Official Languages Program Management (15%)

Rating

An official languages action plan for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been in place since February 26, 2007. The plan covers all parts of the Official Languages Act and is reviewed quarterly by senior management. The next update will take place in the first quarter of 2009.

The CMHC action plan is an extension of previous plans, and its objectives respond to areas that were identified for improvement by report cards from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

The CMHC launched an awareness campaign called "Deux langues sous un même toit" (“Two Languages Under One Roof”), which was held from March 17 to April 11, 2008 to raise awareness among CMHC employees of their official languages rights and obligations and to improve their second-language skills. Advice and tools were distributed to employees. In spite of the fact that the focus was put on language of work in the action plan this year, results achieved in this area are not conclusive.

In terms of service to the public, the CMHC hired a private company to study its active offer and service to the public by telephone and in person. This enables the CMHC to more closely monitor the services provided. Measures put in place to create an environment conducive to the use of both English and French as languages of work include the distribution of tip sheets on holding bilingual meetings and promoting second-language development.

Official languages are part of the CMHC senior management’s performance objectives. Also, all members of the national management team, whether or not they are in regions designated bilingual for language of work purposes, must be bilingual.

The CMHC has received few complaints. There are currently three active complaints, and in one particular case the file was processed by the CMHC official languages coordinator. It would have been advisable from a collaborative standpoint that the CMHC allow quicker access to the manager involved in the complaint.

B

Service to the Public – Part IV of the Official Languages Act (30%)

According to observations of service in person made by the Office of the Commissioner between June and December 2008, an active visual offer was present in 95% of cases, an active offer by staff was made in 39% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was available in 100% of cases.

According to observations of service on the telephone made by the Office of the Commissioner between June and December 2008, an active offer by staff or by an automated system was made in 100% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was available in 91% of cases.

According to observations of service by e-mail made by the Office of the Commissioner between September and December 2008, the availability of the service is comparable for both linguistic groups 100% of the time. With regard to the average response times, they are comparable for both linguistic groups.

A

Language of Work – Part V of the Official Languages Act (25%)

The survey conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of the Office of the Commissioner showed that, overall, 70% of Francophone respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR), New Brunswick and the bilingual regions of Ontario "strongly agreed" or "mostly agreed" with the language of work regime. Due to the small number of Anglophone respondents in the bilingual regions of Quebec, the survey results for this group were not included.

For Francophone respondents, the satisfaction rate by question is presented below.

C

Participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians – Part VI of the Official Languages Act (10%)

Overall, the workforce is 33.5% Francophone.

In Quebec, excluding the NCR, the workforce is 7.5% Anglophone.

(Source: OLIS II, March 31, 2008)

A

Development of Official Language Minority Communities and Promotion of Linguistic Duality – Part VII of the Official Languages Act (20%)

The CMHC takes into account official language minority communities (OLMCs) in any request made to senior management. As with memoranda to Cabinet submitted by departments, the CMHC considers the impact of the addition, change or elimination of programs on OLMCs in submissions to the management committee.

Examination of the needs of OLMCs is done informally in consultation with the CMHC’s sectors and regional offices, during the various discussions between Part VII coordinators and OLMC representatives. The CMHC would benefit from a more formal approach aimed at identifying the needs of OLMCs.

The CMHC was one of the government partners that contributed to the 29e finale des Jeux de l'Acadie de l'Atlantique de 2008 by having employees volunteer and present the CMHC as a bilingual employer of choice.

The CMHC partnered with La Cité collégiale to develop an action plan to support its applied research needs as well as update training programs and improve access to educational tools. One of the key initiatives of this plan was to establish a new centre for training and innovation in construction trades. La Cité des métiers d’Orléans works to provide Francophones in Ontario with access to training programs in construction.

The CMHC is responsible for managing Granville Island, in Vancouver, on behalf of the Government of Canada, and supported the Vancouver International Writers Festival in 2008. La Joie de lire is both the name and objective of French programs that are part of the Vancouver International Writers Festival. The program's activities are for schoolchildren, but there is one evening activity specifically for adult readers.

B

Overall Rating

B