Keeping-Tabs-Winter-2024

LANGUAGE RIGHTS
Adoption of the Act for the Substantive
Equality of Canada’s Official Languages:
Major New Developments in Language Rights
Isabelle Hardy (she/her), Office of the Commissioner of
Official Languages
(Translation of previous article)
Editor’s note: The recent amendments to the Official Languages Act are bringing about many changes in the official
languages landscape in Canada, including those discussed in this article. Other notable amendments include
new obligations for the federal courts to simultaneously publish judgments in English and French, which will come
into force on June 20, 2024. In respect of those amendments, The Advocates’ Society sent a letter to the federal
government on January 10, 2024, encouraging it to provide federal courts with sufficient resources to meet these
new obligations. That letter is available here.
Disclaimer: The comments included in this article are those of the author and not those of her employer.
The federal language rights landscape has undergone
significant change since Bill C-13, An Act for
the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages,
received Royal Assent 1 on June 20, 2023. This
act makes substantial amendments to the Official
Languages Act [“OLA”], 2 three of which are discussed
in this article: the emphasis on substantive equality,
changes to the administration of justice and the
judicialization of the Commissioner of official Languages’
powers.
The OLA specifies, once and for all, that “the
norm for the interpretation of language rights is
substantive equality.” These rights must be given
“a large, liberal and purposive interpretation” and
must be interpreted “in light of their remedial character.”
3 As a whole, the OLA makes clear the need
to take into account, including in interpreting language
rights, the fact that French is in a minority
situation in Canada due to the predominant use of
English. In other words, substantive equality is the
aim – in law and in practice.
With respect to the administration of justice, as
evidenced by the most recent appointments to the
Supreme Court of Canada, section 16 of the OLA
has been revised to include (in fact, to no longer
exclude) the Supreme Court of Canada among the
federal courts required to hear cases in both official
languages without the assistance of an interpreter.
Requiring that courts understand both official
languages means ensuring that courts have bilingual
institutional capacity. This is the purpose of the
new subsection 16(3) of the OLA, which imposes an
obligation on the federal government to ensure,
in the context of appointments to federal courts,
that these courts are able to meet their obligation
to hear cases in both official languages without the
assistance of an interpreter.
Beyond the federal courts, the new section 16.1
of the OLA requires the federal government to take
into account the importance of equal access to justice
in both official languages when appointing superior
court judges across the country. Candidates
seeking appointment to the bench must indicate
their level of language proficiency and expect the
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Aff-
17
17