Bill Mandating Bilingualism in Federally Regulated Private Sector Signed Into Law

Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on June 17, 2019. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Legislation mandating the use of both French and English in the federally regulated private sector is now law, as Bill C-13 amending Canada’s Official Languages Act received royal assent.

Also known as “An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages,” the legislation mandates the use of French by private airlines, banks, railways, and other workplaces under federal regulation in regions of Canada that are said to have a “strong francophone presence.”

Bill C-13 received royal assent on June 20. The bill was initially introduced in March 2022 by Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor.

“By receiving royal assent we have given ourselves the means to achieve substantive equality between French and English,” said the minister in the House of Commons the same day, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter. “With this act we will have better tools to reverse the decline of French, she added.

Petitpas Taylor said that the newly passed legislation will also “more effectively protect our official language minority communities” and grants more powers to the federal commissioner of official languages to give the aforementioned communities “new tools to maintain their vitality.”

The legislation also calls for new federal government commitments to “protect and promote French” and provides for certain measures that Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez may use to “advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society.”

The Department of Canadian Heritage wrote in a report dated November 28, 2022, that the average rate of bilingualism across the country “increased moderately between 2006 and 2021,” mostly within Quebec.

“The rate of bilingualism outside Quebec decreased slightly, despite an increase in the number of students enrolled in second language learning programs,” the department wrote in the report, titled “Evaluation of the Official Languages Support Programs 2003-04 to 2020-21.”

Bilingualism

The Heritage Department added that the nationwide demographic weight of francophone “official language minority communities” (OLMCs) has decreased since 2006 while that of anglophone OLMCs has increased slightly.

“Therefore, the viability of Francophone OLMCs remains fragile,” it wrote.

Before it passed the House, the Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages heard concerns from some witnesses that Bill C-13 would lead to complaints from English speakers.

“While some official language complaints are well-founded and require corrective action, our members have in recent years faced increasing complaints that are vexatious in nature and do not in our view protect or assist with the values the Act stands for,” Daniel-Robert Gooch, CEO of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, told the committee on Oct. 25, 2022.

Petitpas Taylor told the House on May 12 that the new legislation will “protect” and “promote” both English and French in Canada.

“I want my message to Anglophones in Quebec to be very clear. Bill C-13 in no way removes any rights from English-speaking Quebecers,” she said.