Official Languages Committee on May 5th, 2026

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

The Charter of the French Language refers to francization committees while the UFPBA refers to committees for the fostering of French.

Will businesses with 25 or more employees be required to have a committee for the fostering of French?

[Sarah Boily]

If businesses in Quebec choose to be subject to the federal legislation, the threshold for establishing a committee for the fostering of French is 100 employees.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Strict regulation would be required. The Office québécois de la langue française does this with businesses that are subject to the charter. In this case, the Commissioner of Official Languages is going to regulate businesses and take action to ensure compliance with the federal legislation. Is that right?

[Sarah Boily]

Actually, the oversight will be done by the minister responsible for official languages, and so once the regime comes into force, businesses will have six months to submit a request and obtain a certificate of generalization of the use of French in Quebec and to submit documents on an overview of the language situation, including the number of employees who are proficient in French and the number of French-speaking executives. These are some examples, but there's a lot more information involved.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Then they will have six months to submit a report or—

[Sarah Boily]

They have six months to do two things. First, they will have to register and second, they will be required to submit documents on the committee for the fostering of French.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Okay.

Right now, we don't know how this will be framed in the regulations. There are no details on that. We don't know whether there will be monetary penalties, but I don't think there will be any.

[Sarah Boily]

I'd like to draw your attention to certain provisions of the legislation. Subsection 10(1.1) is on generalizing the use of French. It sets out a series of measures that the minister responsible for official languages will consider to determine whether they meet the requirements of the committee for the fostering of the use of French. This is therefore one aspect.

You referred to the commissioner. Indeed, complaints regarding the language of service and the language of work may be filed either with the Office québécois de la langue française or with the Commissioner of Official Languages. An investigation can then be conducted to make recommendations.

Thereafter, the commissioner's powers apply, except for the administrative monetary penalties regime, which was created solely for entities subject to the Official Languages Act—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'm sorry, Ms. Boily, but I have to cut you off. Your time is up. I gave you a little extra time to answer the question.

Mr. Bélanger, you now have the floor for five minutes.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Boily, I have a question about strong francophone presence. How is that determined? Is there a specific number?

In northern Ontario, there are several francophone regions, including some small ones, where the law would not apply, even though it would be important for it to.

[Sarah Boily]

Thank you for that question.

There are three criteria that must be met for a region to be considered a region with a strong francophone presence.

The first criterion is that 20% of the population of an entire province or territory must have potential demand for French-language services. This is the primary criterion, which allows us to include New Brunswick, where there is potential demand for French-language services for 34% of the population.

The second criterion concerns census divisions with 20% or more potential demand for services. This falls into the second category. This second criterion allowed us to include a few pockets, particularly in Ontario and Nova Scotia, if I'm not mistaken.

The third and final criterion concerns metropolitan areas with a minimum of 30,000 people and census tracts with 10% potential demand for French-language services. This allows us to include a few neighbourhoods in the city of Winnipeg, and the Bonnie Doon neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Are they required to meet one of the three criteria, or all three criteria?

[Sarah Boily]

They must meet one of the three criteria.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Okay.

We tend to think of national companies, but in smaller regions, many small and medium-sized businesses have fewer than 100 employees. I wonder how these businesses will be affected. I don't know of any company in the north, in a small region, that isn't a national company and has 100 employees. How was the number of 100 employees determined?

[Sarah Boily]

You got that right. It takes 100 employees in regions with a strong francophone presence. A small neighbourhood or a small town may have workers but not meet the criteria. If there are at least 100 other employees in regions with a strong francophone presence in Canada, they could still have the right to work in a French-language workplace. However, that threshold of 100 must actually be reached.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

We often talk about measures and goals as well in this committee. How are we going to ensure that companies comply with the regulations?

[Sarah Boily]

We will rely on promotional efforts because the Minister responsible for Official Languages is responsible for designing and raising awareness of the framework. We will also rely on Canadians to exercise their rights and seek redress when necessary.

We'll see over the years if we need to make adjustments to all of this.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

I will give the rest of my time to Mr. Godin.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Bélanger.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have one minute and twenty-five seconds left.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Ms. Boily, earlier, you said that the minister must publish the list of businesses that will be subject to the federal legislation or to the Office québécois de la langue française. Is that what you said?

[Sarah Boily]

My answer referred solely to the Minister responsible for Official Languages, who will publish the list of businesses that are subject to the federal regime.

I will defer to Mr. Léger for more details.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Where is that written in the act, because that's not what I'm reading?

[Richard Léger, Director, Official Languages Regulations , Department of Canadian Heritage]

The minister has the authority to do so and will have all the information needed to do so.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

You said “authority”. There is a difference between having to and being able to. In clause 30 of the draft regulations, I saw that the minister may publish on a website. The minister has no obligation to do so. Perhaps we're not talking about the same thing, which is why I don't want to—