Implementation of Section 41
of the Official Languages Act
July 3, 2001

Summary

The aim of this report is to present the results of the evaluation study on Industry Canada's implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act. This report presents the analysis results and remarks relating to three major issues: relevance, results and cost-effectiveness. The study's conclusions and recommendations focus on three main aspects: the consultation approach, the implementation strategy and the implementation approach.

Section 41 of the Official Languages Act comes under Part VII of the Act, entitled Advancement of English and French, and reads as follows:

The Government of Canada is committed to (a) enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada and supporting and assisting their development; and (b) fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.

Industry Canada is one of 28 (recently increased to 29) federal institutions included in the departmental accountability framework for the implementation of Section 41. According to the framework, these federal institutions are to consult with the official language minority communities (OLMCs), develop action plans for implementing Section 41, and prepare annual achievement reports.

Implementation Approach

To focus its actions, the Department has identified 18 key programs and services to meet the needs of OLMCs and gives special attention to the following three groups:

• associations and groups representing OLMCs;



• the official language minority communities;



• managers and intermediaries in the Department who are in charge of developing and delivering the 18 key programs and services.

The Department's Operations Sector was assigned responsibility for the implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act and for the national coordination of initiatives targetting OLMCs.

The managers of the 18 key programs and services are responsible for developing national and regional measures to meet the needs of the target communities, and for publicizing the programs and services in these communities.

Methodology

This evaluation is based on the following methodological approaches:

• a review of the relevant documentation;



• an analysis of the 18 key programs and services;



• 39 interviews with regional coordinators, responsible Operations Sector officials, representatives of community groups, representatives from other departments, and senior departmental officials;



• a discussion group involving regional coordinators;



• a telephone survey of 102 managers from the Department;



• a telephone survey of 74 community group representatives.

Evaluation Results

The essential conditions for producing the expected impacts and results from the Department's activities are: awareness on the part of senior officials, managers and those who deliver key programs and services, and knowledge of these programs and services on the part of OLMCs.

Because of very limited awareness among managers and very little knowledge of the key programs and services among OLMCs, the Department has been unable to exercise very much influence over OLMCs; it is therefore too early to gauge the effects of implementation and to expect that the Department can influence OLMCs to any significant extent.

Nevertheless, the evaluation study made possible the following observations:

• While the Department's current approach does produce some knowledge of the needs of OLMCs, it does not go far enough. The knowledge it produces is incomplete, because the lack of systematic consultation starting with the regions leads to gaps in the identification and definition of needs.



• The Department's vision is directly related to the wording of Section 41, which does not contain the framework and guidance required to translate the vision into concrete terms specific to Industry Canada. Consequently, it is difficult to position the implementation of Section 41 within the Department's mandate and operations.



• From our review of the Department's stated objectives we can conclude that three of the six objectives (provide information, facilitate participation and facilitate access to the Information Highway) are both relevant and realistic. However, the objectives of strengthening economic structures, developing youth entrepreneurship and developing tourism exceed 1) the ability of the key programs and services identified by Industry Canada to meet the needs of OLMCs in those areas and 2) the Department's mandate (with the exception of FedNor). Overall, the Department achieved its objectives for the implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act in a very limited way.



• The Department's representatives are of the view that they do enough where Section 41 is concerned; however, the level of intervention seems somewhat limited. Departmental managers believe they are aware of the Department's obligations under Section 41 of the Act, but in reality their level of awareness is very limited. Indeed, there seems to be some confusion between Section 41 and bilingualism (or Part IV of the Official Languages Act).



• The implementation of Section 41 has not really produced the expected results. This is due to the rather low level of awareness among managers in regard to the Department's commitments and obligations under Section 41, and the somewhat limited knowledge of programs and services among OLMCs. Since OLMCs are not very familiar with the Department's key programs and services, they do not use them very much and thus it is difficult for the Department to meet their needs. This limited knowledge can also lead OLMCs to have unrealistic expectations. Thus the target groups are more or less satisfied with the various aspects of the implementation of Section 41 at Industry Canada.



• All activities related to Section 41 are covered under the Department's regular budgets and existing capacities, without going any further. There are no special funds allocated to Section 41, except for national coordination. If the Department wants to achieve better results and become more active, a greater commitment of resources to this initiative will be required.



• Industry Canada has made significant progress towards ensuring that Section 41 is integrated into the development of its policies and the delivery of its programs. The various aspects of Section 41 are being included at increasingly earlier stages of the process of program and service development.



• Despite support from senior management, it is difficult to integrate Section 41 into regional operations owing to the attitude and lack of accountability of middle managers, and their poor understanding of the role of regional coordinators.



• The coordination approach and the concept of official languages champion are proving to be two major strengths in regard to the implementation of Section 41.



• The results achieved show that the Department has had some undeniable successes in implementing Section 41. These are evident in such specific areas as the commitment of the individuals directly involved in the regional and national coordination process, the awareness campaign initiated by the Operations Sector within the Department, the Francommunautés virtuelles program and the Department's participation in the Year of La Francophonie. These successes are examples of cases where a specific effort to implement Section 41 bore fruit and was recognized both inside and outside the Department.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Our analysis of the results shows that the approach that was adopted needs some improvement. The table below offers recommendations directly related to the study's conclusions.

It would be best for the Department to revise its approach to implementing Section 41. This revision could include the three major components shown in the table.

Comments by Officials Responsible for Article 41 Coordination

Managers responsible for the implementation of Section 41 agree with the evaluation report and accept all its recommendations. They recognize the strengths of our Section 41 initiatives, particularly the network of coordinators, the awareness campaign, and the success of the Francommunautés virtuelles. Program, and have started to design elements in response to the areas for improvement outlined in the report and to its recommendations.

The Operations Directorate (OD) has already developed a new strategy which was approved by the Deputy Minister's Departmental Briefing (DMDB) session. The strategy includes three elements: communications, research and the improvement of existing programs. Communications will have an internal initiative (the second phase of the departmental awareness-building campaign) and an external one aimed at creating a better understanding of our programs and services within the communities.

Following the DMDB recommendations, OD has established a working group of Industry Portfolio representatives, in order to work on research and an external communications strategy targeting the communities.

Management intends to reexamine its vision and objectives, and to review the resources allocated to this initiative.

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Date Modified: 2005-08-17 Important Notices