ARCHIVED - Audit on Service to the Public in Both Official Languages - Canada Business Service Centres (CBSC) - Number 29

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Audit on Service to the Public
in Both Official Languages
Canada Business Service Centres (CBSC)

March 2000

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Audit objectives

3. Scope

4. Approach

5. Results

6. Audit conclusions

7. Recommendations

Appendix A - List of associations consulted in the audit

Audit Program
Canada Business Service Centres (CBSC)

1. Introduction

This audit is part of the audit activities conducted by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to ensure that the Official Languages Act and TBS official languages policy are being implemented. This audit of organizations that have undergone government transformations seeks to determine whether the public can communicate with and receive service from federal institutions in the official language of its choice, in accordance with the Official Languages Act and the Official Languages (Communications with and Service to the Public) Regulations.

This section presents the audit objectives, scope, approach used, results, conclusions and recommendations from our audit.

2. Audit objectives

The audit objectives were established under Part IV of the Official Languages Act. This part sets out the obligations of federal institutions and third parties acting on their behalf concerning service to the public. Our objective was to determine the extent to which the CBSCs are fulfilling their service to the public obligations under the Official Languages Act, the Official Languages (Communications with and Service to the Public) Regulations and government policy.

3. Scope

The auditors visited the following nine CBSCs: Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Fredericton and Charlottetown. The St. John's office was not visited, because that office is not required to provide service to the public in both official languages under the Official Languages Regulations. For each CBSC visited, three types of audit were carried out:

• a telephone audit;

• an in-person audit;

• an audit of the Internet sites.

The audit did not cover the Yukon, the Northwest Territories or the Nunavut.

4. Approach

The following steps were carried out during the audit:

• hold preliminary talks with CBSC representatives (National Secretariat) to discuss the audit parameters;

• review a sampling of memorandums of agreement between the partners involved in service delivery;

• develop an audit program, including audit questionnaires;

• make the telephone check calls;

• visit the CBSCs and meet with the managers;

• meet with associations representing minority official languages communities (see Appendix A) to obtain the client's point of view;

• collect relevant information, analyse the results and draft the working papers;

• submit the working papers to the managers of the CBSCs visited to obtain their point of view;

• draft the report and request feedback from the National Secretariat;

• write the final report.

5. Results

A) Active offer

Active offer on the telephone outside hours of operation

All CBSCs visited had Call Answer systems providing bilingual voice instructions outside hours of operation. The information provided often involves a number of options, and it is identical in both official languages. In Nova Scotia the French version of the Call Answer system was not completely identical to the English version, but corrections have been made since our visit.

Active offer on the telephone during hours of operation

When we checked for active offer on the telephone during hours of operation, six of the nine CBSCs made an active offer, but the CBSCs for British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec did not do so. However, in all cases the auditors were able to speak to an employee in the minority official language.

Active offer at reception

In the three CBSCs in the Maritimes (Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) and in Manitoba, the greeting was given in both official languages. These centres make certain that there is always a bilingual person at the reception.

In British Columbia, an active offer was made when the auditors visited the Centre, but it is not always made, because not all the receptionists are bilingual. An active offer was also made in Saskatchewan, but it is not always made, because the management, as in Alberta, considers the official languages symbol a visual form of active offer.

In Ontario, the manager said that the Centre was not generally open for visitors; no active offer was made at the reception, because the employee was unilingual. A bilingual officer can be called on to help; there are six fully bilingual employees in the office who are available to provide service in both official languages.

In Quebec there was no active offer at the reception; the receptionist works on contract for the Board of Trade, and she has not really been made aware of the need for an active offer. However, like all the employees, she was able to answer questions in both official languages.

Visibility of the official languages symbol at all times

In most CBSCs, the official languages symbol was visible at the reception and in the consultation area reserved for clients. It was also displayed in some officers' offices.

In Quebec there was no official languages symbol at the reception. There was a symbol on the upper floor and in the area reserved for the public for consultation purposes. There was no official languages symbol in the CBSC office in Toronto, but the symbol was displayed in the Ottawa satellite office.

Postings in both official languages at all times

Postings were in both official languages outside and inside all CBSCs visited. The handwritten notices in some CBSCs were also in both official languages. The Nova Scotia CBSC had posted its service standards in both official languages. In British Columbia the quality of the French on a poster for regional access and community assistance was substandard. The manager said that he would make the appropriate corrections.

Distribution of publications in both official languages

In all CBSCs, the documentation on federal government services is available in both official languages. In New Brunswick, not only the documentation for the federal government, but also all documentation for the provincial government is available in both official languages.

