• LND Tool
• Types of Service Delivery
• Services to the Public
• Minority Population
• Office
• Bilingual Obligations
• Minority Language Obligation
• Work Shift
• First Point of Contact
• Demand
• Impact
• Number of Full-time equivalent (FTE)
• Calculations
• Relief FTEs
• Active Offer

Linguistic Needs Designator Tool

The Linguistic Needs Designator Tool can assist the manager of an office by suggesting a minimum number of employees required to provide services to the public in the official language chosen by clients.  

Types of Service Delivery

Services can be provided in the following ways:

• By telephone or by another means of communication;
• In person;
• In writing
• Online (including by electronic means such as e-mail or Internet)

Services to the Public

These are services provided to the public by an office that has been designated bilingual pursuant to Part IV of the Official Languages Act.

The public is comprised of representatives of both official languages groups. The Minority language population (MLP) is the Anglophone or Francophone minority population, established on the basis of Statistics Canada data on first official language spoken, at the location of the office of a federal institution.

Burolis will indicate whether the office has an obligation to provide services to and to communicate with the public in both official languages. If the office does not appear in Burolis, contact the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada.

The legislative provision indicated on the Linguistic Needs Designator Tool Office Information screen is that which appears in Burolis for the office.

Minority Population

For services to the public, the Minority Population is the Anglophone or Francophone minority population, established on the basis of Statistics Canada data on first official language spoken, at the location of the office of a federal institution. The official language minority is English in Quebec and French in all other provinces.

Office

The office is the office or service point listed in Burolis.

Bilingual Obligations

An office that is designated bilingual must ensure that it has the necessary resources to offer services to the public in both official languages at all times. This means that the employees providing the service are able to communicate in the official language of the minority population (LMP), whether they hold a bilingual or unilingual position.

Service Name

The manager enters the name of the service provided (e.g.: food inspection, accommodation services) for each shift involved. If the same service is entered, the tool will combine these (the spelling must be identical) to calculate the minimum capacity required for that service.

Work Shift

A work shift refers to the number of hours that an employee spends at work each day. The tool allows the manager to choose between a shift of 4, 7.5 or 12 hours. The longer the shift, the more resources will be required for breaks.

First Point of contact

The first point of contact occurs when a member of the public or an employee communicates with an office in person or by telephone. A bilingual employee must act as the first point of contact unless clients have the option of communicating with an employee who provides service in their language of choice (for example, English or French dedicated telephone lines or service signs).

Second points of contact may be provided by unilingual persons skilled in the language of service requested by the client.

Demand

Demand represents the total number of people (expressed in percentage) belonging to the linguistic minority who may potentially request services in the language of their choice. The level of demand for services must be specified.

In the case of services to the public, the manager may accept the percentage of the minority language population that the tool automatically provides (Burolis value). As an alternative, the manager may choose a different value for the calculation based on information relevant to the office’s operations. For example, the value could be the percentage generated by an internal study conducted to determine the level of demand from the official language minority population.

The tool utilizes the value selected by the manager for services to the public to calculate the minimum number of employees required so that the office can meet its obligation to serve the public in both official languages at all times.

Impact

The tool takes into account the impact of a delay in providing services in the language of the minority population during breaks and absences. There are three possible levels of impact: high, medium and low, each assigned a different value by the tool.

High impact: requires an immediate response, such as during a disaster, a critical incident or an emergency situation. The lack of a response could result in injury, death or major physical losses.

Medium impact: corresponds to a response that is not critical to security or health, but could lead to a delay or an interruption that would significantly hinder the delivery of services and may result in losses (financial or other).

Low impact: corresponds to a response required and useful but which does not have a critical impact, or an impact that may result in losses.

Number of Full-time equivalent (FTE)

A full-time equivalent (FTE) is an indeterminate employee. The manager must indicate the number of Full Time Equivalents who provide the services during the shift.

• A core full-time equivalent (core FTE) provides the service in question during his or her shift, excluding breaks and absences.



• A replacement full-time equivalent (relief FTE) provides the service in question during breaks and absences.

Calculations

The Linguistic Needs Designator Tool makes the following calculations:

• The number of core and relief FTEs are rounded off as follows:
• for values between 0.1 and 0.4 inclusively, the value indicated is 0.5 (example: 3.4 becomes 3.5)
• for values between 0.6 and 0.9 inclusively, the value indicated is 1.0 (example: 1.8 becomes 2.0 )

Relief FTEs

A replacement full-time equivalent (relief FTE) provides the service in question during breaks and absences.

Active Offer

The concept of active offer of service is consistent with good communication practices, which are aimed at making the public aware of the existence of certain services. Only those offices and facilities of federal institutions and their contracted third parties with a legal obligation to provide services in both official languages under Part IV of the Act are required to offer their services actively in English and in French.