Management a) An accountability framework, an action plan and accountability mechanisms are in place (5%) |
The roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders are clearly identified in Cross-cutting Principles Underlying the Statistics Canada (SC) Approach to Human Resources Development, distributed to all employees. An action plan that covers the responsibilities set out in Parts IV, V, VI and VII of the Official Languages Act was developed in consultation with management, while taking government priorities into account. SC examines the achievement of the Official Languages Program (OLP) objectives during its biennial program review; the strategic orientation and client satisfaction are reviewed during the quadrennial program review. |
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b) Visibility of official languages in the organization (5%) |
SC reflects the OLP objectives in its Human Resources (HR) Strategy. The OLP's management matrix ensures maximum visibility and integration of Official Languages (OL) objectives. The Performance Report discusses new official languages policies, although OL are not specifically mentioned in the Report on Plans and Priorities. An OL Committee reports every three months to the Senior Human Resources Development Committee, on which the Chief Statistician sits. Additionally, the internal reports prepared by each division make reference to HR and to OL. There are internal audits upon request when systemic problems are identified. When developing its annual internal audit plan, the institution reviews the relevance of including OL in the planned audits. There is regular communication between the person in charge of OL, the OL Committee, the person in charge of Part VII of the Act, and the OL champion. The champion is a member of the Statistics Canada Executive Committee and co-chair of the OL Committee. OL are discussed regularly at the Executive Committee. Three of the six Assistant Deputy Ministers (including the OL champion) are members of the OL Committee. This committee meets once a month. |
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c) Complaints (5%) |
There are very few complaints against this institution lodged with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL). An advisor from the OL and Translation Division receives complaints, and responsible managers are involved in finding solutions and in taking the required corrective measures. Lessons learned are shared in order to prevent similar complaints in the future. During the 2001 Census, the institution concluded an agreement with OCOL that facilitated co-operation and allowed for efficient and rapid resolution of complaints. The institution plans to do the same thing for the 2006 Census. |
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Service to the public – Part IV a) Bilingual services advertised to the public and sufficient bilingual staff (4%) |
All information of general interest is distributed free of charge in both OL and the nine bilingual service centres are identified in BUROLIS and in the Blue Pages. The interviewers, the main point of contact between SC and the general public, must provide an active offer of service, as indicated in the training manual. 85% of incumbents of bilingual positions serving the public meet the language requirements of their position. (Source: Position and Classification Information System (PCIS), March 31, 2005) |
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b) Findings on active offer and service delivery (15%) |
According to the observations of in-person service made by OCOL in the fall of 2005, active visual offer was present in 100% of cases, active offer by staff was made in 80% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 100% of cases. According to the observations of service on the telephone made by OCOL in the fall of 2005, active offer of service by staff or by an automated system was made in 100% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 89% of cases. |
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c) The service agreements delivered by third parties or in partnership provide for the delivery of bilingual services (2%) |
A standard language clause is included in all contracts, which are awarded through a centralized process, and in partnership agreements. There are few contracts. Verifications are made by the Material Services and Contracts Section. |
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d) Bilingual services quality monitoring (4%) |
The Communications Division controls the production and dissemination of information to the public and to employees. All new supervisors must participate in the Management Development Program, which contains an OL component (rights and responsibilities). The regional offices have been reminded of the importance of maintaining a high level of service in telephone communications, which had been confirmed during the 2003 telephone services audit conducted by the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada. A monthly newsletter is distributed to all employees; it frequently contains reminders about language rights and obligations. Client service standards have been implemented, and client satisfaction is measured by questionnaire as part of quality assurance. One of the employee commitments has to do with the need to serve clients in their OL of choice. The questionnaire is available to clients in two separate versions, English and French: however, it does not specifically ask whether services were provided in the language of choice. |
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Language of work – Part V a) Adequate bilingual supervision and language of work policy (12.5%) |
95% of EX incumbents and 80% of supervisors in bilingual
positions, in bilingual regions, meet the language requirements of their
position. (Source: PCIS, March 31, 2005)
The institution has an OL policy that covers in detail language of work matters. This policy will serve as a model to other federal institutions that asked for an example after the report card was issued last year. There are support measures such as a terminology bank, writing assistance and linguistic consultations, language training and an OL guide. SC has also developed a repertoire of bilingual e-mail templates covering routine situations that is accessible to all personnel. |
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b) Establishment of an environment conducive to both official languages (12.5%) |
An e-mail announcing the launch of a new feature entitled, The ABCs of Bilingualism (in the monthly electronic newsletter @StatCan) was sent out by the OL champion to senior and middle-level executives to remind them of their responsibilities to create and maintain a bilingual work environment and to draw their attention to the tools, resources and strategies available to do this. Every time this feature appears, a reminder is sent to all divisional OL coordinators so they can inform their colleagues. Language of work information is included in the Management Development Program for Supervisors. Since September 2005, an OL capsule that provides practical and concrete advice for employees has been posted on the monthly Intranet newsletter. It deals with topics such as language of work rights and responsibilities.
