Official Languages Committee on June 9th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Dear colleagues, welcome to meeting number 39 of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

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.

Given that there was a vote in the House, our meeting started half an hour late. Today, we have two panels of witnesses. Therefore, I am planning to shorten the time allocated to each group. That means that we'll have about 45 minutes with each group instead of one hour.

I apologize to the witnesses but, unfortunately, that's sometimes just the way things work when there's a vote.

Does everyone agree with the plan? Since it seems that everyone agrees, I will now welcome the witnesses.

From the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, we have Nathalie Lachance, president, and Isabelle Laurin, executive director. They are both participating in the meeting by video conference.

I would like to welcome you both.

You'll have five minutes for your opening statement and then we're going to take questions from the members.

Ms. Lachance, the floor is yours.

[Nathalie Lachance, President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta]

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, good afternoon.

My name is Nathalie Lachance. I'm president of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, or ACFA, the voice of Alberta's francophone community.

With me today is our executive director, Isabelle Lorrain. I'd like to thank you very much for inviting us to testify before you in the context of your important study on the draft regulations on the use of French in federally regulated private businesses.

ACFA is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, in 2026. Since 1926, our organization has been working to advocate for the rights, achievements and vitality of Alberta's francophone community. One hundred years later, Alberta's francophone community is still very much alive.

Today, over 260,000 Albertans are able to hold a conversation in French. Alberta's francophone community is present in all regions of the province. It is both a historical community and a rapidly growing community, primarily thanks to francophone immigration.

Generally speaking, ACFA supports the recommendations made by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, or the FCFA. However, we wish to draw your attention to certain realities that are unique to Alberta that should be considered when identifying regions with a strong francophone presence.

First, we welcome the recognition of part of Edmonton as a region with a strong francophone presence. This recognition is important, since the city of Edmonton is the main francophone institutional hub of our province. This region includes Campus Saint‑Jean, La Cité francophone, ACFA's provincial headquarters and a vast network of organizations that serve francophones from across Alberta.

However, Edmonton's francophone community now extends well beyond the boundaries of the historical francophone neighbourhood. Francophones live all across the city. French-language schools can be found in several of the city's neighbourhoods. These institutions and organizations serve a much larger population base than what is covered by the proposed designation.

As a result, we believe that Edmonton's designation should be expanded to better reflect the role of Alberta's capital city as the main institutional, administrative, economic and community hub of the province's francophone community.

We also believe that Calgary should be recognized as a region with a significant francophone presence. It's hard to understand why it is not. The Calgary metropolitan area has as many, or almost as many, residents whose first official language that they speak is French as the Edmonton metropolitan region. Nearly a third of Alberta's francophone population lives in the municipality of Calgary. Calgary also welcomes many francophone newcomers every year. It has nine French-language schools, one francophone community centre, an ACFA regional office and a vibrant network of community organizations. The Government of Canada has also recognized this reality by designating Calgary a welcoming francophone community.

In our view, Calgary certainly meets the objectives in the regulations and should be recognized as a region with a strong francophone presence.

Lastly, we would like to emphasize the importance of recognizing historical francophone communities. Alberta's francophone community is not limited to Edmonton and Calgary. Communities like St. Albert, St. Paul, Plamondon, Lac La Biche, Falher, Donnelly, Peace River, Legal, Morinville and Beaumont have played a key role in the development of our province, and they are still contributing to the vitality of the French language even today.

We also believe it's essential to include a genuine principle of non-regression, so that acquired language rights cannot be called into question as a result of mere statistical fluctuations.

In conclusion, ACFA is making five key recommendations. Allow me to summarize them briefly: expanding Edmonton's designation; recognizing Calgary as a region with a significant francophone presence; recognizing historical francophone communities; including a principle of non-regression; and providing for regular reviews of the regulations.

We believe that these adjustments would better reflect the reality of Alberta's francophone communities and contribute to the sustainable development of francophone communities across Canada. We therefore urge the committee to recommend specific measures to this end.

Thank you for your attention. We are ready to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Ms. Lachance, for your presentation and your suggestions. We'll now move on to the question period.

Mr. Dalton, you have the floor for six minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Ms. Lachance and Ms. Laurin, for being with us today.

My family is from Alberta. I think that half of the people north of Edmonton are related to me. My mother is a Beaudoin and she comes from a family of 18 children.

How will this affect northern Alberta towns like Fahler, Girouxville and McLennan?

This region of the province has a rich francophone history. Can you tell us a bit about this region?

[Nathalie Lachance]

Yes, that's true. That's why we added the third element, which is to truly recognize Alberta's historical francophone communities that are not currently designated in the regulations.

We're thinking about Fahler, Plamondon, Lac La Biche, Peace River, Donnelly, St. Albert and St. Paul.

It's really a way to ensure that Alberta's northern francophone communities are properly served.

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

That's great.

Do you think that the legislation, in its current form, will, in fact, bring about changes for Alberta's francophone community, once the rules are in effect and enforced?

[Nathalie Lachance]

I think that, if we could expand the designated communities that receive bilingual services, it would be a huge help for the francophone community.

