Official Languages committee  We would be able to find it out. I do not have it here.

Official Languages committee  In fact, I can assure you that we use every means at our disposal, be they technical or professional, to ensure that the French and English tests are equivalent. In my opinion, that's a very important and relevant question, since English and French are two different language systems with different vocabulary and grammatical rules.

Official Languages committee  When I am asked a technical question, I tend to go on and on. I'm sorry about that.

Official Languages committee  Of course, there are statistics on age, but based on the data I've seen, age is more an issue in terms of language training and when it's done. In other words, if someone has learned a language at 30 years of age and is evaluated at 60, they've probably maintained the language and won't necessarily have much trouble.

Official Languages committee  It's more of an issue when training—

Official Languages committee  Based on our data.

Official Languages committee  Thank you. I do agree entirely that the situation is identical for both francophones and anglophones. Most candidates sit for the written expression and the written comprehension tests at the same time, that is over the course of a half day of testing. Each test lasts about an hour and a half and requires concentration.

Official Languages committee  The test is not translated. There are two professional teams that write the tests: an anglophone team and a francophone team. Similar methodology was used for writing the two parallel tests. There is no translation, but the equivalency of the English and French tests has been ascertained using statistical methods, so that they both reflect the employer's language standards.

Official Languages committee  First I would like to clarify that "French" means "test in French" or "French test". So when it says "French" it is referring to the success rate for anglophones who take the test in French. The figures you are quoting represent the pass rates for the Public Service Commission of Canada with the old test, the test for 2006-2007, and with the new test that was implemented on October 1.

Official Languages committee  We made the decision to change the tests three years ago, one reason being that even though the tests were still valid and reliable, they dated from 1984-1985 or thereabouts. The way language is used in the government has changed since then. For example, on the written test, obviously the use of electronic mail has changed a lot of things.

Official Languages committee  There are several possibilities. If you take a look at the graphs we have provided, you can see that in the case of the same test, over the years there have been ups and downs, sometimes significant, which are attributable not to the test itself, but rather to the characteristics of the population being assessed.