ARCHIVED - Canadian Tourism Commission 2007-2008
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Report Card 2007–2008
Canadian Tourism Commission
| Factors and Criteria | Summary of substantiating data | Rating |
| Management (15%) (a) An accountability framework, an action plan and accountability mechanisms are in place (5%) | The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has developed an accountability framework that describes the official languages (OL) roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders (Board of Directors, Management Committee, executive directors, employees, the OL Champion, the OL Co-Champion and coordinator, who is also the coordinator for Part VII, and the OL Committee). Coordinating the work of all the stakeholders falls under the mandate of the OL Committee, which integrates all appropriate activities. The Management Committee approved the accountability framework in December 2006. The organization has instituted a comprehensive results-based action plan that brings together the strategies for Parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act (the Act). The Action Plan, which was presented to the Senior Management Committee and approved in whole in December 2006 by the President and CEO sets out the objectives, expected outcomes, planned activities, performance indicators as well as some timelines. The Senior Management Committee, which is comprised of all vice-presidents, the Senior VP and the President and CEO, has made the Official Languages Program a standing agenda item during their weekly meetings. Regular meetings of the OL Committee and OL updates to the Senior Management Committee constitute the most important mechanisms that measure and evaluate the extent to which the objectives provided for in the Action Plan are being achieved. Numerous follow-up and monitoring mechanisms have been implemented to ensure that the CTC meets its obligations under the Act. These include to name a few: submission to and appearance before the Standing Senate Committee on OL (November 2007), annual evaluation of CTC OL practices (December 2006–February 2007) and the Canada Public Service Agency Annual Review of CTC OL obligations regarding language of work and service to the public (May 2007). Also, the CTC uses a “Balanced Scorecard” approach in measuring performance of corporate results. The Official Languages Program is identified as an area of measurement. Finally, performance management plans for the Senior VP, Executive Director of Legal Services and a senior communications advisor, include official languages as an area of accountability. | A |
| (b) Visibility of OL in the organization (5%) | The CTC’s Corporate Strategic Plan 2007–2011 takes OL into account in the section dealing with Communications and Public Relations. This unit is responsible for ensuring that the CTC carries out its activities and delivers its programs in compliance with the Act and its related policies and regulations. Additionally, the 2006 Annual Report also makes reference to OL. The Official Languages Committee oversees all internal and external reporting to federal agencies responsible for parts of the Act. The Senior Vice-President and Corporate Secretary is the OL Champion. She attends Board of Directors and Management Committee meetings. OL are a regular discussion topic at Senior Management Committee meetings. The Co-Champion is responsible for implementing Parts IV, V, VI and VII. The Champion and Co-Champion coordinate their work through OL Committee meetings, which the Executive Director, Legal Services, also attends. | B |
| (c) Complaints and follow-up (5%) | The OL Committee oversees complaints and works with affected CTC departments, responsible managers and OCOL to ensure that complaints are addressed and resolved. OL Committee members inform all levels of management of the types of complaints received and of corrective measures put into place, to ensure that the entire organization works towards preventing similar complaints in the future. No official languages complaints have been filed against the CTC since 2006. | A |
| Subtotal: | A | |
| Service to the public—Part IV (25%) (a) Bilingual services advertised to the public and sufficient bilingual staff (3%) | Points of service are advertised and updated in Burolis on a yearly basis. The CTC’s Web site is fully bilingual, and lists all points of service in Canada and abroad. In addition, it has listed contact information in the 2007–2008 telephone directory of the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique. | B |
| (b) Observations on active offer and service delivery | According to observations of in-person service made by OCOL between mid-June and mid-July 2007, an active visual offer was present in 100% of cases; an active offer by staff was made in 75% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 100% of cases. | A |
| (c) The service agreements delivered by third parties or in partnership provide for the delivery of bilingual services (2%) | The CTC has now incorporated in all of its partnership agreements the following text: The Canadian Tourism Commission (“CTC”) is subject to the Official Languages Act (the “Act”). This includes the CTC’s commitment to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada and supporting and assisting their development; and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canada society. As such, Parties to this Agreement will ensure that communications with the public and the services offered to the public are provided in both official languages of Canada as required by the CTC and by the Act. | B |
