Inclusive Official Languages Regulations: A New Approach to Serving Canadians in English and French

The scope of the Regulations

The Regulations apply to all organizations that are subject to the Act. They include federal institutions that are frequently used by Canadians, such as Service Canada centres, post offices and border checkpoints as well as privatized organizations, such as Air Canada^{Footnote 2} and airport authorities.^{Footnote 3} Some 11,300 federal offices and points of service are subject to the Act and the Regulations.

The concept of “office” is broad and refers to any location or means of providing services or information to the public by federal institutions. It includes toll-free telephone numbers, RCMP detachments, train routes or commemorative plaques. It should be noted that not all federal offices must communicate with members of the public and provide them with services in both official languages.

Part IV of the Act stipulates that members of the public in Canada have the right to use English or French when they communicate with:

• the head office or headquarters of federal institutions
• offices located in the National Capital Region
• the offices of an institution that reports directly to Parliament (for example, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages)

The regulations set out which of the 11,300 federal offices and points of service in Canada and abroad are required to provide services in both official languages. They are:

• offices located in areas where there is significant demand
• offices whose nature justifies providing bilingual services (for example, embassies and consulates)
• offices that provide services to travellers

A moratorium to protect the bilingual designation of offices during the review

When the review was announced in November 2016, the language designation of some 250 bilingual offices was in the process of being reassessed,^{Footnote 6} and there was a risk that they might be designated unilingual. The bilingual designation of those offices was protected through a moratorium established by the President of the Treasury Board.

The moratorium was established by adding subsection 6.2.3 to the Directive on the Implementation of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations on November 20, 2016. Subsection 6.2.3 provides for those offices to continue to communicate with members of the public in both official languages during the regulatory review.

The moratorium was well received by many stakeholders as it ensured that official language minority communities would continue to have access to services in their language during the regulatory review.

Theme 1: better anticipating the language preferences of Canadians

Anticipating official language preference when people visit federal offices is not a simple task. The consultations conducted by TBS showed that some Canadians, particularly those who are part of a minority community, believe that by using the “first official language spoken” (FOLS) variable, the federal government underestimates the number of citizens who wish to receive services in the minority official language.

For many, the method of determining significant demand must be more inclusive. As an Atlantic Canadian said, “My spouse’s mother tongue is English, but he is bilingual and usually speaks French at home and in public. But the government’s calculations do not take this into account.” TBS worked with Statistics Canada on an approach that would reflect new realities, such as mixed English-French households, the increasing number of allophone immigrants and the popularity of French immersion schooling, in order to better anticipate demand for services in the minority official language.

Under the new Regulations, if the minority official language is your mother tongue or if you use the minority official language mainly or regularly at home, then you are counted as part of the anticipated demand for that minority official language at federal offices (see Appendix A).

Theme 2: taking into consideration the vitality of communities

According to the 1991 Regulations, TBS does not need to take into account the vitality of Anglophone and Francophone minority communities when designating points of service as bilingual. Only quantitative characteristics are considered when determining access to services in the minority language.

A large number of people consulted by TBS consider this approach to be outdated. A participant from British Columbia pointed out, “Why is the Service Canada centre in my area designated unilingual English when there is a French-language school nearby?” Based on all available information, TBS and Canadian Heritage determined that the presence of a minority language school is the best indicator of the vitality of an official language minority community (see Table 2). The inclusion of vitality and the use of the school criterion to gauge vitality mean that federal offices that have a minority-language school in their service area must offer bilingual services.

Theme 3: demographic protection for official language minority communities

The language designation of federal offices is based, in many cases, on the relative demographic weight of the official language minority communities that these offices serve. For example, the Regulations provide that a federal institution must offer bilingual services to the public when the official language minority community of the province, territory or region where this institution has points of service represents a certain percentage (generally 5%) of the total population of the province, territory or region.
Many stakeholders pointed out that this rule may have adverse effects on minority communities because some of these communities are growing at a lower rate than the official language majority population around them. For example, by 2036, the overall proportion of people outside Quebec who speak French as their first official language could decrease slightly, from 3.9% to 3.6%.^{Footnote 8}

During the consultations, the FCFA proposed that a decrease in the proportion of Francophones below the 5% threshold in a given area should not have an impact on the language designation of federal offices, given that, in many cases, the number of Francophones is staying the same or increasing. For its part, the QCGN also proposed that an official language minority community whose relative weight is decreasing, but whose population is stable or increasing in absolute numbers, should continue to have access to bilingual services. Such an approach, they argued, would ensure that communities are not unduly affected by the growth of majority populations.

