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Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration

This publication is available upon request in alternative formats.

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List of Figures

List of Tables

Annex 1 – Summary of the Government of Canada’s New Investments in Official Languages

Annex 2 – Context – Historical Funding Renewed for 2023–2028 ($2.7 billion) and Time-Limited Funding

Historical funding renewed for 2023–2028 ($2.7 billion)

Time-limited funding 2023–2028

Totals – Total Government of Canada Official Languages Funding for 2023–2028

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Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration [PDF version - 11.3 MB]

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

2022 Consultations
2022 Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations
Action Plan
Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration
Commissioner
Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada
OLMCs
Official-language minority communities

Ministers partnering in the Action Plan

Message from the Prime Minister

Canada’s official languages, English and French, are a precious heritage, a powerful symbol of our diversity, and a vibrant part of our national identity. They serve as a bridge connecting us to each other as Canadians and to the rest of the world, and we must protect them as living languages to ensure they continue to thrive.

While today nearly 18 per cent of Canadians are bilingual – the highest percentage ever recorded in our country – the digital transformation has created a global landscape where English tends to dominate, and gaps in our institutions continue to stand in the way of bilingualism. It is clear that more work remains to be done and we are committed to doing it.

As mentioned in the Speech from the Throne on September 23, 2020, the Government of Canada must also recognize that the situation of French is unique. There are approximately eight million Francophones within a region of over 360 million inhabitants who are almost exclusively Anglophone. The government therefore has the responsibility to protect and promote French not only outside of Quebec, but also within Quebec.

In recent years, the Government of Canada has done important work here at home to protect and promote our official languages, from supporting education in minority-language schools across the country to improving new immigrants’ access to services in the official language of their choice. Last year, we reached our target of welcoming French-speaking immigrants to communities outside Quebec, with over 16,300 newcomers settling in Francophone communities – the highest number in almost two decades – and we will keep on welcoming more. We secured funding to build a new French-language university in Toronto, together with Ontario. And we invested to support English-speaking institutions in Quebec too. These actions have helped foster a society where everyone can participate, in English and French.

Last year, building on these successes and the foundations laid out by the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023, we introduced legislation to amend the Official Languages Act and modernize Canada’s linguistic regime for the 21st century. Since then, through extensive consultations with Canadians across the country, we have worked to develop an ambitious and comprehensive roadmap that will help ensure the continued growth and prosperity of both English and French in our country.

Today, we are presenting our Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration. This ambitious five-year plan is the next step in our ongoing efforts to achieve substantive equality of English and French in Canada, with a clear focus on diversity, inclusion, and equity. It recognizes the important economic, social, and cultural value of our official languages, and takes into account the current and future situation of minority communities in Canada – both French-speaking minorities outside Quebec and English-speaking minorities in Quebec.

I thank the Canadians whose ideas helped guide the development of this Action Plan as well as Minister Petitpas Taylor for her leadership in this process. I am confident that we have the necessary framework to further promote our official languages, ensure their vitality, and better protect language rights in Canada. I look forward to putting this vision into practice so that together we can continue to build a diverse country that celebrates its linguistic heritage while protecting it for future generations.

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister of Canada

Message from the Minister

As a proud Acadian serving as Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, I am committed to protecting and promoting our linguistic duality. Our two official languages are an integral part of our identity, and that is why our government has taken concrete action in recent years with respect to official languages.

In March 2022, I had the honour of introducing Bill C-13, which seeks to modernize the Official Languages Act in order to strengthen it and make it an ambitious act fit for the challenges of the 21st century. Wanting to go even further, I also conducted extensive cross-Canada consultations that gave me an opportunity to meet with Canadians in all provinces and territories and to hear about their needs and their vision for the future of Canada’s official languages. Following these successful consultations, Canadian Heritage began developing Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028. We are now ready to present this new Action Plan to Canadians.

Action Plan for Official Languages: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration reaffirms our Government’s commitment to the protection and promotion of our two official languages, the preservation of French, and the vitality of our official language minority communities. This roadmap for the next five years lays out government priorities that echo the stories, hopes, challenges and concerns expressed by Canadians during the consultations.

This Action Plan was also shaped, in part, by my own experiences. Having grown up in Moncton, I recognize the importance of concerted and committed government action. It was also important for me to organize the most accessible and inclusive consultations possible to hear from a broad range of stakeholders.

During these consultations, stakeholders addressed a number of issues, including the current economic pressures on communities; the precarious situation of French, not only in Quebec but in all the provinces and territories; the crucial importance of Francophone immigration for minority communities; the particular challenges affecting Quebec’s English-speaking communities; and the need to make federal assistance more available to under-represented groups, including women, who play a fundamental role in language transmission in Canada.

In short, the choices made by our government in this new Action Plan are the result of a meticulous and inclusive consultation process. The proposed initiatives demonstrate a commitment to a government-wide strategy that will address the concerns of Canadians going forward.

My hope is that Canadians will now make this Action Plan their Action Plan. I wish you all continued success!

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor

Official languages reform in Canada

An Action Plan to implement the reform and advance the substantive equality of the two official languages in Canada

Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration (hereinafter the “Action Plan”) is one component of the official languages reform presented to Canadians in February 2021 in a document entitled English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada. While that document focused mainly on legislative and regulatory proposals, it also called for administrative measures.

On March 1, 2022, Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, was introduced in Parliament.

The reform also called for the implementation of a new Action Plan to prioritize the Government of Canada’s efforts in support of official languages and official language minority communities (OLMCs).

The new Action Plan for Official Languages represents $1.4 billion over five years in new investments in the form of 32 new or enhanced measures to be implemented under four pillars: Francophone immigration, official language learning, community development and government leading by example.

This new investment builds on Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in Our Future, which expired on March 31, 2023, and is in addition to the cumulative investments of the past 20 years.

The new Action Plan therefore extends all the investments in the previous Action Plan — roughly $2.7 billion over five years that has now become ongoing, permanent funding — while injecting an additional $1.4 billion over five years in new funding.

Thus, the new Action Plan brings the total Government of Canada investment in official languages for the 2023–2028 period up to $4.1 billion. This is the largest official languages investment ever made by a Canadian government in the history of the country.

The Action Plan proposes to do more, and to do better, in promising areas for communities while supporting the spirit of, and other actions linked with, the reform. The Plan’s overall objective remains the same: to lay the groundwork for substantive equality between English and French in Canada. This new Action Plan will be implemented immediately and will be in effect from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2028.

