The Canadian government has announced a multi-million-dollar cash injection over five years to support official language minority communities across the country.
The funding, which will be provided through bilateral agreements with the provincial and territorial governments, includes the federal government’s Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, which supports minority language postsecondary institutions and aims to foster a stronger bilingual workforce.
“Canadians across the country deserve and expect access to services in both official languages. Our investment today ensures this and confirms our support for the vitality of official language minority communities throughout Canada,” said Randy Boissonnault, minister of employment, workforce development and official languages.
While the act is primarily aimed at addressing the decline of the French language in Canada, official language minority communities (OLMCs) are groups of people whose preferred language is not the majority language in their province or territory, including English speakers in Quebec.
Under the government’s Action Plan, up to $128m over four years has been earmarked to counter the underfunding of minority-language post-secondary institutions and foster a bilingual professional workforce.
Valuing our official languages is a cornerstone of our national identity and helps build a strong and fair society
Gonzalo Peralta, Languages Canada
“Valuing our official languages is a cornerstone of our national identity and helps build a strong and fair society,” Languages Canada executive director Gonzalo Peralta told The PIE News.
“While protection of all our languages is important, we would also like to see policies that enhance and leverage what Canada’s English and French education programs can contribute to Canada’s communities and workforce.
“Much more can be done by going from protecting to creating,” Peralta added.
Languages Canada, the country’s national association of 200 English and French language programs, recorded a 127% recovery rate in 2023 on pre-pandemic levels of domestic students taking French language programs, compared to an overall recovery rate of 75%.
These figures highlight the continued demand for language courses from domestic students and signal the success of the country’s efforts to protect bilingualism.
However, the report noted the “continued adversity” faced by Canada’s language sector caused by the study permit caps imposed by the government that limit the number of international students in Canada, including those on long-term language courses.
Languages Canada initially lobbied for an exemption from the cap for language students who generally live with Canadian families, and has advocated for greater government support to ensure the sector’s sustainable future.