Statement - Advancing Canada's Official Languages Commitments

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Statement - Advancing Canada's Official Languages Commitments

Canada NewsWire

OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 9, 2025

OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 9, 2025 /CNW/ - The Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board made the following statement today:

"The Government of Canada is dedicated to protecting and promoting official languages within federal institutions and across Canadian society."

As part of this commitment, I am pleased to announce that 733 additional federal offices across Canada have now been designated bilingual. This marks a significant increase in access to services in both official languages, raising the proportion of bilingual federal offices from 34 to 40% among some 10,000 federal points of service.

This review follows updates to the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations, which further strengthened the circumstances under which federal offices provide services – in English, French, or both official languages. It will also broaden the reach of federal services offered in both official languages, with 534 newly designated bilingual offices located outside urban centres. 

Additionally, I tabled draft regulations under Part VII of the modernized Official Languages Act. The regulations would prescribe a more consistent and uniform approach to supporting federal institutions in taking positive measures to support official language minority communities and protect and promote French across the country. These measures can range from supporting cultural, economic, or educational activities.

The regulations would also require federal institutions to conduct analyses that assess opportunities for taking positive measures, as well as ways to avoid or mitigate direct negative impacts as part of their decisions to create or stop policies, programs or initiatives. In addition, the regulations would clarify how federal institutions must carry out dialogue and consultation activities, and how they must demonstrate that they took the necessary steps to promote the inclusion of official languages clauses in agreements with provinces and territories.

Stakeholder proposals, stemming from consultations, were considered critical in developing the regulations. Parliamentarians and Canadians will now have an opportunity to provide further input.

I am also pleased to announce that I have tabled the 2023-2024 Annual Report on Official Languages. While federal institutions continue to perform strongly in serving Canadians in the official language of their choice, the report also identifies areas for improvement.

My department will continue to monitor and support federal institutions by offering the guidance and tools needed to fulfill their obligations – ensuring the equality of English and French remains a national priority."

Quick Facts

  • The Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations were amended in June 2019.
  • The modernized Official Languages Act (OLA) received royal assent in June 2023.
  • More than half of the offices newly designated as bilingual are the result of an English- or French-language minority school being located in the area served by a given office.
  • Federal offices with new linguistic designations are now available on Burolis.

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SOURCE Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat