Question Period Note: Reform of the French Language Services Act in Ontario

In its economic statement presented on November 4, 2021, the Ontario Government presented the first draft of its reform of the French Language Services Act.

• Our government welcomes the announcement to reform Ontario's French-language services legislation. This sends a positive message to all official language minority communities across the country.
• We are proud to remind you that the Government of Canada is providing $133.5 million over five years to support the delivery of provincial and territorial official language minority services through bilateral agreements.
• Our government remains committed to supporting our official language communities and the provincial and territorial institutions that serve them, just as we were committed to the creation of the Université de l'Ontario français.

• On Thursday, November 4, 2021, the Ontario Government introduced its Economic Statement, including the proposed French Language Services Act, as part of the omnibus legislation.
• The government recognizes the importance of a strong francophone and bilingual workforce and commits to a strategy for the delivery of French language services, including a modernization of the French Language Services Act, to improve access to these services.
• The new version of the Act would guarantee the right to active offer that the Franco-Ontarian community has been requesting for several years. This means that designated departments and agencies will have to promote their services in French and take concrete steps to ensure that French-speaking clients use them.
• The bill is accompanied by an action plan to increase the Francophone workforce. The Government also wants to give itself time to train and recruit a qualified francophone workforce in health, education and early childhood, among other fields.
• Among other measures, the Ontario Government intends to formalize the transformation of the Office of Francophone Affairs into a full-fledged Ministry of Francophone Affairs. Its incumbent will have a legislated mandate to promote francophone affairs and French language services in the province.
• However, two key requests from the Assemblée de la francophonie and several community members were not included in the Bill:
o the return of an independent office of the Commissioner of French Language Services
o the abolition of the 26 designated regions, which would have ensured access to French language services throughout Ontario.
• The Ontario Minister of Francophone Affairs has promised that this important reform, proposed following consultations with Francophones, will be adopted before the next provincial election scheduled for June 2022.
• In addition to the bill, the Ontario Government announced an investment of $ 1.5 million over three years in the Réseau économique francophone to support commercial businesses, and expand the range of support services offered to businesses, in particular the creation of a French-speaking business incubator.
• In November 2018, the Ontario Government had dissolved the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and announced that the handling of French Language Services Act complaints would now be a responsibility of the provincial Ombudsman. Following this announcement and the funding cut to the Université de l’Ontario français, the Government of Canada publicly committed to supporting the creation of the new post-secondary institution.
• The Governments of Canada and Ontario signed a bilateral agreement on January 22, 2020. The Université de l’Ontario français is expecting its first students as of Fall 2021.
• Under the Action Plan for Official Languages, Canadian Heritage is allocating $26.7 million per year, or $133.5 million over five years (2018-2023), for bilateral agreements for minority language services with the provinces and territories, which include $1.4 million per year for Ontario.

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