The Government of Canada announces an investment of $12.5 million to support official language minority community media

The Government of Canada supports community media in official language minority communities, enabling them to participate more fully in civic life and raise awareness of local and national issues

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 28, 2024 /CNW/ - Community media enable minority communities to preserve their language, culture and traditions. These media play an essential role in disseminating local information that reflects the reality and specific needs of these communities, helping to strengthen their sense of belonging.

Today, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, announced an investment of $12.5 million as part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028. This major investment is designed to support official language minority community media across Canada and strengthen their ability to effectively serve their communities.

Of this amount, $7.6 million will be allocated to 89 new projects over the next four years, contributing to the vitality of community media in minority communities across the country. This investment will help identify and implement the measures needed to strategically strengthen community media and increase their capacity to serve Canada's official language minority populations.

In addition, $5 million will be used to train the next generation of community media professionals and address labour shortages in the sector. Thanks to this measure, 125 paid internships will be created at 98 community media organizations across Canada, enabling interns to acquire skills and media to benefit from additional human resources.

Thanks to this new federal investment, minority community radio stations and newspapers will be better supported in their efforts to become viable businesses, while members of the communities they serve will have access to content in their own language and in their own environment.

Quotes

"Community media are at the heart of minority communities across Canada. They tell local stories, help maintain and develop our local and national identities, and ensure that Canadians from coast to coast to coast have access to quality information. That's why we are investing $12.5 million to support community media in minority communities across the country."

—The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages

"Community media contribute daily to the vitality and influence of official language minority communities in Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories. We applaud the Government of Canada's ongoing commitment to investing in our sector so that our media remain firmly rooted in their communities and can play their essential role as witnesses and promoters of our country's two official languages."

—Linda Lauzon, authorized representative the Consortium of Official Language Minority Community Media

Quick Facts

The Consortium of Official Language Minority Community Media represents 105 minority newspapers and radio stations in 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Created in 2016, the Consortium is made up of Réseau.Presse, the Quebec Community Newspapers Association (QCNA), the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada (ARC du Canada) and the English-Language Arts Network (ELAN). Consortium members speak with one voice to defend the interests of official language minority media in Canada.

Since its inception in 2018–2019, the Consortium's media internship program has proven to be a talent incubator and an important human resources development tool for official language minority community media. More than half of the interns have gone on to become permanent staff at official language minority newspapers and radio stations.

As part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration, the Community Media Strategic Support Fund has supported over 175 strategic projects, contributing to the vitality of official language minority community media.

The Action Plan provides for a total investment of $4.1 billion to support seven departments and 33 new or enhanced measures aimed at protecting and promoting the country's official languages.

This is the fifth five-year official languages plan in 20 years. The 33 new measures added to the existing ones have been grouped under four pillars. In addition, they are inspired by government priorities and issues expressed by communities across the country during the cross-Canada consultations conducted in 2022, which resulted in the Report on the consultations – Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations 2022.

On 20 June 2023, Bill C-13, An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages, received royal assent. The Act aims to address the decline of French in the country and to clarify and strengthen the promotion of official languages, while supporting official language minority communities.

Every province and territory has official language minority communities, each with its own unique reality and needs. The Action Plan aims to respond to the unique challenges facing Francophone communities outside Quebec and English-speaking communities in Quebec.

Associated Links

Official Languages Support Programs
Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration
Your language – Your plan
An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

Contacts: For more information (media only), please contact: John Fragos, Communications Advisor, Office of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, [email protected]