The new Action Plan is in line with the Government’s commitment in the 2020 Speech from the Throne entitled A Stronger and More Resilient Canada, which noted that “[t]he Government of Canada must also recognize that the situation of French is unique.” The Plan therefore differs from previous action plans in terms of its firmer commitment to protecting French. For example, it provides support for the production and dissemination of scientific information in French and contains measures — especially immigration measures — to stimulate the growth of the Francophone population and the production of Francophone cultural content.

Given the increased focus on diversity, inclusion and equity objectives, this Action Plan features new initiatives designed to support more vulnerable clienteles. One strength of the Plan is the increase in core funding for community organizations to help them foster greater diversity in their ranks and to better recognize the contribution of women.

While a greater effort is being made to support French, including in Quebec, the Government of Canada remains fully committed to enhancing the vitality of Quebec’s English-speaking communities, in keeping with the spirit of the announced reform. There are as many Canadians living in the linguistic minority communities of Quebec as in the linguistic minority communities of all the other provinces and territories combined. These communities face subtle regional, demographic and economic realities that differ from one region of Quebec to another and call for special attention and renewed efforts on the part of the Government of Canada. The new Action Plan therefore features innovative initiatives that address the priorities identified by Quebec’s English-speaking communities.

This public document presents the Government of Canada’s Action Plan to Canadians, in order to inform them about the Government’s priorities and the key measures taken to achieve them.

Results for Canadians

The Action Plan also builds on the results achieved through the Government of Canada’s efforts during the 2018–2023 cycle. Here are a few telling examples of the many concrete measures put in place in support of the official languages and OLMCs:

An action plan that speaks to Canadians

The design of this Action Plan reflects the latest developments in official languages and important steps taken by the Government of Canada to support the development of OLMCs and advance English and French in Canadian society.

During the 2018–2023 period, the Government of Canada supported the creation of the Université de l’Ontario français and Simon Fraser University’s Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs in Burnaby. In addition, it negotiated a new cycle of support for official language learning in Canada — one covering both minority-language education and second-language instruction or immersion — with the provincial and territorial governments. The Government also made a point, when drafting Bill C-13, of using language consistent with the Federal Court of Appeal decision in Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique v. Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada).

Not only has the Government of Canada been there for communities seeking support, but it has also been especially proactive in taking the pulse of Canadians. A broad initial consultation process was conducted in 2019 to solicit the views, hopes and aspirations of Canadians for official languages reform, culminating in the release of the reform document English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada.

The subsequent Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations held in the spring and summer of 2022 were an opportunity for the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (hereinafter the “Minister of Official Languages”) to hear directly from Canadians about the challenges they faced and their priorities for the new Action Plan for Official Languages. These were among the most innovative official languages consultations ever organized in Canada in that they sought to address the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related health measures by combining face-to-face events, an online questionnaire, and virtual thematic events that brought together 100 to 150 people for each of the seven online sessions. In total, more than 6,500 Canadians, including key official languages representatives, provided input through these consultations.

Without repeating all the findings in Report on the Consultations – Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations 2022, it does bear mentioning that some organizations reported facing very real challenges in their communities.

Community organizations are experiencing economic and demographic issues (labour shortages, insufficient wages, inflation, difficulty keeping students and young people in communities, aging, etc.) that are making it increasingly difficult for them to carry out their missions. This has led the Government of Canada to boost core funding for these organizations. It is important that this increase in funding be implemented in a flexible manner, one that takes into account the needs of Quebec’s English-speaking communities, in particular. The issues facing these communities are different from those facing Francophone minority communities and vary according to where the communities are located in Quebec, be it Montréal, Lanaudière, Estrie, the Lower North Shore, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the Magdalen Islands or Nunavik, to name but a few regions that reflect the geographical, cultural and socio-economic diversity of these communities.

In January 2023, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced that the Government of Canada had met its 4.4% target for Francophone immigration outside Quebec in 2022, a year earlier than expected. While this is an important step, much remains to be done, and OLMCs remain committed to reaping the full benefits of immigration to foster their development and reverse their demographic decline. To this end, the Action Plan proposes stronger measures in support of Francophone immigration in minority settings.

Organizations also stressed the importance of having a true educational “continuum” in minority settings so that a person has the opportunity to receive a complete education — from early childhood to post-secondary — and develop their knowledge in their own language throughout their lives. Lifelong learning was also emphasized as being important in an economic context where the development of professional skills is seen as a potential solution to the labour shortage.

In Canada, the challenges facing French are different from those facing English. A number of factors are at play, including the draw exerted by English in a context marked by scientific and technological developments (Internet, social networks, etc.). To address these challenges, the Action Plan features, among other things, enhanced support for French in science and in immigration. Support for sectors essential to enhancing the vitality of Francophone minority communities and Quebec’s English-speaking communities (culture, education from early childhood to post-secondary, health, justice, employment and immigration) is also considered likely to make a significant difference in these communities.

During the 2022 Consultations, organizations also urged the Minister of Official Languages to maintain, and further invest in, intergovernmental cooperation, which is key to the implementation of this Action Plan. Whether in terms of services or education, such collaboration with the provincial and territorial governments is crucial to the vitality of OLMCs and the identity security of their members.

Northern communities were also clear about the importance of adapting Government of Canada approaches to regional realities, in general, and to northern realities, in particular. The Action Plan provides for organizational core funding that is more flexible, better tailored to local realities and more inclusive of diversity in the areas served.

Overview of the situation: Trends of concern and opportunities

A strategic approach

Over the past two decades, the Government of Canada has adopted a strategic approach based on long-term, transformative results, employing successive five-year action plans to present Canadians with a series of priorities requiring immediate action.

The new Action Plan is no exception to the rule in that it lays out new investments to meet the priorities identified mainly through the 2022 Consultations.

The Government of Canada has chosen to prioritize its efforts in official languages through successive plans, each building on the achievements of its predecessors. While the plans are partly designed to remedy specific issues, they also seek to spur the development and enhance the vitality of the communities targeted by these measures.

Take the example of Francophone immigration, which is a key issue in this Action Plan. In absolute numbers, there have never been as many Francophones in Canada as there are in 2023. Yet over the past 50 years, their share of Canada’s overall population has steadily declined. In 1971, Francophones outside Quebec made up 6.1% of Canada’s population outside Quebec. According to the latest data from Canada’s Census of Population, this share had fallen to 3.5% by 2021. Several factors have contributed to this decline, but ultimately more must be done to leverage Francophone immigration as a way to help bolster the ranks and demographic weight of the Francophone community. Many other factors also have a decisive impact on demographic trends in Francophone minority communities. Increased Francophone immigration would not, in itself, resolve the challenge of demographic decline without being complemented by a variety of measures to improve access to services in both official languages, especially in the areas of justice, health and education; to further promote the teaching of French as a second language across Canada; and to better position French as an asset for the labour market.