| (d) Policy on service to the public and bilingual services quality monitoring (5%) | The CTC Official Languages Policy applies to all CTC managers and employees and to individuals working for the CTC on a short-or long-term basis and persons working for or on behalf of the Commission through other contracting agreements. The policy was presented to the Senior Management Committee and approved by the President and CEO in September 2006. The section on Part IV informs managers and employees of their obligations regarding services provided to the public in person and on the telephone, publishing, voice mail messages, emails, publications, presentations and Web sites. Education and internal communications are key to the successful implementation of the policy at the CTC. Regular all-staff presentations and ongoing briefings for new employees ensure all CTC staff in Canada are aware of official language minority community (OLMC) needs and CTC responsibilities under section 41 of the Act. For example, in January 2007, the Commission’s Management Committee were trained on OL obligations. A few months later, the CTC hosted a “lunch and learn” session on March 23, 2007, to present the new OL policy to all staff in Canada, to remind them of their obligations, and to inform employees required to serve the public about how to deliver services in both official languages. This presentation, along with a briefing note about official languages, and the CTC’s Official Languages Policy are available on the Commission’s employee intranet, which serves as the central portal for staff and management. As part of a new orientation program, all new employees are being briefed by Legal Services about CTC’s OL obligations and responsibilities. The CTC examines central organizations’ audit results and uses routine spot checks by the OL Committee to monitor the quality of service delivered in both OL. Since CTC is a small organization located in a single building, except for a few individuals in the NCR, it feels that this monitoring mechanism fully serves its needs. | A |
| Subtotal: | B | |
| Language of work—Part V (25%) (a) Language of work policy and adequate bilingual supervision (12.5%) | The CTC has an OL Policy that applies to all managers and employees and to individuals working for the organization on a short or long-term basis and persons working for or on behalf of the Commission through other contracting agreements. The policy was presented to the Senior Management Committee and approved by the President and CEO in September 2006. The section on Part V specifies the rights and obligations related to supervision, central and personal services, work instruments, language training, computer systems, language of meetings, filing of grievances and internal communications. In 2005, the CTC’s Head Office was moved from Ottawa to Vancouver. In light of the language of work application principle established by the Treasury Board, temporary measures were put in place to ensure that the nine Francophone employees from the Ottawa office, who followed the CTC to Vancouver, continue to benefit from the status quo in terms of choice of language of work. As committed to in last year’s Action Plan, the CTC has developed an internal database to track and monitor the language capability and performance of employees. The database details which employees are entitled to a bilingual work environment, whether they meet the language requirement of their position, if language training is required, as well as their test results. Using this database, the CTC invested in language training for fifteen employees in 2007. In total, 87% of supervisors who must supervise employees who have retained their right to work in the language of their choice in both OL are able to do so (Source: CTC Official Languages Database, December 2007). | B |
| (b) Use of each official language in the workplace (12.5%) | In addition to CTC policies and accountability measures mentioned previously, the organization has put into place activities to foster a positive perception of the benefits of using both OL in the workplace. The Senior Management Committee is made up of 5 members, out of which one member is a Francophone employee. Consequently, senior management meetings are conducted mainly in English, although presentations can be given in French. Board of Directors’ meetings are held mainly in English, but simultaneous interpretation is always available. The OL database also serves as an audit tool since it contains information on employees’ first official language and on employees who are required to be bilingual for language of work purposes. Given the small number of employees who have language of work rights, the results of the language of work survey administered by Statistics Canada are not available. | A |
| Subtotal: | B | |
| Equitable participation—Part VI (10%) | Overall, the workforce is 34% Francophone (Source: OLIS II, March 31, 2007). | A |
| (b) Percentage of Anglophone participation in Quebec (5%) | All personnel is located in British Columbia and in the National Capital Region (NCR). | N/A |
| Subtotal: | A | |
| Development of official language minority communities and promotion of linguistic duality—Part VII (25%) | The CTC has a three-year results-based Action Plan (2006–2009) for the implementation of section 41 of the Act that was approved by the Management Committee in June 2006. It serves as its main accountability mechanism for raising internal awareness of the CTC’s obligations and responsibilities in this regard, and for providing continuous support for OLMCs. Additionally, the Action Plan sets out objectives, expected outcomes, planned activities, performance indicators and some timelines. Overseen by the newly formed OL Committee, its progress is closely monitored and has been updated for 2007–2008. At senior management levels, the Senior Vice-President, who is also the OL Champion, continues to make section 41 requirements an agenda item when needed, during Senior Management Committee meetings. The OL Committee gave a presentation and an email briefing on OL to the Management Committee on January 15, 2007, so that its members are aware of section 41 requirements when the CTC develops relevant policies and programs. Also, performance management plans for the Senior VP, Executive Director of Legal Services and a senior communications advisor, include section 41 requirements as an area of accountability. The OL Committee is responsible for the implementation of Part VII. Specifically, the OL Co-Champion, who is also the Section 41 National Coordinator, liaises with OLMCs and meets with their representatives. The Co-Champion receives requests from OLMCs, organizes meetings with the Corporation’s available personnel and creates opportunities to bring the CTC together with OLMCs. For example, the CTC sponsored a formal reception in Vancouver for the Commissioner of Official Languages on April 26, 2007. Hosted in partnership with Société de développement (SDE) de la Colombie-Britannique, the event attracted 30 senior representatives of BC’s Francophone business community. CTC made a short presentation to reflect its policy of working to support OLMC representatives focused on tourism. Other activities in 2007 included emailing the CTC’s annual report to members in its OLMC database, and forwarding its OL Action Plan which includes Part VII objectives to Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité (RDÉE) du Canada for their review. All editions of the Bulletin 41-42 are distributed to the Corporation’s staff, including management. In addition to reviewing its programs and policies to determine 2010 Winter Games planning areas that have the potential to benefit OLMCs, the CTC conducted an analysis of its program areas in 2007 to determine which are most relevant to OLMC tourism representatives. |