In Quebec, all Info entrepreneurs (Quebec CBSC) publications are bilingual or available in both official languages. Also, the documentation centre has a number of publications in French, and it often serves as a reference point for other CBSCs, mainly those in New Brunswick and Manitoba. The documentation centre has a number of reference documents in French and a number of videos; it aims to offer good-quality French documentation.

A review of all publications available in the other CBSCs shows that a number of documents are available in only one language; in general, documents from the provincial governments and those related to the business world are not translated. This situation prevails in the Western provinces except Manitoba, and in the Maritimes except New Brunswick. The Toronto CBSC publications were not examined, because this centre is primarily a telephone information centre.

The Western provinces mentioned that they consider there to be grey areas where translation is concerned: they did not know exactly how to determine what should be translated (for example, documents predating an agreement with a partner) or who should pay the costs associated with translation. The manager for British Columbia was even puzzled as to the need to have some documents translated.

Official languages on the Internet sites

All Internet sites of the CBSCs visited were audited. Five of the sites are bilingual: the three CBSCs in the Maritimes and those for Quebec and Saskatchewan. Not all CBSCs use the same terminology (for example, "avis d'exonération de responsabilité" or "déni de responsabilité" [disclaimer]), and they did not always have a component for official languages indicating that information from other levels of government and external sources is available only in the language in which it was provided.

All the Internet sites for the Maritimes CBSCs are configured in the same way: all sections have identical bilingual headings on the same page; the client can choose to navigate in English or in French from the home page. Each page consulted can be viewed in the other official language simply by clicking on the appropriate access button. Thus all pages are available in both official languages. The problems related to the liability disclaimer (as to accuracy, updating and reliability of the data in the sites, which often come from external organizations and a number of departments) and the official languages component (where it states that information from other government levels and external sources is available only in the language in which it was provided) have been corrected since our visit.

The Info entrepreneurs Internet site is bilingual and easy to use. All pages are available in both official languages. Sometimes the reader is referred to links that are in only one official language, but it is clearly stated that these are bilingual documents, English-only or French-only. However, there is no liability disclaimer or official languages component.

The Saskatchewan CBSC Internet site is also very well configured: it is easy to switch from English to French and back, because the graphical presentation of the site is identical in the two official languages. It is bilingual, except for the documents produced by the provincial government. There is a liability disclaimer when documents appear in only one official language.

The Internet sites for the other four CBSCs (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario) are not fully bilingual. Each CBSC is working to improve its site; some managers said that there were delays in translation. In all cases, the English and French versions were not offered simultaneously, as stipulated in the Treasury Board Policy on Using the Official Languages on Electronic Networks (March 1997). The sites for some CBSCs are not configured in the same way in English and in French, making comparisons much more difficult. Some managers have already taken measures to make the English and French sites similar. Also, in some cases the French versions of some documents were less than satisfactory.

B) Service

Service always provided in both official languages

In all CBSCs, the service standards state that service is to be provided in the official language chosen by the client. Service to the public in both official languages is always available in all CBSCs, but some are better equipped to handle the demand than others. In Quebec, all positions are bilingual, and all employees are also bilingual. In the Maritimes, Ontario and Manitoba there are enough bilingual positions and employees to provide service in both official languages at all times.

However, the CBSCs in the other three Western provinces must rely on the administrative arrangements made with WD to be able to provide service in French. Some Western managers said that Francophones often request their service in English, because their business dealings are mostly in that language; others request service in both official languages, but apparently very few request service only in French.

Comparable service to the public in both official languages

In the Maritime provinces and Quebec, service in the minority official language is comparable from all points of view; in Ontario and Manitoba it will be fully comparable once the Websites have been redesigned.

The service is not comparable in the other Western provinces, since they must rely on administrative arrangements and the staff of another organization (WD) to provide service in the minority official language on occasion. This situation can lead to delays that a client requesting service in the majority official language would not have to face. Also, the Internet sites for those CBSCs are not yet fully bilingual.

C) Organization

Review of a sampling of memorandums of agreement among the partners involved in service delivery

The memorandums of agreement examined contain a clause stipulating that CBSCs (designated as bilingual) must provide their service in both official languages and must comply with the Official Languages Act. In most cases they also state that the expenses associated with implementing that clause will be borne by the federal government.