Using these concerning trends as policy levers, the Action Plan becomes a powerful strategic tool for taking direct, practical actions to effect real change.

2021 Census results

The design of this Action Plan was informed, in part, by the preliminary 2021 Census data released by Statistics Canada. The preliminary data on official languages released in August 2022, and those on immigration released in October 2022, point to a significant change in the demographic and socio-economic context since the launch of the previous Action Plan in 2018.

The share of the population whose first official language spoken was French fell from 27.5% in 1971 to 22.0% in 2021. The demographic weight of Francophones outside Quebec fell from 6.1% in 1971 to 3.5% in 2021.Footnote 1 These data are fuelling a shared sense of concern among Canada’s Francophones and Francophiles, both in minority settings and in Quebec.

From the Statistics Canada data on “Immigration, place of birth, and citizenship,” we learn that in 2021, nearly one in four people — 23% of the total population, or 8.3 million people — were born outside the country.Footnote 2 This data is indicative of a high level of immigration that is rapidly adding to Canada’s diversity, a trend that is expected to continue.

Canada’s bilingualism rate, which has hovered at around 17–18% of the total population for decades, seems to be holding steady from census to census (17.7% in 2001; 17.4% in 2006; 17.5% in 2011; 17.9% in 2016; and 18.0% in 2021). But when we break this overall rate down by major linguistic community, there are obvious disparities:Footnote 3

Knowledge of English and French (bilingualism) by mother tongue (adjusted responses), by language group and geography, 2001–2021
2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Francophones in Quebec 36.9% 36.1% 38.6% 40.6% 42.8%
Francophone minority communities 84.8% 83.4% 83.3% 84.9% 85.0%
Anglophone minority communities 67.2% 69.8% 69.0% 70.1% 69.2%
Anglophone majority 7.2% 7.5% 7.2% 7.5% 7.4%

Clearly, the statistical data have led to increased concern on the part of the Government of Canada about the state of French in the country. However, the goal has always been to implement an Action Plan that provides additional resources and introduces new initiatives to support the vitality and continuity of both the English- and French-speaking minority communities.

Responding to concerning trends

The Action Plan proposes a strategic approach based on evidence and extensive consultations, an approach that calls for meaningful action to address the worrisome trends identified.

Countering the decline of the demographic weight of Francophones in Canada

Regarding the decline in the relative weight of Francophones in Canada, the Action Plan proposes to curb their demographic decline and increase their demographic weight, not only through measures in support of Francophone immigration but also through measures targeted to official language minority communities (OLMCs). Another purpose of these measures is to support communities in their efforts to attract a skilled workforce that can communicate in Canada’s two official languages.

Addressing the under-representation of diversity and inclusion groups within organizations

The diversity within OLMCs is an asset, not only to the communities themselves but also to the broader Canadian Francophonie and the country as a whole. It is crucial that the Government of Canada recognize the changing landscape of these communities and propose ways to better include and support all the key players involved in the organizations and projects developed within the communities. Consider, for example, immigrants and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities who wish to come together and contribute to the development of the Canadian Francophonie and who need to be given a greater role within Francophone community organizations and associations.

Recognizing the role of women in language transmission and identity building

Women, too, play a key part in the vitality of French in minority settings through their role in language transmission to children, through their contribution to the identity-building process in children and due to the fact that they are overrepresented in community organizations working in official languages, where they account for 70% of employees. Adverse circumstances, such as labour shortages and economic pressures on wages, have immediate effects on community organizations, effects that, in minority settings, are greater for women than for men. Consider, too, the situation of women in Quebec’s English-speaking communities, who face equity issues of their own and experience outreach challenges in some remote regions. That is why the Action Plan proposes to increase core funding to community organizations, while giving those organizations more flexibility so they can foster greater equity and inclusion. In this regard, the new Action Plan proposes to do more than all the action plans that have come before.

Considering the specific challenges and realities of all regions of the country

Recognizing that OLMCs across Canada are also diverse relative to one another, the implementation of this Action Plan will need to take that diversity into account, especially in the case of northern and remote communities, where access to services — particularly in the minority language — is more limited. The flexibility being proposed should also serve to replace one-size-fits-all approaches with creative, innovative solutions. This would allow efforts to be adapted to the challenges and priorities of various regions and communities.

This concern is shared by Quebec’s English-speaking communities, who want, and need, to figure prominently in the Government’s approach and be able to see themselves reflected in the Action Plan. Measures specific to these communities are proposed in recognition of their unique and varied challenges and priorities, whether they be located in major urban centres, such as Montréal, or in other regions of Quebec, such as Lanaudière, Estrie, the Lower North Shore or Nunavik.

Improving the compliance of federal institutions

Based on an analysis of complaints received by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada, of recent decisions by Canadian courts, of comments made during the 2022 Consultations, of reports on the language of work of federal employees and of surveys of those employees conducted by the Commissioner of Official Languages, it is clear that federal institutions need to be further engaged. These institutions need to be more systematic in taking positive measures in support of the official languages and OLMCs in all their policies, programs and decisions. The Action Plan proposes to help these institutions strengthen their coordination, governance and analytical capacity in official languages through an innovative initiative in the form of a Centre for Strengthening Part VII of the Official Languages Act at the federal level.

Ensuring a more thorough and ongoing gender-based analysis

The Action Plan proposes a reasoned approach consistent with the observed trends. This approach is grounded in Gender-based Analysis Plus, a tool for measuring, at the design stage, the impacts of government proposals on certain demographic groups so that the proposed initiatives foster greater equity, diversity and inclusion within organizations promoting the official languages in Canada. While the Action Plan is grounded in a rigorous Gender-based Analysis Plus and while the initiatives it contains are likely to make a difference in the lives of women, young people, immigrants, diversity groups and people living in Northern Canada or in the regions, this analysis will be updated on an ongoing and recurring basis during the implementation of the Action Plan. The goal is to identify potential adjustments and improvements along the way, and to ensure that the various measures in the Action Plan can be tailored to reflect changing official languages priorities and demographics.