The new Regulations will be sensitive to situations like these. A federal office will remain bilingual when the official language minority population that it serves has remained the same or has increased, even if its proportion of the general population has declined.

Theme 4: modernizing and expanding the list of key services

Under the Regulations, certain services are referred to as “key services” and are more readily provided in both official languages because they are particularly important. The majority of participants in the consultations indicated that the concept of key services should be maintained, but that the list of services is outdated and too short. For example, they felt that passport services should be included.

Participants noted that “the use of names from a quarter of a century ago makes it difficult to understand the list of key services that are currently provided to the public. For example, the 1991 Regulations set out that the services of an office of the Secretary of State must be provided in both languages, but this institution ceased to exist in 1993.”

To meet the needs of Canadians, the list of key services has now been modernized and significantly expanded to include new key services. For example, all services currently provided by Service Canada offices, including passport application services, will become key services. To promote the economic and social development of official language minority communities, services provided by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and by the various regional economic development agencies (RDAs) will also be designated as key services. People who visit the offices of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), the Canada Economic Development Agency for Quebec Regions (CED), the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) and Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) will be served in the language of their choice at a greater number of offices.

Theme 5: linguistic duality nationally and internationally

Under the modified Regulations, all airports and train stations located in provincial or territorial capitals will be designated bilingual, including any federal offices located inside those airports and train stations. As a result, the Charlottetown airport, and the points of service operated by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority at that airport, will be designated bilingual.^{Footnote 9}

In addition, the approximately 60 offices of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada located in embassies and consulates will be designated bilingual in the new Regulations. This designation enhances the image that Canada projects around the world to those who wish to live, study or do business here.

Theme 6: consulting communities on the location of bilingual offices

In cities and regions where there is a significant minority language population and where a federal institution has several offices that provide the same service, some of those offices are designated bilingual. The proportion of bilingual points of service depends on the demographic weight of the minority community. For example, when minority language speakers account for 25% of the population in a given area, a quarter of the offices that provide the same service must be bilingual. Under the Regulations, this is called the “proportionality rule.”

Once the number of bilingual offices in a city or region has been determined, the federal institution must choose which ones will be designated bilingual. The 1991 Regulations required the institution to consider the distribution of the minority population. The Directive on the Implementation of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations added a requirement for institutions to consult the minority population on the location of bilingual offices. Because the requirement to consult is contained in the directive and not in the Regulations, some participants felt that the requirement did not have the desired impact. In the words of a participant from Manitoba, “Nobody really knows why a department that is required to provide bilingual services in a particular service area chose to have its bilingual office on the other side of the river, far from the area where Francophones are located and where they never go.”

In order to improve on this situation, the modified Regulations will require that the input of minority language communities be considered by federal institutions when they determine the location of bilingual offices under the proportionality rule.

Theme 7: using technology without sacrificing in-person services

The use of information and communication technologies was viewed positively by participants, as long as it was understood that such use would not lead to the removal of services that minority communities currently receive in person. TBS’s online survey showed that respondents who are part of an official language minority community do support greater use of digital technology by the Government of Canada. 93% of respondents to the survey who indicated they were English-speaking in Quebec and 81% of respondents who indicated they were Francophones outside of Quebec support the idea of federal institutions using information and communication technologies to provide more services in both official languages (see Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Text version

All respondents: 54%: strongly agree; 18%: somewhat agree; 14%: neither agree nor disagree; 6%: somewhat disagree; 4%: strongly disagree; 4%: don’t know.

Bilingual respondents: 58%: strongly agree; 13%: somewhat agree; 16%: neither agree nor disagree; 10% somewhat disagree; 0%: strongly disagree; 3%: don’t know.

