Annual Report on Official Languages 2004-2005

Table 1

Bilingual Positions and the Pool of Bilingual Employees in the Public Service

Establishing the linguistic profiles of positions and conducting the linguistic assessment of federal employees are carried out according to three levels of proficiency:

• Level A—minimum proficiency;
• Level B—intermediate proficiency; and
• Level C—superior proficiency.

The following three skills are assessed: reading, writing, and oral interaction (understanding and speaking). The results shown in this table are based on test results for oral interaction administered as part of the second language evaluation (SLE).

Source: Position and Classification Information System (PCIS)

Table 2

Language Requirements of Positions in the Public Service

All positions in the Public Service of Canada are designated as bilingual or unilingual, depending on their specific requirements and according to the following categories:

• bilingual—a position in which all, or part, of the duties must be performed in both English and French;
• English essential—a position in which all the duties must be performed in English;
• French essential—a position in which all the duties must be performed in French; and
• either English or French essential (either/or)—a position in which all the duties can be performed in English or French.

Source: PCIS

Table 3

Language Requirements of Positions in the Public Service by Region

The heading Unilingual Positions represents the sum of the three following categories: English essential, French essential, and either English or French essential.

All rotational positions outside of Canada, most of which are in Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada, are filled from a pool of interchangeable employees; as a proportion of these employees is bilingual, offices outside of Canada are able to meet their official languages obligations.

* National Capital Region

Source: PCIS

Table 4

Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Linguistic status of incumbents

The linguistic status of incumbents includes two categories:

1.  Meet, which means that incumbents meet the language requirements of their positions; and

2.  Do not meet, which is divided into two sub-categories:

• Incumbents who are exempted are not required to meet the linguistic requirements of their positions. In certain circumstances, government policy allows an employee to
  • apply for a bilingual position staffed on a non-imperative basis without making a ­commitment to meet the language requirements of that position (This normally applies to employees with long records of service, employees with a disability preventing them from learning a second language, and employees affected by a reorganization or statutory priority);
  •  remain in a bilingual position without having to meet the new language requirements of that position (This includes incumbents of unilingual positions reclassified as bilingual or incumbents of bilingual positions for which the language requirements have been raised).
• Incumbents who must meet the language requirements of their positions in accordance with the Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order under the Public Service Employment Act. This Order allows employees a two-year period to acquire the language proficiency required for their position.

Source: PCIS

Table 5

Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Second-language level requirements

The linguistic profile for a given position is determined according to three levels of ­second-language proficiency:

• Level A—minimum proficiency;
• Level B—intermediate proficiency; and
• Level C—superior proficiency.

The other category refers to positions requiring either the code "P" or not requiring any second-language oral interaction skills. The code "P" is used for a specialized proficiency in one or both of the official languages that cannot be acquired through language training (e.g. stenographers and translators).

In tables 5, 7, 9, and 11, the levels required in the second language (C, B, A, and other) refer to "oral interaction."

Source: PCIS

Table 6

Service to the Public—Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Linguistic status of incumbents

This table focusses on the linguistic status of incumbents in positions for which there is a requirement to serve the public in both official languages. The two categories of Meet and Do not meet are explained in the description accompanying Table 4.

Source: PCIS

Table 7

Service to the Public—Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Second-language level requirements

This table indicates the level of second-language proficiency required for bilingual positions where the public must be served in the two official languages. The definitions of the levels of proficiency (C, B, A, and other) are given in the description accompanying Table 5.

Source: PCIS

Table 8

Language of Work, Internal Services—Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Linguistic status of incumbents

This table gives the linguistic status of incumbents of bilingual positions providing only internal services to the Public Service, that is, positions in which there is a requirement to provide personnel services (such as pay) or central services (such as libraries) in both official languages, in the National Capital Region, and in regions designated bilingual for the purposes of language of work, as set out in the Act.* The two categories Meet and Do not meet are explained in the description accompanying Table 4.

*The regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes are the National Capital Region, New Brunswick, parts of northern and eastern Ontario, the bilingual region of Montréal, and parts of the Eastern Townships, Gaspé, and western Quebec.

Source: PCIS

Table 9

Language of Work, Internal Services—Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Second-language level requirements

This table shows the second-language level requirements for bilingual positions providing only internal services to the Public Service. The definitions of the levels of second-language proficiency (C, B, A, and other) are given in the description accompanying Table 5.

Source: PCIS

Table 10

Language of Work, Supervision—Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Linguistic status of incumbents

This table gives the linguistic status of incumbents of bilingual positions with supervisory responsibilities in the two official languages. The explanations of the categories Meet and Do not meet are given in the description accompanying Table 4.