Presentation of Action Plan 2023–2028 initiatives

At this time, the Minister of Official Languages, on behalf of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and in consultation with other ministers of the Crown, is responsible for coordinating the implementation, by federal institutions, of the Government of Canada commitment to “advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society.” The Minister of Official Languages is responsible for ensuring that federal institutions assess the potential for taking positive measures in all their policies, programs and structuring decisions, for the benefit of Canadians. The ultimate objective of all this work is to create the conditions in which Canadians can live and thrive in the two official languages and come to recognize the importance of English and French to Canadian identity.

The Action Plan is another facet of this coordination responsibility assigned to the Minister of Official Languages. While Canadian Heritage’s Official Languages Support Programs are powerful tools for enhancing the vitality of official language minority communities, other government programs also have a key strategic role to play in this concerted effort. These include the Francophone immigration support programs of the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

This concerted effort has yielded 32 initiatives to be rolled out by 7 federal institutions. In this document, those initiatives are organized into four pillars so that Canadians have a clear picture of the nature of each initiative, the department responsible for its implementation and the associated funding.

  1. Francophone immigration: Towards the re-establishment of the demographic weight of Francophones
  2. Promoting lifelong learning opportunities
  3. Strong measures in support of community vitality
  4. Leading by example: Acting and collaborating to strengthen communities

The Action Plan represents new investments totalling nearly $1.4 billion over five years. This amount is over and above the permanent funding carved out for official languages in the years since the adoption of the Official Languages Act and the amounts announced under previous action plans, which represent a total historical base of $2.7 billion. Thus, the new investments announced in Action Plan 2023–2028 bring the Government of Canada’s total investment in official languages up to $4.1 billion.Footnote 4

Figure 1. Investments in Official Languages
Figure 1. Investments in Official Languages – text version

The graph shows that, starting from a historical base of $1.1 billion over five years prior to 2003, Action Plan 2003 gradually added nearly $800 million between 2003 and 2008. The total investment for that five-year period reached $1.9 billion.

The graph then shows this additional, growing investment plateauing at $1.1 billion over five years during the period covered by Roadmaps 2008–2013 and 2013–2018. Total federal funding for these two consecutive five-year periods reached $2.2 billion.

The graph goes on to show Action Plan 2018 adding nearly $500 million in additional funding during the 2018–2023 period. This brought federal funding for this period up to $2.7 billion.

Lastly, the graph shows the new Action Plan contributing nearly $1.4 billion in additional funding for the 2023–2028 period. This brings federal funding for this period up to $4.1 billion.

Pillar 1: Francophone Immigration: Towards the Re-establishment of the Demographic Weight of Francophones

Canada largely relies on immigration for its continued economic growth. Without immigrants, many employers would be hard pressed to find enough skilled workers. Similarly, the sustainability of Canada’s tax system — which supports social services, such as pension plans and health care — hinges on a ready supply of labour. As a land offering new opportunities to people from around the world, Canada encourages newcomers to learn its official languages — key pillars of the national identity — so they can participate fully in all aspects of Canadian life. The challenge is ensuring that all communities across the country are able to reap the full benefits of immigration.

Within the broader Canadian Francophonie, Francophone minority communities face significant economic and demographic challenges. In general, Statistics Canada data show the number of Canadians whose first official language spoken is French has increased since 2016, reaching 7.8 million in 2021 (an increase of 1.6%). However, that growth has been outpaced by the growth in the Canadian population as a whole (5.2%), signalling a decline in the overall demographic weight of Francophones in Canada. This gap is of particular consequence to Francophone minority communities, who are more reliant on immigration to offset their demographic decline.

As part of the solution, the Action Plan calls for a new Policy on Francophone immigration. This new policy will guide future actions, including improved promotion and recruitment-support efforts both in Canada and abroad, coupled with more robust immigrant selection mechanisms to help address labour shortages in various key sectors of the Canadian economy. In addition, a dedicated corridor for the selection and retention of French teachers in Canada will be created to promote bilingualism. All these immigration-related efforts also depend on the reception capacity of the communities, whose resources and services must be adapted and made sufficiently accessible to accommodate an increasingly diverse clientele.

The Government of Canada will roll out a series of measures to support the immigration continuum, with a special focus on socio-economic integration, mainly through the learning of official languages. In this respect, the new Action Plan will deliver the following transformational initiatives:

Francophone immigration policy: Towards a new, integrated approach

$13.4 million over five years for a new policy and operational framework — a new Policy on Francophone Immigration, that is — that will revisit overall governance and the Department’s current commitments under the Francophone Immigration Strategy launched in 2019. As one of the Department’s new keystone initiatives, the Policy will help boost Francophone immigration and facilitate the settlement and integration of French-speaking or bilingual immigrants in Francophone minority communities, in order to help re-establish and gradually increase the demographic weight of those communities.

Targeted expansion of promotion and recruitment support

$18.5 million over five years to boost promotion and recruitment support both in Canada and abroad, including in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, in order to attract more French-speaking or bilingual workers to Canada to support the efforts of employers in official language minority communities and to better address labour-market imperatives.

Corridor for the selection and retention of French teachers in Canada

$16.3 million over five years to support a series of targeted, interconnected initiatives to boost foreign recruitment of primary- and secondary-level French teachers and French-speaking teachers — teachers who will then immigrate to, and settle in, a Francophone minority community, thus helping to offset the shortage of teachers — and retain those teachers in the communities.

A strengthened integration pathway

$50 million over five years to further consolidate the Francophone integration pathway, which seeks to facilitate the settlement and integration of newcomers to Canada and bolster the reception capacity of Francophone minority communities. This will be achieved through existing initiatives, such as Welcoming Francophone Communities, and new measures, such as a strategy to better support French-speaking women immigrants.

A Centre for Innovation in Francophone Immigration, including a new grant-and-contribution program in support of Francophone immigration

$25 million over five years to establish a new Centre for Innovation in Francophone Immigration with a grant-and-contribution program that will give Francophone communities an opportunity to participate in activities to promote the communities and identify, support and recruit French-speaking and bilingual candidates. It also seeks to address the labour needs of Canada’s various economic sectors.

Francophone lens integrated into economic immigration programs - improved selection mechanisms for Francophone and bilingual immigrants

$3.5 million over five years to develop new capacity to analyze the efforts to boost the selection of Francophone and bilingual immigrants under existing programs in order to make those programs more effective, and to increase the levels of Francophone immigrants selected, immigrants who will contribute to economic growth and the demographic weight of Francophone minority communities.

