Question Period Note: Official Languages Passports

Service Canada offers bilingual services in in-person offices to support service delivery to minority official languages communities.

• The Official Languages Regulations specify under which circumstances federal offices have the duty to provide services and communicate in both official languages.

• Clients have access to bilingual services at 193 out of the 585 points of service offering passport services.

• When a client presents themselves at a unilingual office and requests services in the minority official language, they are provided with the details of the nearest bilingual office and are provided with telephone interpretation services so they can receive service in their preferred official language.

• The language designation of Service Canada offices is determined through the criteria established by the Official Languages Regulations.

• The Regulations use data from the latest decennial Census to determine if there is significant demand that justifies offices in specific regions to be designated bilingual.

• 10-day passport service is available at 44 bilingual offices out of 58 offices offering this service.

• The Department is currently undergoing the Official Language Regulations Re-Application Exercise, an exercise that updates the language designation for federal offices every 10 years.

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