Portal for public servants

Official languages workshops for federal public servants

Are you a manager or a supervisor in the federal public service? Register for one of our free workshops!

These workshops include various presentations, activities and discussions designed to help you better understand your official languages responsibilities and obligations.

You can also learn about the tools available to you to help implement the Official Languages Act in your organization.

Background for TEAMS meetings

Whether it’s to promote our two official languages, personalize your team meetings, save yourself the trouble of tidying, or even hide unexpected appearances by family members, here are four background options (English or French precedence) that you can use during your virtual meetings. Simply download the image to your computer and follow these steps.

Building a linguistically inclusive workplace: Leadership Tips

Linguistic insecurity in English or French is the idea that people aren’t comfortable using the languages, whether it’s using their first or their second official language. Find out how you can help build a linguistically inclusive workplace with our top ten practices for leaders!

Tool for the Linguistic Identification of Positions

What are the language requirements of a position: “English Essential,” “French Essential,” “Either/or” or “Bilingual”? Does the bilingual composition of the team that the position is part of need to be taken into account?

The Tool for the Linguistic Identification of Positions is an in-depth guide developed by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages on how to establish the language requirements of a position logically, consistently and objectively. The purpose of the tool is to help managers meet their obligations under the Official Languages Act when staffing positions.

Quiz – 50^th anniversary of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

Try this quiz and test your general knowledge of the history of official languages in Canada. Good luck!

Official Languages Maturity Model

The Official Languages Maturity Model (OLMM) is an approach developed by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages that explains the principles and obligations of the Official Languages Act and makes them easier to apply. The OLMM offers a diagnostic tool to help federal institutions better identify their strengths and weaknesses and determine what they need to do to improve. It also provides a roadmap for continuous, ongoing improvement in terms of integrating official languages into the organization.

Official Languages in Canada: 150 Years of History

Browse through our timeline to discover—or rediscover—the milestones that have marked the history of linguistic duality in Canada since 1867.

 

 

Storytelling

Active offer: A culture of respect, a culture of excellence

An active offer of service is an open invitation to the public to use one of our two official languages—English or French—when communicating with or receiving a service from the federal government. This active offer guide provides straightforward tips and practical checklists that will prove especially useful to employees and managers who work with the public on a regular basis. The summarized version of the active offer guide is designed to help those who work with the public on occasion.

Leaders 2.OL: A Tool for Enhancing Leadership

Being able to communicate in both official languages allows leaders to properly represent Canada and Canadians and helps them to fulfill their obligations under the Official Languages Act.

This tool provides the criteria that must be taken into account in decision-making processes for Governor in Council appointments and for positions filled via federal public service hiring processes. It will help you assess whether knowledge of both official languages is required to fulfill the duties of a position.

Effective practices for chairing bilingual meetings and externally sourced presentations

In regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes, employees have the right to work and be supervised in the official language of their choice. This includes meetings and presentations in which they participate. Optimize participation of all employees by using the Effective practices for chairing bilingual meetings and externally sourced presentations and the Take action! tool.

Self-assessment Tool: Leadership Competencies Profile for Official Languages

The self-assessment tool is based on the Leadership Competencies Profile for Official Languages that was developed using data gathered from the study published in March 2011 entitled Beyond Bilingual Meetings: Leadership Behaviours for Managers archived. Public service managers are invited to use this tool to evaluate themselves and, where needed, take action to ensure that their employees feel comfortable using their official language of choice in the workplace.

Effective language training practices—On-line tool

Language training in the federal public service has been one of the pillars of Canada’s official languages policy since the 1960s. Language training responds to the requirements of imperative staffing, enables federal employees to progress in their career towards management positions and helps them maintain their language skills. The present tool was developed as part of a study published in September 2013 entitled Challenges: The New Environment for Language Training in the Federal Public Service.

This tool was created for individuals at all levels of the federal government and allows users to create their own personalized list of effective practices simply by exploring various categories and then clicking and dragging their choices to their own language training model.

Official languages in Canada – Statistics

How many people speak English in Canada? How many French-speaking Canadians are there? How many are bilingual? The statistics section of our website is a valuable source of information.

 

 

Beyond Words

Beyond Words is a e-newsletter featuring a wide range of topics related to official languages including arts and culture, languages of the world, current events, history and second-language learning.

External links

The following links are provided as a public service. The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada is not responsible for the content of these sites, and their views do not necessarily reflect those of the Office of the Commissioner. Please note that only the sites of Canadian federal institutions are subject to the Official Languages Act.