Helping newcomers learn English and/or French

$10.5 million over five years in additional grant-and-contribution funding to expand the geographic coverage and improve the quality of English- and/or French-language training for French-speaking or allophone newcomers. The new funds will help improve offerings of social and economic integration services for newcomers.

Pillar 2: Promoting Lifelong Learning Opportunities

Official language minority communities have been advocating for enriching learning environments that support lifelong skills development — also referred to as the “educational continuum” — and rightly so, as educational institutions in official language minority communities, such as daycares, primary and secondary schools, and universities and colleges, are essential for linguistic and cultural transfer. The goal is to enable Canadians, particularly in minority settings, to receive a complete education and develop their knowledge in their first official language as part of a comprehensive educational journey, and to provide everyone in Canada with opportunities to learn and appreciate their second official language.

From an employability perspective, strengthening the educational continuum is particularly important to address labour shortages and to shape a knowledge-based economy where prior learning and lifelong learning are increasingly vital. Keeping Francophone minority students in their communities for as much of their educational journey as possible is also a way to promote the economic development of those communities.

Without question, learning the official languages is a source of personal enrichment for Canadians. Mastery of a second official language provides access to a multitude of information and entertainment sources. Such mastery is also a driver of economic activity across Canada, considering the innovation, strategic-development and market-access capacities that a more highly skilled workforce can develop in a business context.

These goals are being pursued in collaboration with the provincial and territorial governments, which have exclusive jurisdiction over education. There have been official languages agreements in education since the early 1970s to address the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. This was a universal program through which the Government of Canada offered to contribute to the additional costs incurred by each province and territory in providing minority-language education and second-language instruction. This collaborative enterprise, now more than 50 years old, had its origins in the first Official Languages Act, adopted in 1969.

Such collaboration is not limited to minority-language education and second-language instruction, however; it also involves community educational infrastructure, recruitment and retention of French-language and French second-language teachers, citizen services, and promotion of the Francophonie.

Supporting minority-language education

Up to $147.8 million over five years to strengthen the educational continuum by supporting the provinces and territories in the area of minority-language education. These funds will make it possible to expand program offerings, develop tools enabling parents to better support their children, and create more enriching learning environments conducive to increased youth academic success.

Supporting post-secondary education in the minority language

Up to $128 million over four years, beginning in 2024–2025, to counter the underfunding of minority-language post-secondary institutions and to foster the development of enriching learning environments and the presence of strong educational institutions so that the resulting bilingual professional workforce can contribute to the vitality of official language minority communities. Recognizing the important needs of the minority-language post-secondary sector, there are ongoing efforts to further support that sector over the long term. This is in addition to the 2021 Budget announcement of $30.4 million for 2023-2024.

Supporting French second-language learning

Up to $242.8 million over four years, beginning in 2024–2025, to support French second-language learning at all levels and to support provinces and territories in delivering French second-language programs, including French immersion programs, in order to better meet the demands of Canadians and the growing needs in education. This initiative seeks to contribute actively to increasing the number of bilingual Canadians across Canada, while working with our provincial and territorial partners to reduce waiting lists for second-language programs across the country. This is in addition to the 2021 Budget announcement of $65.8 million for 2023-2024.

Creating a network of early childhood stakeholders and rolling out the initiatives in Francophone minority communities

$50 million over five years to create a network of early childhood stakeholders that will support cross-sectoral coordination in the implementation of specific initiatives for Francophone minority communities across Canada, in order to improve access to high quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care services and programs for children and their families.

Renewed funding for the development of early learning and child care — Training and capacity-building for early childhood educators

$14.2 million over five years to continue the development of initial, ongoing and specialized training programs to address challenges facing the early childhood sector, strengthen the skills of educators in Francophone minority communities and promote the profession while supporting access to quality child care for children and their families. This renewal of funding builds on the successes and impressive results of this initiative in the previous Action Plan.

Supporting community educational infrastructure

Up to $47.2 million over five years to support more and higher-quality community educational infrastructure, by way of the provinces and territories, as well as community spaces for official language minority community organizations. These investments will contribute to the vitality and resilience of communities by providing additional spaces in which to gather, interact, work and deliver essential services.

Supporting teacher recruitment and retention

Up to $15.2 million over five years to strengthen teacher recruitment and retention in minority French-language schools and French second-language programs. These investments will provide enhanced support to provinces and territories, as well as to community organizations and professional associations, in order to help them overcome issues involving the supply of, and demand for, teachers within their jurisdictions, and will allow for better foreign recruitment approaches. This is in addition to the 2021 Budget announcement of $3.8 million for 2023-2024.

Supporting the creation and dissemination of scientific information in French

$8.5 million over five years to support the creation of new measures to improve the French-language research ecosystem in Canada, initially through the work of a committee of experts that will examine the dynamics of creating and disseminating scientific knowledge in French. In addition, there will be initiatives to directly support research and funding applications in French, notably via a new French-language research assistance service. It is expected that regional support will be provided across Canada to help leverage scientific knowledge within communities.

Increased support for the training of bilingual health personnel to better serve official language minority communities

$6.5 million over four years to support the training and integration of new, bilingual health personnel, in collaboration with post-secondary institutions, by increasing the number of bilingual enrolments and bilingual graduates in nursing and personal care, and by offering integration grants to English-speaking health graduates, in order to provide these communities with better access to health services in the official language of their choice.

Young Canada Works in Both Official Languages

$3.6 million over two years (2023-2025) for young people to apply their studies and knowledge, have enriching experiences, discover different regions of the country and perfect their second language.

Pillar 3: Strong Measures in Support of Community Vitality

Canada’s two official languages are central to Canadian identity. English and French have been spoken in what is now Canada for centuries. French came onto the scene in 1604, with the founding of historical Acadia in what is now Nova Scotia, and the founding of Québec in 1608 marked the beginning of a permanent European presence on these lands. Canada’s linguistic heritage is also enriched by roughly 70 Indigenous languages that have been spoken here from time immemorial, and owing to successive waves of immigration from around the world, more than 200 other languages are now spoken here on a daily basis, languages that contribute to Canada’s diversity. English, like French, has been spoken since the colonial period preceding the founding of Canada but has only grown in reach and momentum, to the point of becoming a language of international convergence.

This is probably the most complex and nuanced state of affairs in Canadian history. The demolinguistic profiles produced by Statistics Canada reveal a country increasingly marked by diversity. Against this backdrop, our official languages, English and French, serve as languages of convergence for Canadians of all backgrounds and walks of life.

