Official languages in the workplace
The Official Languages Act provides that English and French are the languages of work in federal institutions.
The government is committed to strengthening bilingualism in the public service, not only to better serve Canadians, but also to foster a work environment where employees in bilingual regions feel truly comfortable working in the official language of their choice. To implement this commitment, as of June 2025, new appointments made to bilingual supervisory positions responsible for the supervision of employees in bilingual regions will be required to meet a superior level of second official language proficiency.
Leadership in official languages calls on all managers in institutions:
- to respect the language-of-work rights of employees;
- to create and maintain a workplace that is conducive to the use of English and French in bilingual regions, for example by holding bilingual meetings;
- to communicate to employees the role that official languages play in service excellence for Canadians.
Tools for managers and persons responsible for official languages and a list of the bilingual regions of Canada for language of work purposes are also available.
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