What's New - 2005 Archives

December 30, 2005

Legislative Changes

The Public Service Staffing Modernization Project (PSSMP) is a multi-year effort which contributes to providing Canadians, public servants and Public Service managers with a world-class solution to support a streamlined and transparent staffing approach across the Federal Government.

The passage by Parliament of the Public Service Modernization Act (PSMA) in November 2003, began a new era of human resources (HR) management in Canada’s federal public service. The ways in which federal employees are hired, managed and supported are all being transformed.

A critical piece of supporting legislation is the new Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), which comes into force December 31, 2005. It modernizes staffing with a new definition of merit that moves away from a rules-based concept of “best-qualified” to a values-based approach that allows managers to hire qualified and competent individuals more quickly.

One of the most important features is the flexibility that we now have to tailor our staffing processes to meet the particular needs of the Agency. You may also see your managers collaborate with other managers, perhaps in other departments and across functional communities (e.g. HR Community), to make greater use of collective staffing initiatives.

The new PSEA defines merit for the first time. Merit has different criteria. First of all, everyone who is appointed must meet the essential qualifications of the position, including official language proficiency. However, the manager may also take into account the other merit criteria, such as asset qualifications, current and future operational requirements and organizational needs, in order to select the “right fit” for a position.

For more information, visit the Public Service Commission Web site.

December 28, 2005

Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie

In 2006, the Rendez-vous celebrations will be held across Canada from March 10 to March 26, 2006. Let's celebrate!

Rendez-vous Web site

December 28, 2005

Official Languages Good Practices from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal

We added two new official languages good practices. The first one - Toolkit for Second Official Language Retention from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under the section "Learning Retention" and the second - Canadian International Trade Tribunal Employees Happy to Use Both Languages Alternatively under the section "Language of Work".

December 2, 2005

The Official Languages Innovation Program – Phase IV

As part of the ongoing effort to achieve the government’s objective of ensuring that the Public Service is a model of linguistic duality in Canada, the Official Languages Branch is pleased to announce the launch of Phase IV of the Innovation Program. A total of $3.8 million will be available for fiscal year 2006-2007.

This Program has two components: the Regional Partnerships Fund and the Official Languages Innovation Fund.

The Regional Partnerships Fund helps federal regional councils finance innovative projects tailored to regional conditions relating to service to the public, language of work in designated bilingual regions, and balanced participation of Anglophones and Francophones employees in the public service.

The Official Languages Innovation Fund was established to enable federal institutions to improve their ability to provide services to the public in both official languages, create an environment that promotes the use of both languages in the workplace in bilingual regions, encourage cultural change, and improve their management of the program. This fund uses a financing formula of fifty percent of the amount invested by institutions submitting projects.

For more information, please visit our site.

Please submit your projects for fiscal year 2006-2007 by January 31, 2006.

November 2, 2005

Official Languages Innovation Program - Summaries of the 2003-04 Evaluation Reports

The Official Languages Branch is pleased to announce that summaries of the 2003-04 Evaluation Reports (Phase I) are now posted.

In October 2003, the government announced disbursement of $800,000 to reinforce bilingualism within federal institutions for the year 2003-04 (Phase I).

The Innovation Program is part of the initiatives announced under the Action Plan for Official Languages, of which one objective is to ensure that the public service is a model of linguistic duality in Canada. It provides an allocation of 14 million dollars over five years (2003-08) for the implementation of innovative official languages projects.

We hope that the information and the proposed links on our Web site will be useful. We invite you to consult it on a regular basis since updates are currently posted while we advance in the concretization of the Innovation Program.

Mid-Term Report for Official Languages from Privy Council Office

Released on March 12, 2003, the Action Plan for Official Languages consists of an accountability and coordination framework, and three main axes: 

• education, 
• community development and 
• an exemplary public service. 