Canadians are also aware of the need to support First Nations, Métis and Inuit in their efforts to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages, and the announced reform of official languages has been very clear on this point: none of the measures taken to support our official languages are to interfere with these revitalization efforts.

While the Government of Canada has sought to promote and protect its official languages since the adoption of the first Official Languages Act, certain contemporary issues are receiving ever-increasing attention: how to achieve a degree of linguistic well-being among Francophones; how to better support the vitality of Quebec’s English-speaking communities and their institutions; and how to better promote inclusion and diversity within community organizations?

By honing its analyses — for example, by making systematic use of Gender-based Analysis Plus — the Government of Canada has been doing a better job of measuring the complexity of certain situations. Minority community organizations have been performing miracles with limited resources in an economic climate where they struggle to retain employees in the face of fierce competition from the private sector. Considering that these community networks are being sustained almost exclusively by women, the Government needs to treat the issue as one of gender equity as well.

An increase in core funding for community organizations is likely to boost their capacity to cope with economic pressures while providing them with new flexibility in their efforts to achieve greater equity and be more representative of the diversity in the communities they serve. This funding could also help these organizations respond to the anticipated increase in efforts to engage minority stakeholders as a result of the new measures in C-13.

The challenges and priorities of Quebec’s English-speaking communities differ from those of Francophone minority communities. The Government of Canada is aware of these differences. In implementing the initiatives in support of official language minority communities, it will therefore be important to consider these differences and the diversity of official language communities, whose challenges and priorities vary from one geographic region of Quebec to another, for both Francophones and English-speaking communities across Canada.

The initiatives in this Action Plan are therefore conducive to the economic vitality of official language minority communities (OLMCs). This is clearly a priority objective. But such economic vitality must also be accompanied by greater identity security, greater access to justice for all and renewed artistic and cultural energy.

The unveiling of the Action Plan is also an opportunity for the Government of Canada to reaffirm its intention to renew its Collaboration Agreement for the Development of Arts and Culture in the Francophone Minority Communities of Canada (the Agreement) with the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française. On March 31, 2023, the Agreement celebrated 25 years of invaluable cooperation between the Canadian Francophonie’s arts and culture sector and the signatory federal institutions, namely, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the National Arts Centre, the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board of Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada and Telefilm Canada. Through positive measures relating to arts and culture, the Agreement supports the vitality of Canada’s Francophone and Acadian communities and helps them contribute to Canada’s cultural and artistic wealth. The Government of Canada also pursues its important collaboration with Quebec’s English-speaking communities through the Working Group on Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Stronger minority communities help to better anchor our two official languages in Canadian identity. Ensuring that Canada’s two official languages remain an integral part of Canadian identity helps to better support the vitality of OLMCs. This dynamic benefits all Canadians.

The Action Plan alone cannot fix all these problems in the space of five years, but it can, and must, chart a course and supply the necessary impetus. There is a special focus on vulnerable populations, and the proposed support for youth also holds the promise of keeping young people in communities and fostering their professional development within those communities.

As a key success factor for this pillar, economic, social and community development indicators with a direct bearing on OLMC vitality will be measured.

Enhancing core funding by up to 25% to boost the capacity of community organizations, and providing targeted funding to address emerging needs

$62.5 million over five years to boost core funding for community organizations (maximum increase of 25%) so they can cover rising operating costs and offer competitive working conditions, and to create a strategic reserve with which to respond to emerging needs within minority communities and organizations. Part of this increase will go to supporting more community-based organizations that represent diversity and provide services to more vulnerable populations, in an effort to ensure equity and inclusion.

Investing in employment assistance services for official language minority communities

Funding of $208 million over five years, starting in 2023–2024, and $54 million per year thereafter to Employment and Social Development Canada to expand the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities. This funding will help local organizations in these communities provide employment assistance services, such as employment counselling, résumé writing, interview skills, job search skills and job placement services.

Implementing youth strategies to bring the linguistic communities closer together — New Youth Initiatives Fund

$5 million over five years to create a new fund to support youth projects with the potential to strengthen the sense of attachment to the French language and Francophone culture among Francophone/Francophile youth through linguistic and cultural exchanges.

Supporting services in the minority language and promoting the Canadian Francophonie

Up to $98.2 million over five years in direct support for the vitality of official language minority communities in the form of an expanded offering of essential services to citizens, such as legal services, integration services for newcomers and health care for aging individuals, in collaboration with provincial governments. These amounts also include increased funding for the Ministers’ Council on the Canadian Francophonie and the promotion of the Canadian Francophonie across Canada.

Enhancing the PassepART Program

$5 million over five years to enhance the PassepART Program in order to reach the majority of French-language schools and expand the program’s scope to include immersion schools, thus allowing for a partnership between the schools and arts/cultural/community organizations through microfinancing of cultural activities in schools.

Developing Quebec’s English-speaking communities through the arts, heritage and citizen participation

$2.5 million over five years to develop a new action component in support of Quebec’s English-speaking communities, one that will create more opportunities to bring the English- and French-speaking communities closer together within the arts, culture and heritage sector through promotion and interpretation of the culture, identity, heritage and history of Quebec’s English-speaking communities.

Canada Music Fund: Supporting francophone artists and music entrepreneurs in official language minority communities

$5 million over five years from the Canada Music Fund to develop the skills and capacities of francophone music entrepreneurs in official language minority communities, in order to build audiences for artists in those communities. This funding will enhance the Music Showcases program, which helps give OLMCs access to musical performances in their language.

Changing the Media Internships initiative

An additional $5 million over five years to expand offerings of internships in all sectors with labour shortages, including the arts, culture, identity and citizen participation, as the existing internship initiative is limited only to community media.

Social Partnership Initiative for Official Language Minority Communities

$5.4 million over five years in funding for community organizations to boost their capacity and enable them to provide services to better meet the priorities of official language minority communities and work in partnership to address shared social development challenges, within the framework of the Social Partnership Initiative.

Indexing Official Languages Health Program funding

$8 million over five years in increased core funding for organizations working with official language minority communities to enable them to carry out activities essential to giving these communities improved access to health services in the official language of their choice.

Boosting core funding under the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund

$5 million over five years in increased core funding for associations working with official language minority communities in the field of access to justice to enable them to develop and roll out projects consistent with the priorities and objectives of the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund.

New positive measures under the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Initiative

$11.3 million over five years for the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund to strengthen the bilingual capacity of the justice system through language training, professional development and promotion of the language of law; and to support projects to boost the supply of information and legal-support services for litigants from official language minority communities, with an emphasis on vulnerable populations within those communities.

