Backgrounder – 2022 Cross-Canada Consultations on Official Languages Summit

Minister Petitpas Taylor brings together the driving forces behind Canada’s language communities for a summit on the future of official languages nationwide

Cross-Canada Consultations on Official Languages

• On May 24, 2022, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, kicked off the 2022 Cross-Canada Consultations on Official Languages. The main objective of the consultations was to contribute to the next Action Plan for Official Languages.
• The consultations took various forms:
  1. Fifteen face-to-face discussion forums
  2. Formal consultations with provincial and territorial governments
  3. Public consultations open to Canadians
  4. Seven virtual dialogue sessions on different themes
  5. 2022 Cross-Canada Consultations on Official Languages Summit
• The consultation methods made it possible to reach all interested Canadians.
• As of August 24, 2022, more than 5,790 Canadians have provided feedback:
• Over 300 participants attended the in-person consultations.
• Almost 600 people participated in the online consultations.
• To date, 4,820 people have completed the online questionnaire (available to the public until August 31).
• More than 70 comments were submitted to the Government.

• These consultations highlighted specific areas:
• The consultations provided us with a wide range of health, justice, immigration and education considerations, particularly to ensure continuity between early childhood and post-secondary education in minority communities.
• Official-language communities have also expressed their desire to prioritize labour (particularly Francophone teachers), diversity and inclusion in the next Action Plan for Official Languages, as these are the pillars of their communities.

• The Government of Canada received many suggestions and observations during the consultations, which will be followed up by prioritizing a proposal for an action plan that reflects all Canadians.

Action Plan for Official Languages

• The objective of the Action Plan for Official Languages is to implement and support, through programs and funding, the measures described in the reform paper French and English: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada.
• In the next Action Plan for Official Languages, the Government of Canada will continue to support the vitality of official-language minority communities and the promotion of both official languages.