Question Period Note: Budget 2021: Promoting Canada’s Official Languages

On April 19, 2021, the Government of Canada Budget announced a new investment of $389.9 million over three years to support official languages.

• The new commitments in Budget 2021 will support the reforms proposed in the modernization of the Official Languages Act and strengthen the vitality of official language minority communities.
• These commitments will support French immersion and French second language programs in schools and the provision of quality post-secondary education in the minority language. This will help provinces and territories meet the high demand for these programs across the country.
• Access to quality education in both official languages is essential both to foster the vitality of official language minority communities and to promote bilingualism in Canada.

• On April 19, 2021, the Government of Canada Budget announced a new investment of $389.9 million over three years to support official languages.
• Budget 2021 proposes to provide:
o $180.4 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to Canadian Heritage to support students across the country in achieving greater levels of bilingualism. Being bilingual is a competitive advantage to Canadians. Every time a child cannot go to French immersion school, we lose a future bilingual citizen. This funding will be used to enhance French immersion and French second-language programs in schools and post-secondary institutions; help provinces and territories meet the strong demand from students and parents for spaces in French immersion and French second-language programs; boost the existing strategy for teacher recruitment and retention; as well as support learning French from early childhood.
o $121.3 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to Canadian Heritage to make high-quality post-secondary minority-language education available across Canada.
o $81.8 million over two years, starting in 2021-22, to Canadian Heritage to support the construction, renovation, and expansion of the educational and community spaces that serve official language minority communities.
o $6.4 million to Canadian Heritage and $2.3 million to the Treasury Board Secretariat, over two years, starting in 2021-22, to move forward with modernizing the Official Languages Act.
• In addition to the funds dedicated to official languages, the Budget also proposes $18 million in funding for the Translation Bureau to support the government's translation and interpretation services. This will ensure that parliamentarians and Canadians receive timely translation and interpretation services in both official languages, Indigenous languages, sign language and other languages spoken in Canada.

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