Question Period Note: 2018-2023 Action Plan for Official Languages: Status of Implementation

On April 19, 2021, the Government of Canada introduced its Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth and Resilience. It proposes to invest $389.9 million over three years to support official languages. This is in addition to the funding already provided by the government under the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023.

• The Budget 2021 commitments are added to the amount of $500 million that our Government provided to the Action Plan, which constitutes a historic investment in the area of official languages.
• These new investments aim to, among other things, help students reach higher levels of bilingualism, support quality post-secondary education in the minority language and reinforce the educational and community infrastructure in official language minority communities across the country.
• Our work for and dedication to our two official languages are demonstrated by the fact that all of the new initiatives of the Action Plan for Official Languages are now fully implemented.

• On April 19, 2021, the Government of Canada introduced its Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth and Resilience. It proposes investing $389.9 million over three years, beginning in 2021-2022, to support official languages. Among other things, it suggests:
o $180.4 million to Canadian Heritage to help students across the country achieve higher levels of bilingualism. This funding will be used to enhance French immersion and French second-language programs in schools and post-secondary institutions, to help provinces and territories meet the strong demand from students and parents for French immersion and French second-language spaces, to strengthen the existing strategy for the recruitment and retention of teachers, and to support the learning of French from early childhood.
o $121.3 million to Canadian Heritage to provide high-quality post-secondary education in the minority language in Canada.
o $81.8 million, over two years, to Canadian Heritage to support the construction, renovation and development of educational and community spaces that serve official language minority communities.
• The 2021-2022 Main Estimates include additional budget commitments. These new investments are in addition to the nearly $500 million in supplementary funding in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023: Investing in Our Future (Action Plan). In total, $888.9 million will be invested to support official languages in Canada from 2018 to 2023.
• Canadian Heritage (PCH) led a mid-term review exercise, in collaboration with its partners, of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023. It took stock of the first three years (2018-2020) of implementation of the measures stemming from the additional $500 million investment provided for in the Action Plan. The objectives of the exercise were to :
o provide an overview of actual expenditures to date;
o identify adjustments required and best practices for the continued implementation of the federal strategy.
• The Accountability Framework of the Action Plan for Official Languages – 2018-2023 was published in November 2020. It presents the partners’ accountability strategy, which includes:
o mechanisms that ensure horizontal coordination of the Action Plan
o Yearly reporting of Action Plan implementation in Canadian Heritage's Annual Report on Official Languages;
o Annual tables summarizing all government investments in official languages, including Action Plan initiatives
• On March 28, 2018, the Government of Canada unveiled its Action Plan. It represents close to $500 million in new funds over five years and focuses on three pillars: Strengthening our Communities ($267 million); Strengthening Access to Services ($129 million); and Promoting a Bilingual Canada ($100 million).
• These funds are in addition to the ongoing program funds, notably those of the 2013 2018 Roadmap, for an unprecedented investment of $2.7 billion over five years.
• Other federal departments and agencies are partners of the Action Plan. The Action Plan announced new initiatives at Employment and Social Development Canada, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Department of Justice and Statistics Canada. These federal partners remain responsible for the implementation of their activities and for their reporting. The implementation of these new initiatives is well underway.

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