Source: PCIS

Table 11

Language of Work, Supervision—Bilingual Positions in the Public Service

Second-language level requirements

This table shows the second-language level requirements for supervisory positions. However, because a position may be identified as bilingual in terms of more than one requirement (e.g. service to the public and supervision), the total of the positions in tables 7, 9, and 11 does not necessarily match the number of bilingual positions in Table 5.

Source: PCIS

Table 12

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones in the Public Service by Region

The terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" refer to employees in terms of their first official language. The first official language is the language declared by employees as the one with which they have a primary personal identification (that is, the official language in which they are generally most proficient).

* National Capital Region

** On March 31, 2005, the participation of Anglophones in Quebec (excluding the NCR) stood at 1,353 employees compared to 1,506 the previous year. This figure is different from that on page X because it has been rounded off.

Source: PCIS

Table 13

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones in the Public Service by Occupational Category

The terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" refer to employees in terms of their first official language. The first official language is the language declared by employees as the one with which they have a primary personal identification (that is, the official language in which they are generally most proficient).

Source: PCIS

Table 14

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones in the RCMP and in Institutions and Organizations for which the Treasury Board Is Not the Employer, by Region

* National Capital Region

Note: See the explanation of the terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" in Table 12.

Source: OLIS II, system developed in 1990–91

Table 15

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones in the RCMP and in Institutions and Organizations for which the Treasury Board Is Not the Employer, by Occupational or Equivalent Category

* These totals include the data from tables 15.A and 15.B.

** This total includes 117,540 members of the Canadian Forces for whom the occupational category was not available.

Note: See the explanation of the terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" in Table 12.

Source: OLIS II, system developed in 1990–91

Table 15.A

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones in the Canadian Forces

(Treasury Board is not the employer)

The information on the Canadian Forces is in the form of a sub-table to provide a better overview.

Sub-tables 15.A and 15.B relate to Table 15. They present a global portrait of ­participation within the organizations.

* Distribution by category is not available for the 117,540 members of the Canadian Forces.

Note: See the explanation of the terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" in Table 12.

Source: OLIS II, system developed in 1990–91

Table 15.B

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones as Regular Members of the RCMP

(Treasury Board is not the employer)

This table contains data concerning regular members of the RCMP. The civilian members of the RCMP are included in Table 15. For more information on the composition of the RCMP workforce, consult its annual report.

* For these two years, the data are found in Table 15.

Note: See the explanation of the terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" in Table 12.

Source: OLIS II, system developed in 1990–91

Table 16

Participation of Anglophones and Francophones in All Institutions Subject to the Official Languages Act

This table gives a summary of the participation of Anglophones and Francophones in all organizations subject to the Act, that is, federal institutions and all other organizations that, under federal legislation, are subject to the Act or parts thereof, such as Air Canada and designated airport authorities.

Note: See the explanation of the terms "Anglophones" and "Francophones" in Table 12.

Sources: PCIS and OLIS II, system developed in 1990–91

[1]. Data from the 2001 Census of Canada on the first official language spoken by Canadians, collected under the Statistics Act.

[2]. For more information, see the "Audit activities" section of this report or the "Audit and Monitoring" section of the OLLO Web site.

[3]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/aud-ver/CBC-EX2004/CBC-EX2004ESE_e.asp

[4]. The terms "Anglophone" and "Francophone" refer to the first official language of employees. "First official language" is the language declared by employees as the one with which they have a primary personal identification; that is, the official language in which they are generally most proficient.

[5]. Subsection 16(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[6]. Subsection 20(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[7]. See Figure 4 in Section IV.

[8]. Section 25 of the 1969 Act.

[9]. The Commissioner is responsible for reviewing official languages complaints from members of the public and employees of federal institutions.

[10]. Source: Revised official languages policies in the Public Service of Canada, September 1977.

[11]. Official Languages in the Public Service of Canada, resolution adopted by Parliament in June 1973.

[12]. A central agency is a federal institution that supports the government in meeting its general objectives.

[13]. In 2002, the Joint Committee was replaced with two standing committees on official languages, one for the House of Commons and one for the Senate.

[14]. Task Force on Government Transformations and Official Languages, No Turning Back: Official Languages in the Face of Government Transformations, Ottawa, January 1999 (known as the Fontaine Report).

[15]. No Turning Back: Official Languages in the Face of Government Transformations, Chapter 3, Section 3.2, January 1999.

[16]. Treasury Board publication, March 2000.

[17]. Treasury Board's 2002 Policy on Alternative Service Delivery superseded the 1995 Framework on Alternative Program Delivery.

[18]. Go to http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo and click on "Studies."

[19]. Data from the 2001 Census of Canada on the first official language spoken by Canadians, collected under the Statistics Act.