There are some difficulties in implementing this clause: employees from the provincial governments have not taken language tests and have no linguistic obligations. Thus these employee must not be considered able to provide service in both official languages, especially since there is nothing in their collective agreement that requires them to speak the minority official language. Here are two examples of this situation:

• In British Columbia, the manager said that the whole issue of active offer, among other things, was being closely studied, because about 75% of the employees in this CBSC come from the provincial government, and their collective agreement does not require them to answer in both official languages. However, the manager considered that these employees were nevertheless demonstrating a good spirit of co-operation.

• The Alberta CBSC has only three federal employees; the other 15 full-time employees are paid by Economic Development Edmonton. The employees from this municipal partner have no language clause in their work contracts. The management has given the employees instructions on active offer and transferring calls; the employees are co-operating in implementing these instructions, but nothing obliges them to do so; everything depends on the goodwill of the persons in place. The management also told us that it had no budget for language training for its employees.

Existence of sufficient bilingual capability to provide continuous service in both official languages

The Quebec and New Brunswick centres are always able to provide service in both official languages. All the Info entrepreneurs positions are bilingual, and all employees in those positions are also bilingual. In New Brunswick, half the positions are bilingual, and all the employees are bilingual.

The Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island centres also have no difficulty providing service in both official languages. They have enough bilingual positions to meet the demand, and there is always at least one bilingual person on duty, even during the holiday period. These centres also make sure to replace their bilingual employees with bilingual contract workers if necessary, and they have an agreement with ACOA, which can help them if necessary.

In the Ontario CBSC, 20% of the positions are bilingual. These positions are occupied by bilingual employees, five of them on contract with the agency providing the telephone service; the other three bilingual employees are from the federal government. The agency's service contract stipulates that there must be five bilingual positions. According to the manager, some regional centres are able to provide bilingual service. The auditors telephoned two regional offices (Ottawa and Mississauga) and were able to obtain service in French.

In Manitoba, five positions in the organization are bilingual, and six persons are fully bilingual. The manager considers that amply sufficient to meet the demand for service in French. Bilingualism is considered an important asset in hiring contract or term personnel.

In the other Western provinces, the ability to serve the public in both official languages is much more fragile: there are only four bilingual positions for British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. These three provinces have set up procedures to follow when there are no bilingual employees at the centres. The CBSCs have made administrative arrangements with WD when their bilingual employees are on holidays or away from the office for other reasons.

Presence of the work tools necessary to provide service in both official languages

In Quebec and New Brunswick, all work tools are available in both official languages. In the other provinces the situation in this respect is also very good: such work tools as letterheads and faxes, as well as brochures and pamphlets, are bilingual or available in both official languages. The business cards are also bilingual, and where they are not, the organizations are reviewing the situation to make certain that they are bilingual in the near future. In all centres there are keyboards that are bilingual or else configured to use the accents. However, the software is not always available in both official languages.

D) Managers' responsibilities

Knowledge of the requirements for service to the public in both official languages

All managers we met knew that they must provide service to the public in both official languages. The CBSC visited in Toronto offers practically no in-person service to the public. The service is provided on the telephone, by fax or over the Internet. Some CBSCs have regional access points with obligations to serve the public in both official languages; sometimes there is an officer at the site who can provide this service.

Existence of controls to ensure that service is always provided in both official languages

With the exception of Info entrepreneurs, no CBSC has controls strictly designed to ensure that service is always given in both official languages. The managers consider that the lack of complaints (five CBSCs have never had any complaints) or the minimal frequency of complaints (five in total, in the other four CBSCs, over a period of a number of years) is a good indication of client satisfaction. The managers consider that supervising the employees is also a form of control, and that it would not be advisable to spend public funds setting up control systems when the results in this area are more than satisfactory.

Info entrepreneurs, as part of its efforts to obtain certification under ISO 9002 (International Organization for Standardization), ensures that service is always provided in both official languages. Info entrepreneurs has people pose as clients to check the quality of the services provided by its staff.

Existence of client satisfaction evaluation mechanisms

All CBSCs are evaluated every two years. The evaluation framework used in the past did not include any question related to official languages, but, the New National Evaluation Framework (February 1998) includes four questions related to official languages, in the section reserved for clients. This new framework had not yet been used at the time of the audit; it will be used in all CBSCs for the next evaluation, to take place in 2000. All CBSCs consider serving the client in the official language of the client's choice one of the components of quality service; it is part of their service standards.

The New Brunswick and Quebec CBSCs have set up mechanisms for evaluating the quality of the service provided to their clients; these mechanisms include questions related to official languages.

