Languages commissioner raises concerns with new bilingual requirements for public service supervisors

A federal office tower in Ottawa. Aug. 2, 2021. (Jackie Perez / CTV News Ottawa)

Canada’s official languages commissioner is calling on the Treasury Board to implement a “monitoring mechanism” to protect the language rights of employees as the federal government introduces new language requirements for supervisors.

As of June 20, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will increase the minimum second-language proficiency requirements for bilingual supervisor positions from an intermediate to a superior level – raising the requirement from BBB to CBC.

A CBC profile means a candidate for a bilingual supervisor position must be advanced (C level) in reading and oral proficiency, and have an intermediate (B level) for writing.

According to the Treasury Board Secretariat, the requirements will only apply to new appointments to bilingual positions responsible for the supervision of employees occupying positions in bilingual regions.  The new requirements will apply to supervisor positions in the national capital region, bilingual regions of eastern Ontario, Montreal and Quebec, and New Brunswick.

In the annual report to Parliament, Commissioner of Official Languages Raymond Théberge says the initiative is a “step in the right direction.” However, he says the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will have to ensure employees with language-of-work rights can work and be supervised in the official language of their choice.

“I am concerned about what might happen to employees who are supervised by incumbents of unilingual supervisory positions or by incumbents of bilingual positions who do not meet the CBC second-language requirement,” Théberge said in the report.

“In fact, the CBC initiative does not provide for administrative measures to protect employees’ right to work in the official language of their choice.”

Théberge recommends the president of the Treasury Board implement a monitoring mechanism for federal institutions to “ensure that they take and maintain measures to protect the language rights of employees in designated bilingual regions,” who are supervised by incumbents who do not meet the second-language requirement.

The officer of the Commissioner of Official Languages says it received 307 complaints in Ottawa and 89 in Quebec in the 2024-25, including 101 language of work complaints in federal officers in Ottawa.

Federal officials becoming bilingual

The official languages commissioner says he is “closely monitoring” the transition of 700 federal offices that will soon be required to be bilingual.

Some federal offices will soon be designated to offer services in both official languages to reflect the 2021 Census data. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is coordinating the new language obligations for 2027, and federal institutions are responsible for taking the “necessary actions to confirm the linguistic designation” of their office, according to the report.

“Implementing the changes could prove to be challenging,” Théberge said.

“According to my regional offices, front-line managers in many different federal institutions say they expect to have difficulty recruiting bilingual staff and that their language training budgets will not allow them to rapidly increase their bilingual capacity.”

Théberge says the bilingual service offices will have a “positive impact” on the “vitality of official language minority communities.”

The report says federal institutions need to ensure they have enough staff to provide services in both official languages, either through recruiting or providing language training to existing personnel.

“I am therefore encouraging all federal institutions to start planning for this transition now. I will be closely monitoring the transition of federal offices that will soon be required to provide services in both official languages,” Théberge said.