[20]. Legal instrument used for non-imperative staffing of bilingual positions in institutions subject to the Public Service Employment Act.

[21]. As executive forums, the federal regional councils play an important role in communication between central agencies and the regions as well as in co-operation with other jurisdictions.

[22]. http://www.burolis.gc.ca

[23]. The regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes are the National Capital Region, New Brunswick, parts of northern and eastern Ontario, the bilingual region of Montréal, and parts of the Eastern Townships, the Gaspé, and Western Quebec.

[24]. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/OffLang/dltlr-dflma1_e.asp

[25]. There were 209 institutions as at March 31, 2005: 88 departments and agencies, 76 Crown corporations and agencies, and 45 privatized institutions.

[26]. Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations

[27]. These requirements apply to departments and agencies subject to the Public Service Employment Act.

[28]. Data from the 2001 Census of Canada on the first official language spoken by Canadians, collected under the Statistics Act.

[29]. For more information, refer to the section "Policy review," page 29.

[30]. For more information, refer to the "Audit activities" section of this report or click on "Audit and Monitoring" on the OLLO Web site.

[31]. Time allotted to meet the required level of language proficiency.

[32]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/bp/index_e.asp

[33]. The aim of the Mystery Client Program is to determine whether services meet customer expectations and identify areas where improvements should be made, based on set criteria. Third parties posing as customers visit postal counters selected at random. They check whether the active offer of service pictogram is clearly displayed, the greeting is bilingual, and service is provided in the minority language.

[34]. Supervision was not evaluated in the 2002 survey.

[35]. The data system for institutions for which the Treasury Board is the employer.

[36]. For more information about Burolis, see the "Data sources" section on page 54 this report.

[37]. Of that amount, $450,000 was transferred to the Canada School of Public Service to conduct a study on language training and testing; $25,000 was spent on a study entitled Toward a New Vision for Language Training in the Public Service; the remaining $25,000 was used for administrative purposes.

[38]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/innovation/index_e.asp

[39]. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2003/1031_e.asp#fi

[40]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo

[41]. http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/centres/ol/index_e.htm

[42]. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/OffLang/polhrm-plogrh1_e.asp

[43]. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/OffLang/dltlr-dflma_e.asp

[44]. These policies came into effect on July 15, 2005.

[45]. The award was presented to a team from western Canada in June 2005.

[46]. The leaflets are available at the following address: http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/tools-outils/pg/index_e.asp.

[47]. Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada.

[48]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo

[49]. Official Languages and Visible minorities in the Public Service of Canada: A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers to Career Advancement. The study is available on the OLLO Web site at this address: http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/or-ar/study-etude/index_e.asp.

[50]. Results for Canadians—A Management Framework for the Government of Canada, the Management Accountability Framework, and the Integrated Risk Management Framework.

[51]. Some sectors of the three federal institutions that provide services at these airports were transferred to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on December 12, 2003. At the time the audit report was written, it was not possible to identify with certainty all of the services transferred to the CBSA. It was therefore decided for practical reasons to use the organizational structure that existed at the time of the audit.

[52]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/reports-rapports/ol-lo/aud-ver/audveraeroair/audveraeroair_e.asp

[53]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/reports-rapports/ol-lo/aud-ver/audvertelephone/audverservicestelephone_e.asp  

[54]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/reports-rapports/ol-lo/aud-ver/CBC-EX2004/CBC-EX2004_e.asp  

[55]. http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/tools-outils/designator-designateur/index_e.asp

[56]. According to the Position and Classification Information System.

[57]. For more detailed information about exemptions, see Table 4, Note 2.

[58]. The determination of levels C, B, and A refers to second language oral interaction.

[59]. These requirements apply to departments and agencies subject to the Public Service Employment Act. CBC means level C (superior) for reading, level B (intermediate) for writing, and level C (superior) for oral interaction.

[60]. For more information on the results of this audit, please consult the OLLO Web site at the following address: http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/ollo/aud-ver/date_e.asp

[61]. Data from the 2001 Census of Canada. The remaining percentage (1.4 per cent) is made up of those Canadians who identify themselves as neither Anglophone nor Francophone.

[62]. The apparent decrease in this rate in comparison to last year is solely the result of an accounting correction made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. In fact, there was an increase of 0.3 per cent.

[63]. 1978, 1984 and 1994—Official Languages Information System.

[64]. 2004 and 2005—Position and Classification Information System.

[65]. "Position" here means a position staffed for an indeterminate period or a determinate period of three months or more, according to the data available as at March 31, 2005.

[66]. According to PCIS, the total population of the Public Service as at March 31, 2005, is 165,831, compared to 165,656 in the Incumbent System.