Official Languages: Solid Support Within Public Service

September 18, 2002

OTTAWA – The Honourable Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board of Canada and Member of Parliament for Westmount – Ville-Marie, announced today the release of a major study on federal public servants' attitudes toward the use of the official languages.

The study was conducted by the NFO CFgroup of Montréal on behalf of the Treasury Board Secretariat, in cooperation with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs and Communication Canada. More than 5,000 employees were consulted during this study and the Government of Canada is committed to act on the results.

The study, entitled Attitudes towards the Use of Both Official Languages Within the Public Service of Canada, reveals that public service employees support the basic principles underlying official languages policies. Support is especially high with respect to service to the public: 92 percent of public service employees agree that it is important for them to serve the public in both official languages. As well, 86 percent stated that they would be willing to make a personal effort to encourage bilingualism in the workplace.

"This study confirms a high level of agreement with the basic principles of the Official Languages Program," Minister Robillard commented. "Public servants' goodwill is present and is strong. However, this does not mean that everything is perfect."

The study also found that many employees misunderstand their rights and obligations and underlined the importance of a better exchange of information. Survey respondents also confirmed that French is under-used as a language of work in bilingual regions.

Furthermore, the study shows that the linguistic composition of the regions is a determining factor in the attitudes of public servants. In general, the more they are exposed to linguistic duality, the more they support official language minority communities.

"The study gives us some solid leads for the future and we intend to follow them," Madame Robillard said. "Our vision is for an exemplary public service in terms of official languages, a public service which reflects our national values."

"This study shows us the importance of the active role leaders at all levels should play –particularly at the senior management level – by setting an example," she said. "The study gives us a clear diagnosis. I am confident that we will succeed in putting forward a set of measures that will advance the use of both official languages in federal institutions and within Canadian society."

The report proposes action on three fronts: to define the 'ideal' bilingual work environment, redress misperceptions about policy requirements and scope, and reinforce the leadership of officials in bilingual regions to encourage both languages at work.

The Government will use its networks of deputy ministers and champions and co-ordinators of official languages to promote the use and acceptance of both languages among public service employees.

The Government's action plan on official languages, to be presented soon, will include initiatives to create an exemplary public service with regard to the use of both languages.

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A backgrounder that presents the study highlights and methodology is available. The summary report and the quantitative and qualitative reports from the study can be obtained on the Internet at www.tbs-sct.gc.ca in the "What's New" section. For more information, contact:

Daniel Grenier
Press Secretary
Office of the President of the Treasury Board of Canada
(613) 957-2666

Dan Kingsbury
Media Relations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (613) 957-2391

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Backgrounder

Study On Attitudes Towards The Use Of Both Official Languages Within The Public Service Of Canada

General

• As part of its initiative to renew the Official Languages Program within the public service, the Government of Canada carried out a study on public service employees' perceptions and attitudes concerning official languages. This is the first such study ever conducted.
• The Treasury Board Secretariat worked closely with Canadian Heritage, Communication Canada, Intergovernmental Affairs and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages to develop the study framework.
• The study was conducted by the public opinion research firm NFO CFgroup of Montréal, and included both quantitative and qualitative research (a telephone survey of 5,000 public servants, accurate within ±1.4%, 19 times out of 20, as well as discussion groups in seven cities and on-line).
• The report proposes three ways in which the government can improve the language situation within the public service: develop a common vision of a bilingual workplace and of values associated with it, correct false perceptions with clear information, and reinforce the leadership of officials in bilingual regions to encourage both languages at work.

Study Results

• There is strong support (92%) for serving the public in both official languages. Support is highest in New Brunswick and Quebec (99%) and lowest in British Columbia (83%).
• 42% of public servants identify themselves as bilingual (37% of positions require a knowledge of both official languages).
• A much higher proportion of Francophones than Anglophones identify themselves as bilingual (85% of Francophones claim to speak English "fluently" or "with some ease," whereas 32% of Anglophones claim to speak French "fluently" or "with some ease").
• On average, bilingual Anglophones working in a bilingual environment speak French 14% of the time. Bilingual Francophones in a bilingual environment speak English 43% of the time. Most employees are satisfied with these proportions, but among those who are not satisfied, both Anglophones and Francophones would like to speak French more often.
• Most public servants, both unilingual and bilingual, are comfortable with the use of both languages in meetings (93% of bilinguals and 73% of unilinguals are "very" or "somewhat" comfortable).
• A large proportion of work documents in the public service circulate in English only (62%), including regions that have French as their sole language of work (22% of documents in these regions are in English only).
• Most public servants (68% of Francophones and 70% of Anglophones) feel that official language policies are fair. Even more (83%) are satisfied with the way official language policies affect them personally.
• Knowledge of specific elements of the official languages program is weak. There is no correlation between knowledge of policies and support for official languages.
• Knowledge gaps are apparent around the concept of "active offer of service" from bilingual employees (82% of public servants stated that "it is the client's responsibility to request service in the language of choice"). In fact, federal offices designated bilingual must offer clients a clear choice of language of service and not wait for clients to request it.
• Many public servants believe that the Official Languages Program is applied in the same way everywhere in Canada:
  • 77% believe that "all employees have the right to work in their preferred official language," whereas this right applies only in the National Capital Region, parts of northern and eastern Ontario, the Montréal area and parts of the Eastern Townships, of the Gaspé and western Quebec, as well as New Brunswick;
  • 78% answered that "bilingual services to the public must be provided in all offices across the country." Approximately 29% of federal offices are required to provide bilingual services.
• Awareness and support for federal action to assist official languages minority community development increase with proximity to these communities. Most federal public servants from the National Capital Region, northern and eastern Ontario and the Atlantic provinces think "the federal government should be doing more to support the development of their province's minority community."
• The qualitative research clearly demonstrates that support for official languages policies is related to the extent to which employees have personally integrated the policies' broad objectives. In the absence of such support, the rules are perceived as a burden.
• The qualitative component of the study also revealed a mixed message on language training. Some believe that those who want it can get it, while others feel that resources are too limited and that access is denied. Many participants commented that the burden of language training is borne disproportionately by individuals, with little support from the organization.

Methodology

• The quantitative component of the study was based on a total of 5,014 phone interviews conducted in February 2002. Treasury Board's Position and Classification Information System list of some 143,000 employees served as the sample frame. The list was stratified by the language requirement of the position, by region, by first official language and by size of employer. This type of sample is accurate within ±1.4%, 19 times out of 20.
• The qualitative portion of this study included individual interviews with 30 senior executives; 14 focus groups in the cities of Vancouver, Sudbury, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec City and Moncton; five on-line sessions with 28 public servants outside the large urban centres; and six electronic bulletin board sessions, combining the comments of 86 participants. This part of the study was conducted over a three-month period from December 2001 to the end of February 2002.
• The study cost $390,000. Funding was provided by the Treasury Board Secretariat, Canadian Heritage, Communication Canada, and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. The contract with NFO CFgroup was awarded following an open bidding process.