

The Official Languages Act requires persons appointed to deputy minister, associate deputy minister or equivalent level positions in federal departments to undergo language training upon appointment by the Governor in Council to ensure the ability to speak and understand both official languages clearly.

To support this requirement, TBS has launched a new second official language training framework with guidelines, an implementation guide, and a playbook to support a diverse public service.

To address linguistic insecurity, TBS has also established an interdepartmental working group, created a job aid with tools and strategies, and developed workshops for employees.

Background

2022–23 Annual Report on Official Languages

The Annual Report on Official Languages 2022–23 shows progress in serving the public in both official languages:

• 95% of employees in bilingual positions meet their language requirements
• 25% of employees identify French as their first official language, matching the Canadian population percentage

Challenges include:

• improving language clauses in contracts and agreements in both official languages
• creating a work environment that encourages and supports bilingualism

Report of the Commissioner of Official Languages

The 2023–24 annual report contains two recommendations, including one that involves TBS:

• By June 2026, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, with the support of the President of the Treasury Board, will develop and publish indicators for reviewing the provisions and operation of the Official Languages Act in preparation for the 10-year review in 2033.

Canadian Heritage can count on our close collaboration as we implement this recommendation.

Coordination of the Official Languages Act

As President of the Treasury Board, I am responsible for the coordination and good governance of the Official Languages Act.

The Treasury Board’s powers have been strengthened and broadened with respect to monitoring the compliance of federal institutions in their official language’s obligations.

The Act specifies that the Treasury Board has the authority to develop and recommend regulations with respect to Part VII, which we are undertaking in order to meet our commitments.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat initiatives

In June 2024, TBS introduced a new Official Languages Accountability and Reporting Framework to ensure good governance in applying the Act.

TBS also launched the first Official Language Training Framework, offering flexible, accessible, and learner-focused training that considers the needs of equity-seeking groups.

To support second official language maintenance, TBS is:

• running an interdepartmental taskforce on linguistic insecurity
• developing a job aid on linguistic resilience
• providing guidance on maintaining second official language skills

Part VII Regulations

TBS is creating rules for federal institutions to support Part VII commitments, which include:

• promoting the vitality of official language minority communities and bilingualism in Canada and protecting French
• promoting learning opportunities in the language of official language minorities
• providing guidance on how federal institutions should include official language provisions in agreements with provinces and territories

Developing these regulations is a priority, and TBS is consulting key partners and stakeholders. I expect to present the draft regulations in Parliament in early 2025.

Services to the Public and Part IV Regulations

In 2019, the Treasury Board updated the communications and services regulations (Part IV) to improve access to federal services in both official languages across Canada.

These changes will add about 700 bilingual offices, raising the percentage of bilingual federal service points from 34% to over 40%.

The new language requirements for federal offices should be fully implemented by the end of 2027.

For the first time, over 145,000 Canadians living outside major cities will have access to a Service Canada office with services and benefits in their preferred official language.

Bilingual bonus

TBS is working with bargaining agents to review the Bilingualism Bonus Directive of the National Joint Council, which brings together the employer and the unions.

Any changes to the directive will be co-developed through the National Joint Council review process by the unions and the employer.

We are making sure that all our investments in official languages help us support a bilingual public service.

Bilingualism in the public service

The federal public service is becoming more bilingual:

• 41.4% of positions are bilingual in 2023, up from 35% in 2000
• 95% of employees meet their position’s language requirements in 2023, up from 83% in 2000
• nearly 38% of positions now require a higher level of bilingualism, compared to 25% in 2000

Starting in June 2025, new supervisors in bilingual regions must have advanced proficiency in the second official language.