It is true that francophones in Alberta “absorb” English rather than learn it, but the fact remains that it is crucial for us to have access to services in French. The larger the area of activity, the better it is for the community's vitality. That also makes it possible to ensure that services that are important to everyone are available in both official languages.

Indeed, for banking services, for example, a good command of the language is needed in order to be able to use that terminology in both official languages. It's important for us.

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

You talked a bit about the importance of not going backwards.

Can you talk a bit more about the importance of not removing a designation that's already there?

[Nathalie Lachance]

The proposal in ACFA's brief will ensure that there is some continuity. If there is a drastic change in the percentage between two censuses, residents of a designated region must not lose access to the services they need.

We think it's extremely important to make sure to include this non-regression clause, which would ensure the sustainability of services. It's extremely important for us.

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

I'm not entirely clear about the designation.

Are we talking about the area around Bonnie Doon and Campus Saint‑Jean? Is that region designated as a francophone community?

Can you tell us a bit more about that and the expansion to the entire capital city?

[Nathalie Lachance]

The Bonnie Doon area is very [Technical difficulty—Editor]. There's no doubt that there's a concentration of francophones around Bonnie Doon, but there are francophones throughout the city of Edmonton and schools in all neighbourhoods—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Ms. Lachance, I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt you. We can't hear you very well on our end. I've stopped the clock for now. We're going to take a break to check. I'd ask you to please wait one minute.

The clerk has asked me to suspend the meeting. I will suspend the meeting until our technical team has resolved the issue. Ms. Lachance, I'm sorry. We'll resume our conversation soon, I hope.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We're resuming the meeting.

Mr. Dalton, you have two minutes and 40 seconds left.

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

Thank you very much.

Ms. Lachance, we heard from representatives of the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique and other organizations. They're not very happy with the regulations, because it doesn't seem that it applies to francophone communities in their region. I'm a member from British Columbia, but we've heard the same thing from people in Nova Scotia and other regions.

You seem to be more positive. It may be because there is a small region where it will apply.

Is that the case?

[Nathalie Lachance]

No. It's because I see the potential in what might become of this. Currently, the designation means that, in Alberta, only the francophone neighbourhood would be designated as an area that would be entitled to services in French. That's not acceptable for Alberta's francophone community.

It's far too small an area and far too limited. It's also problematic. In that neighbourhood, there is currently a place where we have a few services. For those who are familiar with Edmonton, I'm talking about the area around the Bonnie Doon shopping centre, but that shopping centre is not in very good financial shape.

Would that become a barrier for some businesses, who might decide to leave? That's also a possibility. We have concerns about that, but we also see the potential of the regulations. What we're asking for is an expanded designation of the areas.

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

In your opinion, will businesses in the region react positively or negatively to these changes?

What do you think?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

There are 55 seconds left.

[Nathalie Lachance]

I think that I'm a little naive.

I think that businesses stand to gain by conducting business in the language that people speak. I would hope that there is interest in hiring employees who speak the same language as people living in this neighbourhood. That includes banks and the telecommunications sector. I think that's important.

Is there an incentive to move immediately outside the neighbourhood? I would say yes, considering the way that the regulations are drafted.

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

Thank you for the work you are doing.

It's encouraging to hear that the francophonie is making progress in Alberta.

How many francophones and francophiles are there in Calgary and Edmonton?

The two are not exactly the same. The number of francophones in both cities is roughly the same in both cities, but these services won't be available in Calgary.

[Nathalie Lachance]

That's one of the challenges. That's why we are asking that Calgary be designated and added to the list.

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

Thank you, Ms. Lachance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Dalton.

I'll now give the floor over to Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault for six minutes.

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Lachance, for your testimony. It's always a pleasure to hear about francophone Alberta.

You spoke about francophone minority communities, or historically francophone communities.

I would like you to tell us more about that.

Logistically, what's your view on designating these communities? What criteria would apply?

How could your suggestion concerning historical communities be implemented?

[Nathalie Lachance]

That's a great question.

I think that historical communities should work with the francophone community to ensure that they receive proper recognition.

For our part, we identified a few of these communities in our document, including St. Albert, St. Paul, Rivière‑la‑Paix, Donnelly, Falher, Legal and Morinville. Francophone communities existed in these regions in the past. In our opinion, Calgary is also historically francophone, if we consider Rouleauville. It's another growing community, and a very important urban metropolis for Alberta.

However, when we talk about historic communities, we really need to look and see where francophones once were, and where they still are today. We really have communities that need support to boost their vitality. We have aging populations. We need to ensure that services are available for them, but also that our region becomes a magnet for newcomers who look to the future and see hope and vitality in these communities.

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

What can we tell companies that might be concerned they won't find available, French-speaking workers?

We know that there are francophones in Alberta. The many people who went through immersion schools also come to mind. The figures are fairly high. For that matter, a large number of people who were educated in French immersion schools went on to study at the University of Alberta's Campus Saint-Jean. Others came through francophone immigration.

I'd like to hear what you have to say about the availability of a French-speaking workforce in Alberta.