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2009-10
Report on Plans and Priorities

Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

The original version was signed by
The Honourable Josée Verner
President of the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message from the Commissioner of Official Languages

SECTION I - OVERVIEW

SECTION II - ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

SECTION III -SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Message from the Commissioner of Official Languages

I am pleased to present the 2009-2010 Report on Plans and Priorities, which sets out the strategic directions, priorities, expected results and spending estimates for the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) for the coming fiscal year.

My primary objective is to influence how language rights are protected and respected, and how linguistic duality is promoted in society. As an independent officer of Parliament, I provide parliamentarians with unbiased advice based on objective and factual information to enable them to fulfill their important role of holding the federal government accountable for its stewardship of the equal status of English and French in Canada.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act. It will be an opportunity to take stock of the progress made in official languages over the years and outline the challenges that lie ahead.

Last year, in my 2007-2008 Annual Report as well as my Performance Report for the same period, I announced my intention to examine the Commissioner’s ombudsman role. The renewal of my ombudsman role is based on two principles: a more effective resolution of complaints with the goal of achieving sustainable results, and the prevention of problems that lead to complaints. While complaint resolution, report card and audit mechanisms continue to be used, more proactive strategies have also been integrated into our work. In addition, it is critical that I continue to be proactive in offering observations about policy and strategies that may affect Canada’s linguistic duality.

OCOL identified five corporate priorities for the planning period of this Report to focus our activities over the next three years and to work toward our strategic outcome: that Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and that linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society. The five priorities, which support the implementation of OCOL’s 2009-2012 Strategic Plan, are as follows:

• Implement proactive approaches and strategies to address systemic compliance issues, in order to encourage a change of culture within federal institutions;
• Promote the knowledge of and respect for Canada’s two official languages as an important element of leadership within federal institutions;
• Act as a bridge builder between official language minority communities and federal institutions so that policies, programs and activities support community development;
• Encourage federal institutions to integrate linguistic duality into the development and implementation of their policies, programs and activities within a diverse Canadian society;
• Foster the growth and renewal of OCOL’s personnel and strengthen the application of sound management principles and practices.

I am confident that the efforts of my dedicated staff, working in cooperation with federal institutions and other entities with responsibility for the implementation of the spirit and intent of the Official Languages Act, will continue to advance the cause of official languages in the next year and beyond.

The original version was signed by

Graham Fraser

SECTION I – OVERVIEW

1.1  Summary Information

Raison d'être

OCOL’s mandate is to promote the Official Languages Act, oversee its full implementation, protect the language rights of Canadians and promote linguistic duality and bilingualism in Canada.

Responsibilities

The mandate of the Commissioner of Official Languages is set out in section 56 of the Official Languages Act:

The Commissioner therefore has a mandate to take all measures within his power to ensure that the three main objectives of the Official Languages Act are met, which are:

• The equality of English and French in Parliament, the Government of Canada, the federal administration and the institutions subject to the Act;
• The preservation and development of official language communities in Canada; and
• The equality of English and French in Canadian society. 

The Commissioner of Official Languages is appointed by commission under the Great Seal, after approval by resolution of the House of Commons and the Senate, for a seven-year term. The Commissioner of Official Languages reports directly to Parliament.

In this context, OCOL has a distinct mandate under the Official Languages Act. Each federal institution is responsible for implementing the Act within its area of jurisdiction. As well, the following federal entities have special responsibilities with respect to official languages (for a description of their specific roles refer to OCOL’s Web site at www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/mission_e.php):

• Treasury Board Secretariat
• Canada Public Service Agency
• Department of Canadian Heritage
• Department of Justice
• Public Service Commission of Canada
• Canada School of Public Service
• House of Commons and Senate Standing Committees on Official Languages.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

To pursue its mandate effectively, OCOL works to achieve its single strategic outcome through continued progress on its three program activities (two operational and one management) as follows:

Strategic Outcome	Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society.
Program Activity	1. Protection through Compliance Assurance	2. Promotion through Policy and Communications
	3.  Internal Services1
Sub-Activity	3.1 Governance and Management Support 3.2 Resource Management Services

1. The third sub-activity for small agencies’ internal services, namely “Asset Management Services,” was not materially relevant to OCOL and therefore is not included in the PAA.