Employees are offered practical workshops on language of work (approximately
300 participants per year). Information on the new policies and directives
has been communicated to employees in a variety of ways: e-mails, information
sessions, presentations, and an FAQ section on the OLP Web site. SC is currently
developing a toolkit on bilingual meetings.
Executive Committee meetings are held in both OL; the minutes are posted on the Intranet in both OL. Employees make presentations in the language of their choice. Monitoring is done through internal surveys and follow-ups to employee surveys. The OL coordinators are also responsible for monitoring. At the last biennial meeting, the coordinators developed a series of recommendations on various aspects of OL, including language of work. The ABCs of Bilingualism was created in response to one of the language of work recommendations. These recommendations were integrated into a report that serves as the basis for developing the work plan. |
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Equitable participation – Part VI a) Percentage of Francophone participation throughout Canada (5%) | Francophones account for 41.1% of SC's workforce as a whole. (Source: PCIS, March 31, 2005) |
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b) Percentage of Anglophone participation in Quebec (5%) |
Anglophones account for 5% of SC's workforce in Quebec. (Source: PCIS, March 31 2005) |
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Development of official language minority communities and promotion of linguistic duality – Part VII a) Strategic planning and the development of policies and programs take into account the development of minority language communities (12.5%) |
SC provides data to support OL minority communities and regularly consults representatives of minority groups to find out what their priority needs are in terms of statistical data. The Post-censal Survey on the vitality of OL communities that SC is developing and the key investigations that are of interest to these communities will enable the Department to provide information that will be used to develop the performance indicators and results measurements required by the Horizontal Result-based Official Languages Management and Accountability Framework. The institution has developed an action plan for the implementation of Part VII of the Act for Canadian Heritage. An internal committee has been created (OL Minority Community Statistical Information Committee) to facilitate information sharing about key investigations and ensure that these investigations specifically take into account the needs of these communities. The Department ensures the consolidation and improved sharing of data on linguistic minorities among the Department's key divisions.
SC has created new partnerships with other departments to fund the over-sampling
of OL minorities in order to identify with greater precision the characteristics
of minority groups, and the publication of studies of particular interest to
the communities.
SC's Communications Division coordinates all advertising in the media and publications intended for an external audience, and ensures that the advertisements comply with the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, which stipulates that purchases of advertising time and space must take into account the minority press. Furthermore the Official Languages Guide, which is accessible to all via the Intranet site (on the OLP site), includes an Advertising and Media section that states that advertisements and other messages must be placed in media outlets that will ensure that they reach members of the public in their OL of choice. Employees are informed of the needs of OL minorities; training on section 41 of the Act was offered. Managers are made aware of the needs of OL minorities when statistical surveys are planned. |
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b) Strategic planning and the development of policies and programs take into account the promotion of linguistic duality (12.5%) |
SC's strategy is to set an example by taking proactive measures. The internal committee that revises key investigations that are of interest to OL minorities ensures that such investigations promote linguistic duality and take it into account. Before each census, SC consults linguistic minority groups concerning the questions relating to linguistic characteristics. The Department also sits on an interdepartmental OL research committee and is working together with the Privy Council Office and other federal institutions to develop and implement the Performance Measurement Framework for the Action Plan for Official Languages. The institution promotes linguistic duality by holding activities for its staff during Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie (Reach for the Top in French with the Radio-Canada team, Scrabble with the French world Scrabble champion, lunchtime poetry readings) in which both Anglophone and Francophone employees participated. SC promotes linguistic duality through numerous presentations as an expert on language statistics to various levels of government and academic groups, and through the distribution of documents free of charge, in particular Profile of Languages in Canada, Use of English and French at Work, and the Canadian Community Health Survey. |
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OVERALL RATING |
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