Tabling of the 2022-2023 annual report: Official languages issues still very much present

GATINEAU, QC, May 30, 2023 /CNW/ - Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada Raymond Théberge tabled his 2022–2023 annual report in Parliament today.

After more than two years of the pandemic, Canadians have finally been able to return to a certain degree of normalcy and resume activities that were put on hold due to pandemic-related health restrictions.

This normalcy has, however, highlighted official languages issues that the Commissioner has repeatedly raised in the past but that are still very much present, such as the lack of respect for the language rights of the travelling public and of federal public servants.

In his annual report, the Commissioner has made recommendations that, when implemented, will help address the shortcomings he has identified and foster greater respect for the language rights of the public and of federal public servants.

Once again, the past fiscal year has shown that the future of official languages across Canada's provinces and territories is not set in stone. Along with a modernized Official Languages Act, a strong and well-designed Action Plan for Official Languages is essential to ensure that our official language communities stay strong and vibrant.

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"As efforts to modernize the Official Languages Act continue, it is crucial that we once again prioritize our official languages and give them the distinct importance they deserve on an ongoing basis. This is a duty that falls primarily to our leaders and is necessary to achieve the vision of a Canada where it is possible, wherever the Act applies, to travel, to obtain services, to work and to thrive in the official language of your choice."

Raymond Théberge, Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada

Highlights

• In 2022–2023, the Commissioner of Official Languages received a total of 1,788 admissible complaints under the Official Languages Act.
  
  
• Of that number:
• 810 concerned communications with and services to the public (Part IV), including 497 about services to the travelling public;
• 207 were about language of work (Part V);
• 10 involved equitable participation (Part VI);
• 44 were related to the advancement of English and French (Part VII);
• 714 were about the language requirements of positions (Part XI, section 91); and
• 3 concerned other parts of the Act (parts I and III).
  
  
• Recommendations:

1. The Commissioner recommends that:
1. the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Transport develop tools and guidelines related to the language obligations of airport authorities and share them with the airport authorities by March 31, 2024; and
2. the Minister of Transport require airport authorities to submit a plan on how they will fulfill their language obligations to the public by June 30, 2025.
   
   
2. The Commissioner recommends that, by the end of June 2025, the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Official Languages and the Clerk of the Privy Council work together to:
1. draft an action plan in which they define concrete ways to highlight the role of official languages in the federal public service; and
2. measure the actual capacity of federal public servants to work in the official language of their choice in regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes.
   
   
3. The Commissioner recommends that the President of the Treasury Board implement her three-year action plan by June 2025 to ensure that federal institutions comply with section 91 of the Official Languages Act.

Related links

Annual Report 2022–2023

Infographic: 2022–2023 in brief

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SOURCE Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

Media Relations, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Telephone: [phone], Toll-free: 1-877-996-6368, Email: [email protected]