Official Languages Regulations Reapplication Exercise
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Canadians have the right to communicate with the Government of Canada and to receive federal services in the official language of their choice, in certain circumstances as set out in the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations. Federal institutions must review the application of these rules every 10 years, based on linguistic data from the most recent decennial census.
This review is done during the Official Languages Regulations Reapplication Exercise (OLRRE) and thus helps to keep the linguistic designation of offices up to date. The OLRRE will be launched in fall 2023 and will take place in a series of steps with full implementation of the new language obligations expected in 2027. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) coordinates the OLRRE, while the institutions are responsible for taking the necessary actions to confirm the linguistic designation of their offices.
Directive and regulations on communications with and services to the public
Under the Official Languages Act, certain offices are required to serve the public in both official languages.
The Government of Canada has developed regulations and a directive regarding communications with and services to the public that are essential for the upcoming OLRRE:
- Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations
These regulations underwent a major review from 2016 to 2019 and were registered in June 2019. It includes about ten substantial changes to the initial 1991 regulations. Many of these changes will be applied during the OLRRE. - Directive on the Implementation of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations
This directive was updated in 2022 and aims to ensure, in accordance with the spirit of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Official Languages Act, a uniform and consistent application of the Official Languages Regulation by specifying certain aspects.
Institutions subject to the exercise
Some offices are not subject to the OLRRE because they are automatically required to serve the public in both official languages, namely:
- Head or central offices
- Offices located in the National Capital Region
- Offices reporting directly to Parliament
- Cases where the nature of the office justifies its bilingual designation
All other offices providing communications or services to the public, subject to the Official Languages Act and to the Official Languages Regulations, are subject to the OLRRE, i.e., some 10,000 offices.
Institutions’ obligations
For newly designated bilingual offices, institutions have a maximum period of one year to comply with and implement their new obligations.
In the case of newly designated unilingual offices, institutions have a maximum of one year to inform the minority-language population served by the office of the date on which bilingual services will no longer be available, and where they can receive services in their preferred official language from now on. Bilingual services must be maintained in the meantime.
Communication of results to the public
The offices and their linguistic designation are published on Burolis, the online tool aimed at informing the public on the location of bilingual points of service.
Aggregated OLRRE results will be made public through the TBS’s Annual Report on Official Languages.
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