Question Period Note: Official languages in federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence

On June 20, 2023, the Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages (short title of Bill C-13) received Royal Assent. Among other things, that law creates a new law establishing new rights: the right to work in French in certain federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence, and the right to obtain services in French from those businesses. The new law, known as the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (UFPBA), will come into force by order-in-council.

• The Government of Canada recognizes that the private sector has a role to play in supporting the substantive equality of the two official languages.
• The new Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act establishes new rights: the right to work in French in such businesses located in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence, and the right to obtain services in French from those businesses.
• The next step in the implementation of this Act will be to develop a regulation that will define regions with a strong Francophone presence. This process will be carried out in consultation with the Canadian population.

• The Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages (Bill C-13)—which modernizes and strengthens the Official Languages Act (OLA) and received Royal Assent on June 20, 2023—includes the creation of a new law called the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (UFPBA). This law establishes new rights: the right to be served in French in federally regulated private businesses (FRPBs) in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence, and the right to work in French in such businesses.
• The UFPBA will come into force by order-in-council, and the size of FRPBs that will be subject to that law and the definition of regions to be designated as having a strong Francophone presence will be established by regulation.
• On May 13, 2021, the Quebec government unveiled its reform of the Charter of the French Language (the Charter), and the bill that followed, Bill 96, was assented to on June 1, 2022. Among other things, the bill provides for the application of the Charter to apply to businesses located in Quebec with at least 50 employees and would expand that scope of application, three years later, to businesses of 25 to 49 employees. Moreover, the bill provides for recourse against businesses who are unable to serve their customers in French.
• In the wake of recent controversies surrounding Air Canada and Canadian National Railway (CN), the Quebec government expressed a desire to apply the Charter to all FRPBs in Quebec, including those subject to the Official Languages Act (OLA).
• On March 20, 2023, Air Canada announced its voluntary registration with the Office québécois de la langue française in accordance with the Charter. This registration decision came on the heels of a similar decision by CN, another FRPB subject to the OLA headquartered in Montréal.
• Since then, the Quebec government has tempered its position on the exclusive application of the Quebec Charter, rather than a federal statute, to FRPBs (including those subject to the OLA), taking a favourable view of the adjustments made to Bill C-13 that facilitated the adoption of the UFPBA.
• The Government of Canada has exclusive jurisdiction over labour relations and language of work for FRPBs. It already regulates these businesses through various statutes, regulations and policy instruments in several areas, such as accessibility, competition and telecommunications. However, until now, it has not imposed any requirements on the use of the official languages as languages of service or work in these businesses, with the exception of certain entities currently subject to the OLA (e.g. Air Canada, CN and airport authorities).
• In Quebec, there are approximately 3,700 FRPBs, which employ almost 187,700 people, or about 4% of the province’s total workforce. Of these businesses, approximately 320 (8.6%) have more than 50 employees. There are 62,400 Quebecers who work in FRPBs that are not subject to the OLA, have more than 50 employees and are not voluntarily complying with the Charter. In 2019, these Quebecers represented only 1.4% of the province’s workforce.
• On March 31, 2023, during clause-by-clause study of Bill C-13 by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, the Parliamentary Secretary to the former Minister of Official Languages introduced a series of amendments, which were adopted unanimously. The House of Commons thereby strengthened and detailed certain key elements in the UFPBA relating to language of work that will apply in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence, rather than waiting for these to be defined by regulation.
• These amendments were intended to address concerns expressed by the Government of Quebec that FRPBs might “flee” to the federal regime, which had appeared less restrictive in terms of language of work. The two regimes will therefore be able to coexist harmoniously without waiting for the coming into force of regulations detailing the manner in which the UFPBA is to be implemented.
• The new rights introduced by the UFPBA will give employees of FRPBs, among other things, the right, to work and be supervised in French, to receive communications in French, and to use widely used work instruments and computer systems in French. These rights do not prevent the use of English or any other language in the workplace, under specified circumstances, and protect employees from adverse treatment, a term now defined in the UFPBA.
• The UFPBA provides that FRPBs in Quebec will be subject to the new federal regime by default. However, it gives those businesses the option of voluntarily complying with the Charter on terms that may be specified by regulation or in an agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec.
• Those FRPBs that are subject to the OLA will not be subject to the UFPBA regime. That said, they may voluntarily comply with the Charter at any time, subject to the rules governing the respective jurisdictions of Parliament and the provincial legislatures, and the principle of federal paramountcy in the event of any conflict between provincial and federal legislation.

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