Program Activity Architecture Crosswalk

OCOL revised the wording of its strategic outcome and program activities with approval from Treasury Board in April 2008. The structure of the Program Activity Architecture (PAA) remained unchanged with a single strategic outcome and resulting program activities. The revised PAA involved no redistribution of financial resources. Descriptions for the program activities were modified slightly, as reflected in Section 2 of this Report. A separate program activity for Internal Services is now added to the OCOL PAA as per the revised profile for all federal entities since July 2008. In addition, the six sub-activities in OCOL’s former PAA were eliminated to simplify the structure.

Former PAA included in 2008-2009 RPP	Revised PAA included in 2009-2010 RPP
Strategic Outcome: Compliance with and respect for the Official Languages Act by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act.	Strategic Outcome: Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society.
Program Activity 1: Compliance Assurance	Program Activity 1: Protection through Compliance Assurance
Program Activity 2: Policy and Communications	Program Activity 2: Promotion through Policy and Communications
	Program Activity 3: Internal Services

Alignment of the PAA to Government of Canada Outcomes

The Commissioner of Official Languages is an officer of Parliament who reports directly to Parliament and is thereby independent from government. The strategic outcome and the expected results from his office are detailed in Section 2 of this Report on Plans and Priorities.

1.2  Planning Summary

The following two tables present a summary of the total planned financial and human resources for OCOL over the next three fiscal years.

Financial Resources ($000)

2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012
19,935	19,935	19,935

Human Resources (full-time equivalents^*)

2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012
177.5	177.5	177.5

^* Full-time equivalent: FTE

Contribution of Priorities to the Strategic Outcome

OCOL has a single strategic outcome (SO 1): Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society. The table below describes how each corporate priority contributes to the strategic outcome and what OCOL plans to do to achieve or make progress toward each priority (more details on the initiatives identified in the table are provided in Section II under Planning Highlights). 

Operational Priorities	Type2	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)	Description
1.   Implement proactive approaches and strategies to address systemic compliance issues, in order to encourage a change of culture within federal institutions	Previously committed to	SO 1	Systemic compliance issues are a key concern for OCOL and an impediment to respect for the language rights of Canadians. In making systemic compliance issues a priority for 2009-2010, OCOL aims to encourage sustainable solutions to problems that are repeatedly brought to its attention and, in doing so, to further protect the language rights of Canadians. OCOL will: Conduct and complete official languages audits that specifically address systemic compliance issues and seek to obtain commitments from institutions to resolve these issues; Negotiate and sign memoranda of understanding with certain federal institutions, beginning with those where systemic compliance issues have been identified;  Use the official languages report card exercise to encourage key federal departments to address systemic compliance issues.
2.   Promote the knowledge of and respect for Canada’s two official languages as an important element of leadership within federal institutions	Previously committed to	SO 1	Strong leadership within federal institutions is a key element in ensuring they respect the language rights of Canadians and comply with the Act. In 2009-2010, OCOL will: Monitor the inclusion of official languages components in the Public Service Renewal Initiative; Continue to work proactively with regional federal councils across the country to support them as official languages leaders and encourage activities that help member institutions meet their commitments under the Act; Examine, through research, the essential competencies required for effective leadership in a bilingual public service; Develop a strategy to influence the government in taking measures to address the shortage of bilingual judges in superior courts and federal tribunals.
3.   Act as a bridge builder between official language minority communities and federal institutions so that policies, programs and activities support community development	Previously committed to	SO 1	Community development, which is multi-dimensional and expresses itself in numerous areas of human activity, is sustained through policies, programs and activities, and thereby strengthens linguistic duality in Canada. OCOL will: Monitor the implementation of the 2008-2013 Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality and the establishment of the new Language Rights Support Program; Through several initiatives drawing on the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act,make federal institutions and Canadians in general aware of the role they can play in promoting linguistic duality; Through a participative approach, work with three Francophone communities from Western Canada to identify indicators and outcomes in key sectors of vitality; Support enhanced vitality of communities through various initiatives, including discussions with airport authorities subject to the Act with a view to improving services in both official languages.
4.   Encourage federal institutions to integrate linguistic duality into the development and implementation of their policies, programs and activities within a diverse Canadian society	Previously committed to	SO 1	As Canada’s demographic landscape changes, it is paramount that the government consider the implications of those changes in its actions. To achieve this priority, OCOL will: Monitor the inclusion of official languages in the preparatory work surrounding the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games to ensure it is a truly bilingual event; Continue building awareness within federal institutions of their obligations to provide services during the Vancouver 2010 Games; Continue to deepen its understanding of the relationship between cultural diversity and linguistic duality through action research; Conduct a study on second-language learning opportunities at all Canadian universities.

