Question Period Note: LANGUAGE OF WORK IN FEDERALLY REGULATED WORKPLACES IN QUEBEC

Does the Government of Canada support the application of the Charter of the French Language to federally regulated employers in Quebec?

• Our Government is proud of Canadian bilingualism and cultural diversity, and remains fully committed to promoting the French language in Canada.

• We encourage businesses under federal jurisdiction in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada to protect and promote the use of French in their workplace in the spirit of the Official Languages Act and its provisions on promoting both official languages in Canadian society.

• Our priority in the current context is to protect the health of Canadian workers and respond to the many challenges workplaces are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current Situation
• On August 18, 2020, the Government of Quebec announced that it would table a language action plan that would, among other things, propose an approach to ensure that federally regulated employers in Quebec are subject to the Charter of the French Language (Quebec Charter).

• On August 31, 2020, the Bloc Québécois announced that it would table a Private Member’s Bill to subject federally regulated employers to the Quebec Charter. It cited a study showing that 40% of Quebec businesses (63% in Montreal) required or wished the person hired in 2018 had English language skills.

• Both leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party have since stated that they supported an approach that would subject federally regulated employers in Quebec to the Quebec Charter.
Two parallel frameworks governing language of work in Quebec
• In Quebec, there are two parallel frameworks governing language of work for different categories of businesses and workers: the Official Languages Act (OLA) and the Charter of the French Language (Quebec Charter).

Official Languages Act (OLA)

• Canadian official languages policy, as reflected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the OLA, is founded on the principle of equality of the two languages. The OLA sets out obligations relating to the use of both official languages within federal institutions (i.e., institutions of Parliament and the Government of Canada), in particular with respect to proceedings of Parliament, legislative instruments, the administration of justice, communications with and services to the public and language of work. The OLA also applies to current and former Crown corporations such as Air Canada, CN and various ports and airports.

• Every federal institution has a duty to ensure that all members of the public are able to communicate with and receive available services in either official language in the National Capital Region and regions designated as bilingual. The public’s right to be served in the official language of its choice takes precedence over an employee’s right to work in French or English.

• According to the OLA, English and French are the languages of work in federal institutions. It is incumbent on these institutions, in the National Capital Region and in other designated bilingual regions to ensure that the work environment is conducive to the use of both official languages while allowing employees to use the official language of their choice. In Quebec, designated bilingual regions are: the Greater Montreal region and bilingual regions in other parts of Quebec (mainly situated in the Eastern Townships, the Gaspe and western Quebec). Elsewhere the language of work is French.

• In designated bilingual regions, services for employees (for example, human resources) as well as work tools must be available in both languages. Institutions must also ensure that supervisors are able to communicate with their employees in both languages and that senior management is capable of functioning in French and English.

Charter of the French Language (Quebec Charter)

• The Quebec Charter recognizes French as the official language of the province of Quebec. Its provisions apply to the legislature and the courts, civil administration, semipublic agencies, educational instruction, commerce and business and labour. The Quebec Charter sets out as a fundamental right, the right of workers in provincially regulated workplaces to perform their duties in French.

• The Quebec Charter does not specifically regulate oral communication between an employer and an employee or between employees. However, the employer is required to draft written communications to staff in French, as well as offers of employment or promotion. Collective agreements must be drafted in French and arbitration awards must be translated into French or English, as the case may be, at the request of one of the parties.

• The Quebec Charter also permits the use of English (or another language other than French) for communications between businesses in Quebec and those situated outside of Quebec. The use of a language other than French as the language of operation is also permitted in head offices and research centres by special agreements with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF). In the case of head offices, the OQLF must be satisfied that communications outside of Quebec are substantial enough to justify the use of a language other than French.

• Federal departments and agencies, as well as current and former Crown corporations, are subject to the Official Languages Act (OLA) while federally regulated private-sector workplaces are not subject to any language law.

• In 2013, the Government of Canada released a report that concluded that the linguistic practices of Quebec-based employers in federal and provincial jurisdictions are very similar:
o French is predominantly the language of work in federally regulated workplaces in Quebec
o Employees can generally work in French and have access to work tools in French
• The Labour Program has never received a complaint or other indication from a federally regulated employee in Quebec concerning an inability to work in French.
• A 2020 study from the Institut de la statistique du Québec for the Office québécois de la langue française showed that 40% of Quebec businesses (63% in Montreal) required or wished the person hired in 2018 had English language skills.