Meetings with representatives of the minority official language community

The CBSCs have not systematically identified an organization that could represent minority Anglophones and Francophones and with whom they could be in partnership to better serve the minority language community. They do not hold formal meetings with the umbrella organizations (see Appendix A) met in connection with this audit. However, they do sometimes have meetings with other types of economic association. The Saskatchewan and Manitoba CBSCs often meet with groups of persons who belong to minority linguistic groups, and they also participate in forums, conferences or seminars held by those groups. In British Columbia and Alberta, the meetings are informal.

The Ontario CBSC maintains good relations with the French-speaking community, mainly through its access points in regions where it offers bilingual service. In Quebec, there are no formal meetings with Alliance Quebec; Info entrepreneurs meets with representatives of the minority official language community who come mainly from the Youth Employment Service.

In New Brunswick there are no formal meetings with representatives of the minority official language community. The Nova Scotia CBSC maintains relations with the Centre Jodrey (business centre) of Université Ste-Anne, and P.E.I. maintains working relations with the Francophone community through a shared community resource centre located in Wellington.

6. Audit conclusions

The audit results indicate that:

• service to the public in the official language of its choice is part of the service standards of all CBSCs;

• service in both official languages is generally available in all CBSCs. (However, in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, the ability to provide bilingual service is limited, and it is not equal in quality in both official languages);

• active offer, either on the telephone or at the reception, is not consistent in a number of CBSCs;

• some CBSCs consider the official languages symbol a sufficient form of active offer;

• federal government publications are available in both official languages;

• the Internet sites of five CBSCs are bilingual, and the other four CBSCs are working to improve their sites;

• the managers, whether they are federal employees or not, are well aware of their responsibilities for serving the public in both official languages;

• the CBSC managers consider that they do not receive enough complaints related to official languages to justify implementing systematic monitoring mechanisms solely to check whether service is always given in both official languages, especially since the New National Evaluation Framework, to be used beginning in 2000, will give them some data on client satisfaction, including the possibility of being served in the official language of their choice and obtaining information and documents in that language;

• the relations with the minority official language communities established by managers vary from province to province. This situation could become more difficult to assess because of the many regional access points that are being developed.

7. Recommendations

A. We recommend that CBSCs that have obligations to serve the public in both official languages take the measures necessary to ensure that:

• telephone and in-person greetings are always made in both official languages;

• the official languages symbol is always displayed at the reception and in the areas reserved for the public;

• service is provided in both official languages, and is comparable and equal in quality;

• regional service points (that have language obligations) establish memorandums of agreement indicating that the services will be available in the official language chosen by the clients, in accordance with the Official Languages Act;

• regional service points maintain close links with the minority official language communities, so that they can take those communities' needs into account.

B. We also recommend that the CBSC National Secretariat:

• establish a policy on translation; and

• ensure that the English and French versions of documents (publications, Internet sites, etc.) are released simultaneously and are equal in quality, in compliance with the Policy on Using the Official Languages on Electronic Networks.

Appendix A - List of associations consulted in the audit

• Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
  450 Rideau St., Ottawa, Ont.

• Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador
  265 Duckworth St., St. John's

• Société Saint-Thomas d'Aquin
  340 Court St., Summerside, P.E.I.

• Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse
  73 Tacoma Drive, Suite 203, Dartmouth, N.S., B2W 3Y6

• Société des acadiens et des acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick
  Petit Rocher, New Brunswick

• Alliance Quebec
  630 René Lévesque Blvd. West, Suite 2950, Montreal, Quebec

• Association canadienne-française de l'Ontario
  2 Carlton St., Suite 1711, Toronto, Ont.

• Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-britannique
  1575-7^th Ave. West, Vancouver, B.C.

• Association canadienne française de l'Alberta
  8527 Marie-Anne Gaboury St. (91^st St.), Room 303, Edmonton, Alberta

• Association culturelle franco-canadienne de la Saskatchewan,
  2132 Broad St., Regina, Saskatchewan

• Société Franco-manitobaine, Suite 212
  383 Provencher Blvd., St-Boniface, Manitoba

(1) CBSCs are a co-operative arrangement among federal and provincial organizations and the private sector. The composition of the participants varies from province to province. The mission of CBSCs is to facilitate the startup, survival and growth of small business (SMEs) by giving business people throughout Canada ready access to accurate, timely and relevant information and referrals.
At the federal level, the main managing partners of the CBSCs share the development and management responsibility as follows:

• Western Economic Diversification (WED) manages the centres in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba;
• Industry Canada manages the centres in Ontario, the Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories;
• Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions manages the centre in Quebec;
• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency manages the centres in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
  

(2) This study was prepared externally.