 

Management Priorities	Type2	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)	Description
5.   Foster the growth and renewal of OCOL’s personnel and strengthen the application of sound management principles and practices	Previously committed to	SO 1	As a small organization working in a complex and ever changing environment, OCOL must maintain its capacity to support the delivery of its protection and promotion activities. OCOL commits to ensuring the application of sound management practices. To achieve this priority, OCOL will: Continue the implementation of the Three-Year Strategic Human Resources Management Plan, which stresses employment equity; Initiate the implementation of phase one of the Five-Year IM/IT Strategic Plan; Continue to enhance OCOL’s management accountability framework and management practices.

2. Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to this RPP; ongoing—committed to at least three fiscal years prior to this RPP; and new—newly committed to in this RPP.

Risk Analysis

OCOL’s strategic context and operating environment are characterized by external and internal risks that influence the choice of its corporate priorities and affect its plans and performance. This section briefly presents this particular environment, more specifically the four primary risks faced by OCOL..

First, OCOL has observed ongoing systemic obstacles to full compliance with the Act. This, coupled with the fact that Canada presently faces challenges on the economic, political and social fronts, may give rise to a perception that the Official Languages Act is less important or less relevant in these particular times. To mitigate this risk, OCOL is renewing its ombudsman role to better influence change and implement proactive strategies to address systemic compliance issues. As well, OCOL continues to promote the knowledge of, and respect for, Canada’s two official languages as an important element of leadership within federal institutions. Strong leadership generally results in better compliance. Furthermore, the Commissioner increasingly acts as a bridge builder between official language minority communities and federal institutions, while also working with other levels of government, to ensure proper consideration of official languages in the design of policies and programs. In 2009-2010, with the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act, OCOL will demonstrate, through a number of initiatives, how far the country has come in four decades and what challenges remain.

Second, to deliver on its mandate, OCOL must maintain its independence from government to provide unbiased advice and information to Parliament and organizations subject to the Act. Yet, the Commissioner of Official Languages is an officer of Parliament who applies central agency administrative policies in part or in whole; as such, his independent status may be challenged if not well understood. To manage this risk, OCOL will continue to examine the most appropriate governance structures, administrative rules and reporting requirements that reflect and protect its status. OCOL will also continue to work with other officers of Parliament to clarify and strengthen the role of the Parliamentary Panel as an independent mechanism for funding and oversight of officers of Parliament.