Strengthening and expanding the scope of the Court Challenges Program

$24.5 million over five years to enhance the Court Challenges Program, which is administered by a third party and is responsible for selecting and supporting test cases advancing individual rights in Canada, including through a component dedicated to language rights.

Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities

An additional $20.5 million over five years for the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities to support economic development and human-resource development in communities across Canada.

Pillar 4: Leading by Example: Acting and Collaborating to Strengthen Communities

The Government of Canada is a leader in matters related to advancing the official languages and supporting official language minority communities (OLMCs) in Canada. It demonstrates this leadership by working to empower OLMCs through an approach that emphasizes action “by and for” those communities. It further demonstrates this leadership by investing in its solid partnership with the provinces and territories in areas of intergovernmental cooperation, a partnership that dates back more than 50 years.

Federal institutions are responsible for applying an “official languages lens” when implementing their policies and programs to determine whether positive measures in support of the official languages are desirable. The Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada monitors these institutions to ensure that they are complying with the Official Languages Act and reports to Parliament on their performance.

One segment of the Action Plan initiatives is devoted to supporting government capacity to implement statutes, regulations, directives, policies and programs that generate positive momentum for OLMCs and Canadians at large.

As a key success factor for this pillar, the extent to which the Government of Canada leads by example on official languages will be measured.

Centre for Strengthening Part VII of the Official Languages Act at the federal level

$20.1 million over five years to create a Centre for Strengthening Part VII of the Official Languages Act within Canadian Heritage, in partnership with the Treasury Board Secretariat, to support the minister responsible for horizontal coordination of official languages. The federal commitment in Part VII of the Act requires federal institutions to take positive measures to advance English and French in Canadian society and enhance the vitality of official language minority communities. The Centre will therefore support the Minister in his or her role to ensure greater respect for this commitment, particularly with a view to fostering closer ties between English and French speakers and cooperation between federal institutions and minority communities, for the benefit and increased visibility of our official languages.

Helping provide access to data on the estimated number of children of rights holders (children eligible for instruction in the minority official language)

$2 million over five years for Statistics Canada’s Language Statistics Program to enrich the ecosystem of data on children eligible for instruction in the minority official language, in order to: support the Government of Canada’s commitment to contributing to an estimate of the number of such children; and enable provinces, territories, school boards and official language minority communities to better plan for the implementation of this right.

Accountability and Results

Governance through cooperation and consultation

In implementing Action Plan for Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in Our Future, the Government of Canada created more opportunities to engage with Canadians, official language minority communities (OLMCs), and community and representative organizations, while improving existing dialogue mechanisms, in order to align government programs as closely as possible with the reality on the ground.

In order to maintain this governance through cooperation and consultation, which people in the field refer to as action “by and for” the communities, the Government of Canada has developed and refined two publicly available frameworks — one on the vitality of OLMCs, the other on promoting the official languages — in order to observe, and better assess, the advancement of the equality of status and use of the two official languages in Canadian society.Footnote 5

Performance measures based on societal outcomes

The 32 initiatives that make up the new Action Plan have therefore been structured according to four pillars that represent strategic areas of intervention likely to make a difference in the quest for greater substantive equality between English and French in Canada:

Each of these initiatives seeks to achieve its own specific results but also the broader societal outcomes towards which the various Action Plan measures converge. Ultimately, then, the Government of Canada’s efforts in the area of official languages should contribute to an increase in the demographic weight of Francophone minority communities by 2036, to increased OLMC vitality, and to a Canadian population that is more bilingual and open to closer ties between the two major linguistic communities. Results are also expected in terms of OLMC access to a wide range of local services, in their own language, and in terms of a mobilized government providing long-term, ongoing leadership by example in official languages and ensuring that the roughly 180 federal institutions comply with the Official Languages Act.

Our federal institutions will provide national leadership in addressing these objectives and strategic priorities. They will foster sensitivity to community realities, support the growing diversity of the Canadian population, and promote cooperation with key partners, including the provinces and territories, community organizations and associations. They will also work to strengthen Canadians’ attachment to the values of their language regime, in order to build a society that is more just, egalitarian and respectful of differences.

Conclusion

Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration is, in a sense, a point of convergence between the imperatives of the Official Languages Act modernization, the hopes and expectations expressed by Canadians during the 2022 Consultations and the Government’s own official languages priorities.

The unveiling of these action plans has always been a powerful moment, as it gives the public an opportunity to learn where the Government is headed in its support for official languages. But these action plans are much more than a compulsory pep rally held every five years.

Indeed, the Action Plan itself describes only a portion of the Government of Canada’s efforts in support of official languages. A host of measures to advance the official languages in Canadian society and enhance the vitality of official language minority communities are implemented by federal institutions every day.

Consider the work being done to help Canadians in the many bilingual points of service. Consider the efforts of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages to enforce the Official Languages Act through its day-to-day investigations and follow-ups. Consider, too, the translation services that support a bilingual Parliament and the professionals who work to provide access to justice in both official languages. Consider, lastly, the public servants who, on a daily basis, work to improve their second official language proficiency, contribute to bilingual workplaces and listen to Canadians from across the country.

Think of the Action Plan, then, as a bellows of sorts, breathing new life into federal efforts to advance the official languages and support OLMCs. Program components will need to be reviewed so as to conform to the directions announced in this Action Plan; stakeholders will be called upon to put forward innovative new projects apt to make a difference for Canadians; and renewed efforts will need to be invested in achieving new and ambitious targets. The work of implementing this new Action Plan is just getting started!

Annex 1 – Summary of the Government of Canada’s New Investments in Official Languages

The following amounts represent millions of dollars. Because of rounding, totals may not always add up.