Anglophones in Quebec: 75%: strongly agree; 18%: somewhat agree; 5%: neither agree nor disagree; 2 %: somewhat disagree; 0 %: strongly disagree; 0%: don’t know.

Anglophones outside Quebec: 44%: strongly agree; 20%: somewhat agree; 17%: neither agree nor disagree; 7%: somewhat disagree; 7%: strongly disagree; 5%: don’t know.

Francophones in Quebec: 65%: strongly agree; 15%: somewhat agree; 13%: neither agree nor disagree; 3%: somewhat disagree; 2%: strongly disagree; 3%: don’t know.

Francophones outside Quebec: 63 %: strongly agree; 18%: somewhat agree; 11%: neither agree nor disagree; 4%: somewhat disagree; 1%: strongly disagree; 1%: don’t know.

* Total number of respondents to this question: 841

Following the example of toll-free telephone lines, which have been designated bilingual since the 1990s, the modified Regulations will ensure that services provided by videoconferencing are also automatically designated bilingual. In addition, the Government of Canada will use digital technology to enhance the delivery of federal services in English and French (see theme 12).

Theme 8: an analysis of the Regulations every 10 years

The world is changing, and it is important for the Regulations to change with it. Many stakeholders, including representatives from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and official language minority communities, were adamant that the Regulations must be reviewed more frequently than every 25 years. That is why a new provision has been added to the Regulations. The provision requires that the Regulations be analyzed every 10 years and that the results be tabled in Parliament.

Theme 9: protecting and improving access to services regardless of community size

Some stakeholders, such as the Commissioner of Official Languages, cited the importance of further improving the demographic protection of bilingual offices in census metropolitan areas. The scope of the demographic protection set out in the Regulations will be expanded to apply to all linguistic communities, regardless of their size, whether they are in rural or urban areas. Stakeholders also noted the importance of services for smaller and remote communities. A rule was added to improve access to bilingual services, notably for key services, in small communities that have a high proportion of minority language speakers.

Theme 10: regularizing certain implementation issues

Stakeholders showed that the Regulations occasionally, in specific cases, resulted in application issues. The review of the Regulations will resolve some of these issues. For example, for certain federal offices providing services to the public, the provisions of the Regulations require the office to measure the demand in both official languages (this is the case notably for border crossings, airports, train stations). This could lead to abnormal results: recently 2 offices were designated unilingual in English in Quebec and one office unilingual in French in New Brunswick. An amendment to the Regulations will now ensure that federal services to the public be always available, at a minimum, in French in Quebec and in English in other Canadian provinces.

Another example of these anomalies seen over time is that of Entry Island in Quebec. Respondents noted that 90% of the population of the island are English-speaking, but the only post office on the island is required to provide unilingual services in French only. A rule was added to the Regulations so that such cases be resolved in the future.

Theme 11: collaboration between all levels of government to improve bilingual services

During the consultations, TBS met with representatives of provincial and territorial governments to discuss challenges, best practices and possible improvements to the delivery of government services in both official languages. In July 2018, TBS was invited to engage with provincial and territorial governments at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Network on the Canadian Francophonie in Whitehorse during the annual Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie.

The consultations clearly showed that citizens expect greater collaboration between governments and wish to see more bilingual service centres where people can pay municipal taxes, obtain a provincial driver’s licence and apply for a passport in their preferred official language. To make these centres a reality, governments were encouraged to work toward new partnerships and projects to better provide bilingual services.

Theme 12: taking advantage of digital technology

Digital government may enable citizens, including members of official language minority communities, to obtain services faster and more easily. In March 2018, Canadian Heritage and TBS organized a hackathon in Moncton to promote the development of applications that provide information about activities, services and jobs that are available in the minority official language in a given area. Other digital tools, such as an online application to help Canadians learn English and French, are also planned. Promising technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and more traditional approaches, such as online social networks, can help reinforce Canada’s linguistic duality by offering more services in both official languages. However, the consultations revealed that for many Canadians in rural areas or for those who are less comfortable with new technologies, the use of new technologies can also be a source of concern. Some indicated that they feared losing in-person, citizen-centred services if the government moves too quickly toward delivering services electronically.