Official Languages Committee on May 5th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I call this meeting to order.

I'd like to welcome everyone to meeting number 33 of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Mr. Villeneuve, I see your hand is up.

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I wanted to move faster than my colleague Mr. Godin for once.

I'm really sorry and even feel bad, Mr. Godin.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I remember when we had our first meeting, Mr. Chair. I'm sure you also remember it. It was a bit chaotic. Some of us were new and had just taken up our roles.

I just wanted to say that since we started our work, I think we've managed to get together harmoniously here in this committee. I wanted to say that—

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

He's just cut off my inspiration, Mr. Chair.

We have a few squabbles here and there, and that's to be expected. However, we said that we were going to work together for our fellow Canadians.

We know that the majority has changed sides. I wanted to say that we hope we can continue working in the same harmony. That's it. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve.

I see Mr. Dalton wants to say something

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Does that mean you're going to vote with us in harmony?

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you for that goodwill, Mr. Villeneuve and everyone else. I think we can work together in a positive way on the issues under consideration.

I really appreciate your remarks, Mr. Villeneuve.

Colleagues, before we start with our witnesses' opening remarks, I wanted to let you know that we had scheduled a witness for the second hour of our meeting today, but the witness has requested to appear on another day.

For the witnesses with us today, I understand you're willing to stay with us for one hour. I know we're running a bit late, and so we appreciate your flexibility.

Colleagues, I have a question for you: How would you like to spend the last half hour of our meeting today? We can adjourn after this panel or we can continue with consideration of one of the reports or something else altogether. I'd like to hear your comments on that.

You have the floor, Mr. Villeneuve.

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Actually, Mr. Chair, we're suggesting that we finish the first half hour, but have a full hour with the witnesses, and then adjourn.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Okay.

Are there any other comments on that? Does that work?

Okay, then the decision is that we'll have one hour with the witnesses, and then we'll adjourn.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f) and the motion adopted on April 21, 2026, we are meeting today to study the draft regulations on the use of French in federally regulated private businesses.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses from the Department of Canadian Heritage. We have Julie Boyer, assistant deputy minister, official languages, heritage and regions as well as Sarah Boily, director general, official languages and Richard Léger, director, official languages regulations directorate.

You have five minutes for your opening remarks and then we'll go to questions from members.

Ms. Boyer, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Julie Boyer, Assistant Deputy Minister, Official Languages, Heritage and Regions, Department of Canadian Heritage]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, members of the committee.

I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

It's a pleasure to be here with you today. As the chair stated, my name is Julie Boyer, and I am the Department of Canadian Heritage's assistant deputy minister for official languages, heritage and regions.

I am here with Sarah Boily, director general, official languages, and Richard Léger, director, official languages regulations.

First, I would like to thank the committee for its contribution on the proposed official languages administrative penalties regulations and for its interest in reviewing the regulatory framework. The four recommendations aimed at expanding the scope of the regulations will be examined closely and taken into consideration in accordance with the legislative framework established by the Official Languages Act.

The publication of the proposed regulations on administrative penalties in the Canada Gazette as well as the tabling of the draft regulations on the use of French in federally regulated private businesses in Parliament mark an important milestone in the implementation of the modernized Official Languages Act. These developments build on a historic commitment made in 2021 when the federal government pledged to protect the French language in the federally regulated private sector.

The government has taken concrete action by recognizing that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English. Thus, the Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages received royal assent in June 2023. It enacted a new statute, the use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act. The act and its regulations will come into effect at the same time, and will first apply in Quebec, and then in regions with a significant francophone presence two years later.

This regime is important for all francophones and francophiles in Quebec and across the country. It creates new rights regarding the language of service and communication, as well as the language of work. The act provides a framework for the use of French to structure relations among businesses, their employees and their consumers.

In the designated regions, businesses maintain working and commercial relationships with francophone clients and employees. Our cost-benefit analysis demonstrates that despite initial costs, the proposed framework would generate net-positive benefits, notably through better quality of services, reduced internal friction and greater stability of business relations.

As Minister Miller emphasized during his appearance before the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages on April 27, 2026, the measures will not harm English. They will strengthen French. Canadians who use French must be provided with adequate protection.

At the end of a 30-day waiting period in the House of Commons, the regulations may be published in part I of the Canada Gazette, the Government of Canada's official consultation mechanism for regulatory matters.

The proposed regulations are the result of rigorous years-long work that included extensive consultation with businesses, unions and the public to concretely address the needs of French-speaking Canadians. The regulations are an essential tool to give full effect to the language reform and reaffirm the government's commitment to advance substantive equality between English and French.

We're now ready to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Ms. Boyer.

We're now going to proceed with questions from members.

We'll start with you, Mr. Godin, for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, colleagues.

Good afternoon, Ms. Boyer, Ms. Boily and Mr. Léger. It's always a pleasure to see you. We have a lot of hope in your responsiveness to enhancing the regulations.

Ms. Boyer, in your opening remarks, you spoke about the official languages administrative monetary penalties regulations, where we followed the process, and you will look at our recommendations. I heard your commitments when you came here to testify and I hope they're going to reflect that.

However, you forgot to talk about part VII of the Official Languages Act, which is covered by another regulation, and we are following the process. We studied that in committee, and in my opinion, there's still a great deal of work to be done on that section.

Let me start by talking about the objective of the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act, or UFPBA. During the modernization of the Official Languages Act, and specifically parts I and II, which are connected to the UFPBA, my understanding was that employees of federally regulated private businesses in Quebec, which is the only province where the common language is French, would be required to work in French.

However, that is not what the draft regulations on the use of French in federally regulated private businesses say. The draft regulations state that the UFPBA affirms that consumers have the right to communicate in French and employees of a federally regulated private business have the right to work in French. The UFPBA did not necessarily reflect those lines when we studied it. Can you expand on the rationale for that?

[Julie Boyer]

Thank you very much for your question, Mr. Godin.

Obviously, a regulatory framework derives directly from the law and its legislative intent. That has been confirmed, because the drafting process involves experts from the Department of Justice, who understand the drafting process based on elements in the law.

The objective of the UFPBA is to really ensure that in Quebec, employees of businesses employing 25 or more individuals can work in French, which is already the case in businesses that are subject to the Charter of the French Language.

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

That was not necessarily the substance of the discussions, but the end result. We should keep in mind the infamous Thursday when we lost all the necessary tools to require federally regulated employees in Quebec to speak French. It happened in the middle of the night, between Thursday night and Friday morning. Let us not forget that the amendments were defeated because the government of Quebec reached an agreement with the government of Canada. However, I think that when that happened, the francophonie came out on the losing side.

I want to pick up on a specific point. You said that the threshold would be set at 100 employees in regions with a strong francophone presence. Why was it set at 100 employees? Why wasn't it set at 50, 25 or 1,000 employees? How was the figure of 100 employees determined?

[Julie Boyer]

For a regulatory regime to pass muster, there must be a way to implement it. We felt that a company had to have a minimum of 100 employees across Canada for the regime to be implemented in a region with a strong francophone presence.

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

We understand that the number of employees is smaller in official language minority communities.

If we truly wanted to protect the French language and halt its decline, wouldn't it have been better to allow these businesses with a smaller number of employees to have this tool in order to require employees to speak and work in French?

[Julie Boyer]

Let me repeat what I said about the threshold of 100 employees. A company has to have 100 employees throughout Canada for this requirement to apply.

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

It's not 500 employees?

[Julie Boyer]

No. We're talking about 100 employees throughout Canada.

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

What is the threshold of 500 employees about?

[Julie Boyer]

A committee for the fostering of French shall be established if a company has 500 employees.