Table 1. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Pillar Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
1 Francophone immigration policy: Towards a new, integrated approach 13.4
1 Targeted expansion of promotion and recruitment support 18.5
1 Corridor for the selection and retention of French teachers in Canada 16.3
1 A strengthened integration pathway 50.0
1 A Centre for Innovation in Francophone Immigration, including a new grant-and-contribution program in support of Francophone immigration 25.0
1 Francophone lens integrated into economic immigration programs - improved selection mechanisms for Francophone and bilingual immigrant 3.5
1 Helping newcomers learn English and/or French 10.5
Subtotal 137.2
Table 2. Canadian Heritage
Pillar Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
2 Supporting minority-language education 147.8
2 Supporting post-secondary education in the minority language 128.0
2 Supporting post-secondary education in the minority language (2023-2024)Footnote 6 30.4
2 Supporting French second-language learning 242.8
2 Supporting French second-language learning (2023-2024)Footnote 7 65.8
2 Supporting community educational infrastructure 47.2
2 Supporting teacher recruitment and retention 15.2
2 Supporting teacher recruitment and retention (2023-2024)Footnote 8 3.8
3 Supporting services in the minority language and promoting the Canadian Francophonie 98.2
3 Enhancing core funding by up to 25% to boost the capacity of community organizations, and providing targeted funding to address emerging needs 62.5
2 Supporting the creation and dissemination of scientific information in French 8.5
3 Changing the Media Internships initiative 5.0
3 Implementing youth strategies to bring the linguistic communities closer together — New Youth Initiatives Fund 5.0
3 Enhancing the PassepART Program 5.0
3 Developing Quebec’s English-speaking communities through the arts, heritage and citizen participation 2.5
3 Canada Music Fund: Supporting francophone artists and music entrepreneurs in official language minority communities 5.0
4 Centre for Strengthening Part VII of the Official Languages Act at the federal levelFootnote 9 20.1
3 Strengthening and expanding the scope of the Court Challenges Program 24.5
2 Young Canada Works in Both Official Languages (2024–2025)Footnote 10 3.6
Subtotal 920.9
Table 3. Employment and Social Development Canada
Pillar Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
3 Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities 20.5
2 Creating a network of early childhood stakeholders and rolling out the initiatives in Francophone minority communities 50.0
2 Renewed funding for the development of early learning and child care — Training and capacity-building for early childhood educators 14.2
3 Social Partnership Initiative for Official Language Minority Communities 5.4
3 Investing in employment assistance services for official language minority communities 208.0
Subtotal 298.1
Table 4. Health Canada
Pillar Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
2 Increased support for the training of bilingual health personnel to better serve official language minority communities 6.5
3 Indexing Official Languages Health Program funding 8.0
Subtotal 14.5
Table 5. Department of Justice Canada
Pillar Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
3 Boosting core funding under the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund 5.0
3 New positive measures under the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Initiative 11.3
Subtotal 16.3
Table 6. Statistics Canada
Pillar Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
4 Helping provide access to data on the estimated number of children of rights holders (children eligible for instruction in the minority official language) 2.0
Subtotal 2.0
Table 7. Grand Total 2023–2028 Action Plan
Total Funding 2023–2028
Grand Total 2023–2028 Action Plan (new funds) 1,389.0

Annex 2 – Context – Historical Funding Renewed for 2023–2028 ($2.7 billion) and Time-Limited Funding

Historical funding renewed for 2023–2028 ($2.7 billion)

Funding from 2023–2024 to 2027–2028

The following amounts represent millions of dollars. Because of rounding, totals may not always add up.

Table 8. Canadian Heritage
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Minority-language education 752.9
Support for second-language learning 428,0
Cooperation with the community sector (minority organizations) 239.5
Summer language bursary programs (Explore, Destination Clic) 105.5
Intergovernmental cooperation on minority language services 137.0
Support for community living environments – InfrastructureTable 8 note * 131.9
Official language monitors (Odyssey) 53.1
Strategic Fund 35.0
Teacher recruitment strategy for minority-language schools 33.3
Teacher recruitment strategy for immersion and French second-language 33.3
Community Cultural Action Fund 28.2
Young Canada Works in Both Official Languages 24.3
Promotion of linguistic duality 18.5
Mobile application for acquiring and maintaining English and French second-language skills 15.5
Capacity-building for community media and radio stations 16.8
French second-language post-secondary scholarships 15.7
Exchanges Canada 11.3
Cooperation with the non-governmental sector (minority-language organizations) 8.8
Music showcases for artists from OLMCs 5.8
Funds for English-Speaking Communities of Quebec 6.8
Citizen Community School Support Fund 7.9
Collaboration with the non-governmental sector (second-language organizations) 4.9
National Translation Program for Book Publishing 4.0
Support for interpretation and translation 2.5
Promotion of bilingual services in the voluntary sector 1.1
Subtotal 2,121.3

Table 8 notes

Table 8 note *

See Table 20 for the time-limited funding associated with this measure.

Return to table 8 first note * referrer

Table 9. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Francophone Integration Pathway 46.6
Immigration Initiative in OLMCs 29.4
Collaboration and accountability 8.3
Subtotal 84.3
Table 10. Employment and Social Development Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Enabling Fund for OLMCs (Employability and Economic Development) 74.5
OLMC Literacy and Essential Skills Initiative 7.5
Social Partnership Initiative in OLMCs 4.0
Support for early childhood development 10.0
Subtotal 96.0
Table 11. Health Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Official Languages Health Program 192.2
Subtotal 192.2
Table 12. Canada Council for the Arts
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Market Access Strategy for Artists from OLMCs 2.8
Subtotal 2.8
Table 13. Department of Justice Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Networks, training and access-to-justice services 55.2
Contraventions Act Fund 49.6
Subtotal 104.8
Table 14. National Research Council of Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Strengthening language industries and technologies 10.0
Subtotal 10.0
Table 15. Public Services and Procurement Canada (Translation Bureau)
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Language Portal of Canada 16.0
Subtotal 16.0
Table 16. Statistics Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Additional, ongoing support to the Language Statistics section 3.0
Subtotal 3.0
Table 17. Public Health Agency of Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Enhanced early childhood health promotion programming 10.9
Subtotal 10.9
Table 18. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Regional Development Agencies of Canada
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 1.6
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency 6.2
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions 10.2
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario 4.5
Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario 4.5
Western Economic Diversification Canada 3.2
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 0.4
Subtotal 30.5
Table 19. Historical funding renewed for 2023–2028 ($2.7 billion)
Total historical funding renewed 2,671.7

Time-limited funding 2023–2028

Time-limited funding

The following amounts represent millions of dollars.

Table 20. Canadian Heritage
Name of Program/Initiative Total Funding 2023–2028
School community infrastructure support (2027–2028)Footnote 11 52.0
Subtotal 52.0

Totals – Total Government of Canada Official Languages Funding for 2023–2028

Table 21. Totals – Government of Canada Official Languages Funding for 2023–2028
Total new investments 1,389.0

Total historical funding renewed

($2.7 billion)

 2,671.7
Subtotal 4,060.7
Total time-limited funding 52.0
Grand total of investments 4,112.7

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of the Department of Canadian Heritage, 2023
Catalogue no. TBC
ISBN TBC

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