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| (a) Development of official language minority communities (12.5%) | The CTC is first and foremost a marketing agency. By drawing on CTC research and expertise and working directly through the existing industry marketing structure, OLMCs are able to capture a share of tourists from a wide range of international tourism markets, which in turn diversifies their local tourism base. For example, the SDE de la C.-B. partners regularly with Vancouver Coast & Mountains Tourism Region and Tourism British Columbia to promote the Corridor touristique de l’Ouest. Additionally, OLMCs are provided with the opportunity to learn about the CTC’s marketing programs during its annual Road Show, which remains the CTC’s formal consultation mechanism for engaging tourism-focused minority communities across the country. The CTC supplements the formal consultation processes of Canadian Heritage, which hosts meetings of the national and regional Coordinators for designated federal institutions responsible for the implementation of section 41-42 four times a year, with the spring Rendez-vous held in an OLMC. The CTC takes advantage of this unique opportunity to meet with local minority community tourism representatives. The National Coordinator participated at Rendez-vous 41-42, held in St. John’s, Newfoundland in May 2007, which included a workshop to discuss the tourism development needs of local Francophone communities with regional tourism representatives at RDÉE Terre-Neuve et Labrador and a plenary presentation on how OLMCs can engage in the tourism-related aspects associated with the 2010 Winter Games. The CTC is committed in assisting OLMCs in leveraging the 2010 Winter Games and related tourism benefits. Currently, the Corporation is working with RDÉE du Canada and its members to ensure OLMCs are involved in 2010 Winter Games planning. Following preparatory meetings in 2006, the CTC met with senior RDÉE executives and the SDE de la C.-B. on October 30, 2007, to present the CTC’s 2010 plans. The goal is to involve OLMCs in mainstream CTC programming where appropriate, so that they can develop an overarching plan of their own that leverages CTC assets and the Canada tourism brand. A number of communications tools and products inform the tourism industry about the latest trends, events, and business development resources. Using lists provided and maintained by Canadian Heritage, the CTC makes sure OLMC tourism businesses and minority media have equal access to CTC information resources in the official language of their choice. For instance, the CTC OL Database includes over 400 public and government contacts. The National Coordinator for Part VII receives updated contact lists for OLMCs, which are then imported into the central database and tagged so that OLMCs can receive an extensive array of communication products like Tourism Magazine, Tourism Online, Tourism Daily News and the CTC Annual Report. The Action Plan for the Implementation of section 41 was revised to take the amendments into account and to include positive measures to foster the regional development of OLMCs. After the Management Committee approved the Plan, it was sent to OLMCs for review. The Action Plan was developed based on the evaluation framework set by Canadian Heritage and includes performance indicators. Each year, the CTC submits a status report and updated 3-year strategic plan to Canadian Heritage. | A |
| (b) Promotion of linguistic duality (12.5%) | The three-year results-based Action Plan (2006–2009) for the implementation of Section 41 of the Act serves as an ongoing mechanism to ensure that CTC’s strategic planning, and policy and program development take into account the obligation to promote the equality of status and use of English and French. The OL Committee serves a similar purpose. In addition, the OL Champion, who is a member of the OL Committee, reviews all issues brought to the Board of Directors. The Action Plan for the implementation of Section 41 was revised to take the amendments into account and to include positive measures to promote linguistic duality. After the Management Committee approved the Plan, it was sent to the appropriate associations for feedback. The Action Plan was developed based on the evaluation framework set by Canadian Heritage and includes performance indicators. In 2006, CTC partnered with Le corridor touristique francophone de l’Ouest, the SDE de la Colombie-Britannique, and L’Association Canadienne Française de l’Alberta to provide an eight-day familiarization tour for Francophone media. The CTC contributed the $5,000 airfare needed to bring in the media which included Magazine Via Destinations, TV HEBDO, Le Devoir, La Presse, Le Journal de Montréal, and Virage. The partnership flew media in to visit over 16 OLMCs and see tourism products in British Columbia and Alberta. OLMC partners acknowledge that CTC support helped generate tens of thousands of dollars of free publicity for OLMCs in 2007. The CTC is committed to promoting of Canada’s linguistic duality abroad, which draws in valuable foreign trade to OLMCs focused on tourism. For example, a new global tourism brand was launched in 2007. As a result, the bilingual Brand Canada tourism guidelines specify that the bilingual logo should appear on all corporate apparel. Additionally, a total of eleven CTC international consumer sites promote OLMC tourism products. Furthermore, the CTC media centre is promoting stories, images and video describing OLMC culture and experiences. Content is available to journalists worldwide at http://www.corporate.canada.travel/en/ca/mediacentre/ Efforts to promote Canada’s linguistic duality and to provide media relations support to OLMCs are expected to intensify as the CTC works with Francophone communities to leverage the tourism benefits in the years leading up to, during and after the 2010 Winter Games. | A |
| Subtotal: | A | |
| OVERALL RATING | A | |
