Question Period Note: Official languages in federally regulated private business in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence

On May 15, 2023, Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the French Language Use in Federally Regulated Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, passed third reading in the House of Commons, allowing it to continue its legislative journey in the Senate. Among other things, this bill provides for the creation of a new law to enshrine new rights to work and obtain services in French in certain federally regulated private businesses under federal jurisdiction in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence to be defined.

• The Government of Canada recognizes that the private sector has a role to play in supporting the substantive equality of the two official languages.
• Bill C-13 proposes to enshrine in law new rights to work and obtain services in French in federally regulated private businesses located in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence.
• Our Government is committed to better supporting the French language, while protecting the language rights of all Canadians, as well as supporting the vitality of Quebec's English-speaking communities.

• The federal bill to modernize and strengthen the Official Languages Act (C-13), tabled in Parliament on March 1, 2022, includes the creation of a new law called the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Enterprises Act (UFPEA), which creates new rights to be served and to work in French within federally regulated private businesses (FRPBs) in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence.
• The new Act will come into force by decree and the size of the FRPBs that will be subject to it and the definition of designated regions with a strong francophone presence will be set out in regulation.
• On May 13, 2021, the Quebec government unveiled its reform of the Charter of the French Language (the Charter) and its resulting bill, Bill 96, was assented June 1, 2022. The later calls for, among other things, the application of the Charter to businesses located in Quebec with at least 50 employees since June 1, 2022 and would expand to private businesses of 25 to 49 employees three years following this assent. Moreover, recourse has been provided against retailers who refuse to serve their customers in French.
• In the wake of recent controversies surrounding Air Canada and the Canadian National Railway (CN), the Quebec government has indicated its willingness to apply the Charter exclusively to FRPBs in Quebec.
• On March 20, 2023, Air Canada announced its voluntary registration with the Office québécois de la langue française in accordance with the Charter. Air Canada's announcement comes on the heels of the same decision made by Canadian National, another federally regulated business subject to the OLA headquartered in Montreal.
• Since then, the Quebec government has qualified its position on the exclusive application of the Charter to FRPBs (including those subject to the OLA), viewing favorably the adjustments made to Bill C-13 under clause-by-clause consideration.
• The federal government has exclusive federal jurisdiction over labour relations and language of work for FRPBs. The Government of Canada already regulates FRPBs through various laws, regulations and policy instruments in several areas, such as accessibility, competition and telecommunications. However, at this time, it still did not impose any requirements on the use of official languages as a language of service and work for them, with the exception of certain entities currently subject to the OLA (e.g., Air Canada, CN and airport authorities).
• In Quebec, there are approximately 3,700 FRPBs, which employ almost 187,700 people, or about 4% of the province's employees. Of these, approximately 320 (8.6%) have more than 50 employees. There are 62,400 Quebecers who work in FRPBs that are not subject to the OLA, have more than 50 employees, and are not voluntarily subject to the Charter. These Quebecers represented only 1.4 percent the workforce in Quebec in 2019.
• On March 31, 2023, during the clause-by-clause review of C-13 at the LANG Committee, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister introduced a series of amendments, which were adopted unanimously. The House of Commons thus strengthened and detailed certain key elements related to language of work in the new Act that will apply in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence, rather than waiting to define them by regulation.
• These amendments were intended to address a concern expressed by the Government of Quebec that there was a risk that private businesses under federal jurisdiction would "flee" to a federal regime that was less restrictive in terms of language of work. The two regimes will therefore be able to coexist harmoniously without waiting for the coming into force of a regulation detailing the terms of the federal legislation.
• The new rights introduced by the Government of Canada’s Bill would give employees of a FRPB that are covered, among other things, the right to work and be supervised in French, receive communications in French, and use commonly used work instruments and computer systems in French. These rights do not prevent the use of English or any other language in the workplace, under specified circumstances, and protect any employee from adverse treatment, a term now defined in C-13.
• The UFPEA provides that FRPBs in Quebec will be subject to the new federal regime by default. However, the new Act gives them the option of voluntarily becoming subject to the Charter on terms that may be specified in an agreement between the federal government and the Government of Quebec.
• The FRPBs that are subject to the OLA (e.g., Air Canada and CN) will not be subject to the UFPEA regime. Although, they may now voluntarily become subject to the Charter, subject to the rules defining the jurisdiction of Parliament and the provincial legislatures and the principle of paramountcy of federal legislation in the event of an inconsistency between provincial and federal legislation.

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