Assistance for the development of the language industries supports these three priority areas. The Government of Canada undertook to present interim and final reports on the implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages.1 

This midterm report fulfils the first part of that commitment. The general information it contains on fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05 may lead to some adjustments. This is not yet, however, a formal evaluation of results. Monitoring and data-gathering will continue with a view to presenting a final report, scheduled for the Fall of 2008.

•  PDF (862.35 Kb) Version 
•  HTML Version: Table of Contents

We added two new official languages good practices - The Official Languages Accountability Framework and Golden Rules of Chairing Bilingual Meetings Effectively from Transport Canada under the sections "Leadership" and "Language of Work".

The information document entitled Official Languages Policies 2004-2005, which was distributed during the information sessions on the new official languages policies, is now available.

Two new publications are now available: What's New - New Official Languages Policy Instruments (effective July 15, 2005) and Official Languages at a Glance.. You can order copies via the publications page under the sections "Management of Official Languages" and "General".

Comparative Table Before/After

New policy instruments dealing with linguistic obligations of federal institutions in the area of communications with and services to the public come into effect on July 15th, 2005.

• Policy Notification on Official Languages
• What's new? New Official Languages Policy Instruments - (effective as of July 15th, 2005)
• Frequently Asked Questions - New Official Languages Policy Instruments (effective as of July 15th, 2005)

President of the Treasury Board Announces $2.8 Million to Strengthen Bilingualism in Federal Institutions 

• News Release

• Backgrounder

The study on Official Languages and Visible Minorities in the Public Service of Canada: A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers to Career Advancement prepared by Patterson, Langlois Consultant is now available.

The new publication "Can you get 110% on your bilingual checklist is now available". You can try the interactive version of this product at the following address: www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/tools-outils/pg/quiz/survey-sondage_e.asp. You can order copies via the publications page under the section "Service to the public".

An implementation principle on language of work has been approved by the Treasury Board. The principle, which comes into effect immediately, protects for an interim period the language of work rights of employees when a head office moves from a bilingual region for language-of-work purposes to a unilingual region.

The implementation principle is an interim measure until such a time as the government has the opportunity to fully assess the situation and consider possible changes to current policy.

We added a new good practice from the Canadian Grain Commission - Words about grains in Canada. You can find this good practice on the Official Languages Good Practices Web page, under the section “Products”. 

Two new publications are now available: Tips for Maintaining your New Language Skills and Ten Benefits of Learning and Using Another Language. You can order copies via the publications page under the section "General".

May 19, 2005

We added a new good practice from the Pacific Federal Council - Western Official Languages Newsletter - Coup de pouce. You can find this good practice on the Official Languages Good Practices Web page, under the section “Products”. 

We added two new good practices from Transport Canada - A Communicating Mouse Pad and A Poster to Chair Bilingual Meeting. You can find these good practices on the Official Languages Good Practices Web page, under the section “Products”. 

The new tool Why are there positions designated as bilingual? is now available and copies can be ordered via the publications page under the section “General”.

The new tool From Bonjour to Au revoir - Usual Expressions on the Telephone is now available and copies can be ordered via the publications page under the section “Service to the public”.

As part of Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, the Honourable Mauril Bélanger, Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister responsible for Official Languages, is pleased to invite Francophones and Francophiles to the launch of the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie

at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau on Friday, March 4, 2005, in the morning.

We are counting on your attendance...

February 11, 2005

Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie in the Public Service of Canada

The launch of Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie 2005 in the Public Service will take place at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau (Hull Sector) on Friday morning, March 4, 2005.

Please mark this event in your calendar. We will give you more information soon.

We are counting on your attendance.

February 3, 2005 

Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie

This year, the Rendez-vous celebrations will be held from March 4 to March 20, 2005. Let's celebrate!

Rendez-vous Web site

Exploring Human Values and Official Languages

The Session Leader’s Compendium on Exploring Human Values and Official Languages is currently available on the OLLO Website at the following address: http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/ta-fs/index_e.asp. The content of the session focuses on values such as interpersonal respect, human dignity and solidarity.