The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages supports the Commissioner of Official Languages in his mission as an agent of Parliament to ensure that the main objectives of the Official Languages Act are met:

  • Ensure the equality of English and French in federal institutions
  • Support the preservation and development of official language minority communities in Canada
  • Advance the equality of English and French in Canadian society, taking into account the diversity of provincial and territorial language regimes
  • Promote the future of French in Quebec
  • Clarify the official languages obligations of federal institutions

The Commissioner’s mission is also to ensure that the rights and obligations set out in the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act are recognized.

To support the Commissioner in fulfilling his mission, the Office of the Commissioner has two main areas of activity that go hand in hand and complement each other: compliance and promotion.

Compliance

The Office of the Commissioner’s compliance activities enable it to intervene with federal institutions when they do not meet their official languages obligations. These activities relate to the various stages of the Office of the Commissioner’s investigation process and to the compliance tools at its disposal.

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Promotion

The first component of the Office of the Commissioner’s promotional activities is the general promotion of official languages. The main objectives of these activities are to educate the general public, official language minority communities and federal public servants about their language rights and to ensure that official languages continue to be a fundamental value of Canadian society.

The second component of the Office of the Commissioner’s promotional activities is promoting compliance. The objective of these activities is to educate federal institutions about their official languages obligations in order to improve their compliance with the Act.