Official Languages Regulations Re-Application Exercise – Frequently Asked Questions

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Official Languages Act ensure the public the right to communicate with and receive services from federal institutions in the official language of their choice in certain circumstances.

The Official Languages Regulations Re-Application Exercise is intended to update the linguistic obligations of federal offices every ten years. The purpose of this major review is to determine which offices are required to communicate with and provide services to the public in both official languages.

Under the Regulations, data from the most recent decennial census is used to review the linguistic obligations of federal offices. This exercise began on October 24, 2012, after Statistics Canada published population data on first official language from Census 2011.

Institutions that have only one office, head offices and headquarters, offices that report directly to Parliament and offices in the National Capital Region are not subject to the Official Languages Re-Application Exercise, since these offices are automatically responsible for serving the public in both official languages according to section 22 of the Official Languages Act.

The Regulations provide for the use of data on first official language spoken. These data are obtained using a formula that takes into account three linguistic variables on the census form: knowledge of official languages, mother tongue and language spoken at home.

The exercise is conducted in three main phases. The Treasury Board Secretariat has carried out the first phase, while federal institutions are responsible for completing follow-ups as part of the two other phases.

1. Re-application of demographic rules – The provisions of the Regulations, which are based on data from the most recent decennial census, must be re-applied. With this initial phase now completed, the obligations of approximately 77% of the offices subject to the exercise have been determined.
2. Identification of service areas – Approximately 15% of the offices in question have to determine or confirm their service area. This phase was completed in summer 2014.
3. Measurement of service demand – The Regulations stipulate that in certain circumstances, offices must measure demand and offer services in both official languages if the demand for service in the minority language has reached 5% over the course of the year. This phase could continue until summer 2016.

The Directive on the Implementation of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations gives an office that is required to provide services in both official languages in future a maximum period of one year in order to take the necessary measures to comply with the new requirement.

The manager of an office that is required to provide services in both official languages in future must take all necessary measures to ensure that the office is able to meet its obligations for communication with and services to the public. The manager must therefore review the language requirements of positions at the office affected by this change.

In the case of institutions subject to the Public Service Employment Act, employees in positions for which the language requirements have been modified can remain in their positions without meeting the new language requirements of the position and the institution will provide them with language training.

All institutions that have offices with new bilingual obligations can consider certain options, such as developing training plans to allow unilingual employees to acquire the required language skills or sharing or exchanging resources with others in their offices.

Measures taken following a change in an office’s linguistic status must comply with:

• The Policy on Official Languages
• The Directive on Official Languages for People Management
• The Bilingualism Bonus Directive
• The Qualification Standards in Relation to Official Languages

There are two possible scenarios. The Directive on the Implementation of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations allow a maximum of two years for offices that are no longer required to offer bilingual services, under a provision of the Regulations not requiring a measurement of service demand, so that the institution can complete consultations with the minority population served by the office. In the meantime, bilingual services must continue to be delivered.

Offices that are no longer required to provide bilingual services following an assessment of demand have a one-year transition period, and consultations with the minority population are not required.

The manager of an office that is no longer required to provide services in both official languages in future must review the linguistic identification of the positions affected by this change and take appropriate measures to comply with:

• The Policy on Official Languages
• The Directive on Official Languages for People Management
• The Bilingualism Bonus Directive

In the case of institutions subject to the Public Service Employment Act, employees in positions for which the language requirements have been modified can remain in their positions, but they will no longer be eligible for the bilingualism bonus.

The exercise is expected to span a period of approximately four years, from 2012 to 2016.

The results of the re-application exercise will be made public in the Annual Report on Official Languages, which is tabled in Parliament.

The public also has access to and may directly consult Burolis, an electronic database of federal offices that serve the public, to know the linguistic designation of federal institutions' offices.

The Treasury Board Secretariat coordinates the Official Languages Regulations Re-Application Exercise.

Each federal institution subject to the Official Languages Act is responsible for complying with the Act, Regulations and the Directive on the Implementation of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations.