Madam Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of TALQ. I'm Sylvia Martin-Laforge, the director general. With me today is our senior policy adviser, Stephen Thompson.
TALQ is a public policy and advocacy organization representing Canada's English linguistic minority community: the English-speaking community of Quebec. Our work focuses on research, policy analysis and sustained engagement with governments so that public policy reflects the needs, realities and vitality of our community.
Our message today is straightforward and was developed in discussion with key community organizers: the Quebec English School Boards Association, the Provincial Employment Roundtable, Youth4Youth, the Community Health and Social Services Network and CEDEC, all of which have submitted briefs for this consultation.
Budget 2026 will be a test of whether the federal government's modernized official languages commitments are going to be implemented in a concrete and measurable way.
Parliament has strengthened part VII of the Official Languages Act. Federal institutions now have clearer objectives to take positive measures to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities, but those obligations will not implement themselves. They require funding, program design, accountability and delivery mechanisms that actually reach the communities they are meant to support.
For our communities, this is especially important. We operate within a distinct provincial linguistic framework. Federal support is often mediated through intergovernmental agreements, provincial delivery structures or program rules that do not always reflect the realities of English-speaking Quebec.
TALQ's written submission makes six recommendations.
First, the Government of Canada should commit now to the renewal and expansion of the action plan for official languages beyond 2028, with increased and indexed funding aligned with section 41 of the Official Languages Act. The action plan remains the main federal instrument through which many official language commitments are translated into community-facing programs. Retrenchment in this area would have direct consequences for community development, education, health and social services, and other sectors central to vitality.
Second, the Government of Canada should establish dedicated and protected funding envelopes for the English-speaking community of Quebec within relevant federal programs. Without protected envelopes, the needs of our community can be obscured into broader program categories or diluted through delivery mechanisms that do not provide clear accountability.
Third, federal-provincial agreements involving official language funding must include binding provisions on transparency, accountability and measurable outcomes. Federal transfers to Quebec intended to benefit English-speaking Quebec remain difficult to trace.
Fourth, the proposed part VII regulation should be implemented in a way that connects investments to known outcomes. TALQ has recognized the importance of requirements for analysis, consultation and documentation, but procedure alone is not enough. There is a real risk of compliance without impact. Budget decisions should reinforce part VII by requiring federal institutions to explain what positive measures were adopted, what outcomes are expected and why measures proposed by communities were not pursued.
Fifth, the federal government should create a targeted investment stream to strengthen and connect policy, research and advocacy capability within the English-speaking community of Quebec. The modernized act assumes that communities can participate meaningfully in consultations, respond to complex federal initiatives, analyze data, engage with institutions and help shape public policy.
Sixth, federal program design must take into account structural barriers in Quebec, including provincial authorization requirements and other impediments that can affect whether community organizations are able to access or implement federal support. Federal institutions should not assume that a program designed for national delivery will work in Quebec without adaptation. In some cases, federal objectives can be delayed, weakened or redirected through the very mechanisms used to deliver them.
The broader point is this: Parliament has created a stronger statutory framework around its official languages through the modernization of the Official Languages Act, and budget 2026 must align spending with that framework. For TALQ, the central question is whether federal official language investments will be made in ways that produce measurable, durable outcomes for the communities they are intended to serve.
We therefore ask this committee to recommend that budget 2026 protect and expand official languages investments, strengthen accountability in the federal-provincial agreements, ensure dedicated support for English-speaking Quebec and fund the community capacity needed to make part VII meaningful in practice.
Thank you. We're pleased to answer your questions.