Bilingual greetings should be standard: Language Commissioner

Soon you may be greeted in both official languages at Canada’s airports, border crossings and Service Canada counters.

According to a new report by Raymond Theberge, Canada’s Official Languages Commissioner, bilingual greetings as well as full service in both languages should be standard at federal institutions.

“In 2019, half a century after the Official Languages Act was passed, it is unacceptable that federal institutions are still not able to fully meet their language obligations and that Canadians’ official languages rights are still being infringed. Today, I’m offering solutions to these recurring issues through the recommendations in my annual report and in my position paper on modernizing the Act. Today, I’m calling on the government to provide strong leadership and put its words into action by implementing my recommendations to ensure real long-term progress for official languages and linguistic duality.”

-Raymond Théberge, Commissioner of Official Languages

Mr. Theberge’s report also notes that the Official Languages Act already “obliges federal institutions to offer service in both languages, but the rules are applied inconsistently.”

Interestingly there was a 20 percent increase in the number of complaints about language use in the last year, primarily in areas like Ottawa and Gatineau, according to the report.

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