Court decisions
This database presents summaries of key court decisions in Canada related to official languages and of events relating to language rights since 2003. These summaries have been prepared by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada.
This database is not exhaustive. It was designed to be used as a reference tool for people directly or indirectly interested in language rights. The database is updated on an ongoing basis.
Applied Filter(s)
Year: 2010
Province or Territory: Quebec
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2010 FC 280
Category: Legislative and judicial bilingualism
This caseFootnote 1 involved the translation of evidence when there is a change of counsel in a case. In his proceedings before the Federal Court, the applicant challenged the legality of a decision rendered by the Immigration Division of the...Year: 2010
Province or Territory: Ontario
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2010 FC 288
Category: Language rights and services to the public
The purpose of this caseFootnote 1 was to determine whether section 20 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (The Charter) and Part IV of the Official Languages Act (OLA) excluded the possibility for an...Year: 2010
Province or Territory: Ontario
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2010 FC 999
Category: Vitality and development of official language minority communities
In this caseFootnote 1, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) filed an application for judicial review before the Federal Court seeking to quash the Order...Year: 2010
Province or Territory: Quebec
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2010 FC 86
Category: Vitality and development of official language minority communities
This caseFootnote 1 involved the issue of the language of patents and their accompanying documents. The applicant applied for a remedy before the Federal Court, under section 77 of the Official Languages Act (...Year: 2009
Province or Territory: Manitoba
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2009 FC 704
Category: Language rights in the federal public service
This caseFootnote 1 arose from complaints filed by a group of 39 VIA Rail employees concerning the impact of their employer’s language policy on their opportunities for advancement. The policy in question addressed,...Year: 2011
Province or Territory: Ontario
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2011 FC 876
Category: Language rights and services to the public
The Federal Court gives precedence to the Official Languages Act (OLA) over an international agreement incorporated into domestic law. a) Background Michel and Lynda Thibodeau (the Thibodeaus) applied for a remedy pursuant to section 77(1) of the ...Year: 2012
Province or Territory: Quebec
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2012 FC 110
Category: Legislative and judicial bilingualism
This case dealt with the legality of the Minister of Labour’s decision to appoint a unilingual Anglophone arbitrator for the negotiation of a collective agreement for federal employees. Summary As part of the negotiation of a new collective agreement between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (...Year: 2012
Province or Territory: Ontario
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2012 FC 650
Category: Vitality and development of official language minority communities
The Federal Court defined the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Official Languages with respect to programming for official language minority communities. Background In March 2009, CBC/Radio-Canada announced a financial recovery plan involving significant budget cuts. In particular, CBC/Radio-...Year: 2006
Province or Territory: Ontario
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2006 FC 808
Category: Language rights and proceedings of Parliament
The Federal Court’s judgmentFootnote 1 in this case raises the question of the interpretation of section 4 of the OLA and section 17 of the ...Year: 2005
Province or Territory: New Brunswick
Court: Federal Court
Citation: 2005 FC 1172
Category: Language rights in the federal public service
In Société des Acadiens et AcadiennesFootnote 1, the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal ruled on the constitutional language obligations of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) when providing...Filter by year
Filter by court
Filter by province / territory
Filter by category
- Language rights and services to the public 11 Apply Language rights and services to the public filter
- Vitality and development of official language minority communities 7 Apply Vitality and development of official language minority communities filter
- Language rights in the federal public service 6 Apply Language rights in the federal public service filter
- Legislative and judicial bilingualism 4 Apply Legislative and judicial bilingualism filter
- Language rights and proceedings of Parliament 1 Apply Language rights and proceedings of Parliament filter