President of the Treasury Board announces creation of Experts Advisory Group

The Government of Canada is committed to delivering better services to Canadians in the official language of their choice. As part of this commitment, in November 2016, the President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable Scott Brison, announced a review of the Official Languages Regulations (Communications with and Services to the Public). 

Today, Minister Brison announced the creation of the Experts Advisory Group that will advise him directly on the Regulations review. Each member of this volunteer group has considerable professional experience in official languages and has their ear to the ground of minority linguistic communities across the country. The Group will contribute to adopting an effective approach focused on service delivery and to ensuring that the new regulations reflect the needs and socio-demographic realities of these communities.

The Treasury Board Secretariat itself has already embarked on a comprehensive engagement approach in the review of the Regulations and is actively consulting all stakeholders.

Several working groups, representing key stakeholders, have already been established and are meeting regularly to discuss issues and potential solutions around the delivery of bilingual services. Information sessions will also be held and open to all parliamentarians.

New regulations are expected to be tabled in Spring 2019.

In the interim, the government has imposed a moratorium on offices set or likely to lose their bilingual status until new and modernized regulations are in place.

Group members:

• Senator Claudette Tardif (Alberta)
• Senator Raymonde Gagné (Manitoba)
• Graham Fraser, Former Commissioner of Official Languages
• Mirelle Cyr, Co-Chair, Dialogue New Brunswick