Third, as an organization, OCOL faces the same risk as other federal entities of insufficient capacity as well as the challenge of recruiting staff with specialized skills while numerous retirements are occurring at all organizational levels. The introduction in 2007-2008 of the Federal Accountability Act resulted in the requirement for OCOL to hire new staff to respond to public demands for access to information and to implement an internal audit function. There is presently a shortage of qualified workers in government in specialties like investigation and auditing, access to information, and internal auditing. In 2008-2009, OCOL began implementing its Strategic Human Resources Management Plan, which will continue in 2009-2010 and beyond. The plan involves developing a marketing strategy to promote OCOL as an employer of choice, identifying specific staffing and recruitment strategies to address current capacity needs and analyzing competencies and expertise required to respond to the changing environment.

Fourth, the existing functions within OCOL as well as the new processes described previously continually require more advanced technological systems and tools to manage information holdings effectively and in a secure environment. This involves specialized skills and an increased capacity to meet growing demands from OCOL managers. OCOL will continue to develop its Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) Strategic Plan for 2009-2014, which is contingent on new funding, to address, among other issues, integrated management information systems and the reinforcement of system capacities.

Expenditure Profile

In 2009-2010, OCOL plans to spend $19,935,000 to make progress on its five corporate priorities, meet the expected results of its program activities and contribute to its strategic outcome.

Spending Trend From 2005-2006 to 2011-2012

The figure below illustrates OCOL’s spending trend over seven years, representing the past three years, the current year of 2008-2009, and the next three years.

For 2005-2006 to 2007-2008, the actual spending corresponds to the total expenditures as published in the Public Accounts. The apparent increase in spending between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 corresponds to collective agreement settlements and the standard annual carry forwards. From 2006-2007 to 2007-2008, OCOL’s actual spending increased by $0.5 million due to additional funding received for the creation of the Internal Audit Function and the Access to Information Function in order to meet new requirements under the Federal Accountability Act. Both these new functions further improve OCOL’s ability to demonstrate transparency in its management practices. Hence, OCOL has consistently used all of its parliamentary appropriations within applicable regulations.

For the 2008-2009 period, the forecast spending includes all parliamentary appropriations: the Main Estimates plus the Supplementary Estimates as well as the standard collective agreement settlements and annual carry forward (Treasury Board Votes, 15, 25, 30). 

Finally, the 2009-2010 to 2011-2012 periods reflect the planned spending from the Main Estimates. It should be noted that one of the initiatives planned for 2009-2010 is to review OCOL’s financial systems and tools. The results of this initiative will be reflected in OCOL’s next reports to Parliament.

2009-2010 Allocation of Funding by Program Activity

The figure opposite displays the allocation of OCOL’s funding by program activity for 2009-2010.  

 

 

Voted and Statutory Appropriations

The table below illustrates the way in which Parliament approved OCOL resources, and shows the changes in resources derived from the supplementary estimates and other authorities, as well as how funds were spent.

Voted and Statutory Items Displayed in the Main Estimates  ($000) 

Vote # or Statutory Item	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2009–2010 Main Estimates	2008–2009 Main Estimates
20	Program expenditures	17,849	17,764
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	2,087	2,142
	Total	19,935	19,906

The above amounts are those supplied by Treasury Board Secretariat. The net increase of $29,000 in the 2009-2010 Main Estimates compared to 2008-2009 results from collective agreement settlements in 2008-2009 combined with a decrease of 0.5% in the Employee Benefit Plan rate.

SECTION II – ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

2.1  Strategic Outcome

OCOL’s work focuses on the achievement of its single strategic outcome. OCOL plays a lead role in encouraging federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act to protect and respect Canadians’ language rights through their policies and programs. As well, OCOL influences other stakeholders in the promotion of linguistic duality in our society. OCOL developed its first performance measurement framework in 2008-2009. While OCOL has a unique role in ensuring compliance with the Official Languages Act, it is nonetheless one of several federal actors with responsibilities for achieving the objectives, spirit and intent of the Act. The performance indicators are intended to measure OCOL’s specific progress toward the strategic outcome through the Commissioner’s influence as an independent officer of Parliament. With reliable information on the impact of its interventions, OCOL can therefore judge which actions to pursue or change to continue to be effective.

Strategic Outcome	Performance Indicators
Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society.	Extent to which recommendations (made through audits, investigations, annual reports, research and other study reports) are implemented two years after their tabling Frequency and impact of opportunities used by OCOL to promote linguistic duality
Performance Measurement Strategy
Follow-up and analysis of responses received from federal institutions and organizations to OCOL’s recommendations Tracking and analysis of the impact of selected promotional activities (including speeches, symposia and information sessions), appearances before parliamentary committees and meetings with parliamentarians

OCOL’s program activities are designed to help achieve its strategic outcome. The following sections describe the program activities and identify, for each, the expected results, performance indicators and performance measurement strategy. The sections also present the financial and human resources that will be dedicated to each program activity over the next three years; they explain how OCOL will achieve the expected results while also supporting corporate priorities; and they articulate the benefits of each program activity for Canadians.

OCOL will be implementing its new performance measurement framework over a period of three years. The framework was developed in 2008-2009. Baseline data against the performance indicators will be collected in 2009-2010 so that realistic performance targets may be set and actual measurement against performance indicators and targets will start in 2010-2011.

2.2   Program Activity 1:  Protection Through Compliance Assurance

Activity Description

Through this program activity, OCOL investigates complaints filed by citizens who believe their language rights have not been respected, evaluates compliance with the Official Languages Act by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act through performance measurements and audits, and intervenes proactively to prevent non-compliance with the Act. As well, OCOL may intervene before the courts in cases that deal with non-compliance with the Official Languages Act.    

Program Activity 1: Protection Through Compliance Assurance
Expected Results	Performance Indicators (Performance Measurement Strategy)
Canadians receive timely and appropriate responses to their complaints, requests for action and inquiries	Percentage of OCOL responses to complaints, requests for action and inquiries delivered as per service standards (Analysis of statistics on response time, once service standards are developed)
	Percentage of complaints resolved through a facilitated complaint resolution process (Analysis of statistics on the resolution vehicle used to resolve complaints)
Federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Official Languages Act are fully aware of their linguistic compliance and what they need to do to fulfill their obligations under the Act	Extent to which investigation, audit and annual report recommendations are implemented two years after their tabling (Follow-up and analysis of responses received from federal institutions and organizations to the recommendations)
	Percentage of interventions that led to improvements in the official languages practices of targeted federal institutions within two years of the intervention (Follow-up and analysis of the official languages practices in targeted federal institutions through quarterly reports to institutions, performance report cards, interventions’ correspondence)

 

Planned Resources	2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012
Financial Resources ($000)	6,617	6,617	6,617
Human Resources (FTEs)	68.0	68.0	68.0

Planning Highlights for this Program Activity

Over the next three years, and more particularly in 2009-2010, OCOL will pursue the above results and support the four corporate operational priorities (presented in Section 1.2 of this Report) through the following activities:

• Conduct and complete official languages audits that specifically address systemic compliance issues and seek to obtain commitments from institutions to resolve these issues. Among these will be an audit of training opportunities for non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces at National Defence and an audit of bilingual services at the Halifax International Airport. OCOL’s analysis of complaints and report card results for these two institutions show that more work is needed in a number of areas to address systemic issues related to language of work and service to the public, respectively. It is expected these audits will increase awareness in the institutions of the specific challenges and opportunities facing them with respect to official languages compliance.
• Negotiate and sign memoranda of understanding with certain federal institutions, beginning with those where systemic compliance issues have been identified. OCOL will pursue discussions with certain institutions to sign such agreements. The objectives are to increase cooperation between OCOL and federal institutions, promote the sharing of information, develop a system to quickly and efficiently resolve complaints should they occur and identify measures that can be taken to prevent the problems that lead to complaints.
• Use the 2009-2010 official languages report card exercise to encourage key federal departments to address systemic compliance issues such as active offer, the availability of service in the minority official language and the use of French as a language of work in the federal public service, by putting a greater emphasis on results obtained on the ground. More weight will be given to the results of OCOL’s observations on service to the public at offices designated bilingual across Canada, as well as the satisfaction survey on language of work in the federal public service, in order to raise greater awareness where further improvement is needed by federal departments.
• Include questions in the 2009-2010 official languages report card exercise that assess the commitment and leadership within federal departments to implement an official languages program. Greater analysis than in the past will be done of departmental action plans. This will allow OCOL to more specifically determine the degree of senior-level commitment to ensuring full compliance with the Official Languages Act in a federal department. 
• Table the Commissioner of Official Languages 2008-2009 Annual Report to Parliament on the activities carried out by OCOL during this period, on the status of official languages in Canada and on compliance with the Official Languages Act. The tabling of the Annual Report aims to encourage the government as a whole and various federal institutions to improve their performance in meeting their obligations under the Act. 
• Intervene more frequently with managers at all levels in key federal institutions during the complaint resolution process, to raise awareness of their official languages obligations and the language rights of Canadians. When working to resolve complaints, OCOL will be more active by discussing cases directly with managers involved as well as those responsible for the official languages program.
• Develop a strategy to encourage the government to address the shortage of bilingual judges in superior courts and federal tribunals. OCOL will pursue discussions with Justice Canada and encourage the Minister of Justice to show leadership and explore solutions in cooperation with his provincial and territorial counterparts and all key actors, including official language communities.
• Continue discussions with airport authorities subject to the Act to create links between them and official language minority communities, to improve services in both official languages at the airport and to improve the vitality of these communities. Building on its discussions with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and the Halifax International Airport Authority, OCOL will continue to raise awareness with airport authorities of the importance of creating a dialogue with communities in order to help address gaps in compliance with the Act.
• Continue to intervene before the courts, when federal institutions refuse to implement OCOL recommendations. For example, OCOL will intervene before the Federal Court in the VIA Rail case to clarify the obligations of federal institutions under section 91 of the Official Languages Act, and before the Supreme Court of Canada in the matter involving the Fédération franco-ténoise and the Government of the Northwest Territories, as well as the Government of Canada, to clarify the Government of Canada’s linguistic obligations toward Francophone residents of the Northwest Territories.

Lessons learned: Over the last few years, OCOL has observed systemic obstacles to full compliance with the Official Languages Act, and as a result began to look at how it could improve its ombudsman role to more positively effect change and create lasting results for Canadians. OCOL has since taken steps to improve its ombudsman role, putting greater emphasis on resolving complaints more efficiently and increasing work in the area of prevention. 

Benefits of this Program Activity for Canadians

The program activity of Protection Through Compliance Assurance offers Canadians a place to go when they feel their language rights have been infringed, and increases awareness within federal institutions of areas where greater efforts are required to more fully respect the letter and spirit of the Official Languages Act.

2.3   Program Activity 2:  Promotion Through Policy and Communications

Activity Description

Through this program activity, OCOL works with parliamentarians, federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Official Languages Act, official language communities and the Canadian public to promote linguistic duality. OCOL builds links between federal institutions, official language communities and the different levels of government to help them better understand the needs of official language communities, the importance of bilingualism and the value of respecting Canada’s linguistic duality. To fulfill its promotion role, OCOL conducts research, studies and public awareness activities, and intervenes with senior federal officials to instill an organizational culture that fully integrates linguistic duality. 

Program Activity 2: Promotion Through Policy and Communications
Expected Results	Performance Indicators (Performance Measurement Strategy)
Parliament receives useful advice and information about the official languages implications of evolving legislation, regulations and policies	Impact of the Commissioner’s interventions on the formulation of evolving legislation, regulations and policies through appearances before parliamentary committees and other representations with parliamentarians (Content analysis of parliamentary committee reports, transcripts and Hansards; draft versus final bills to determine whether the Commissioner’s interventions were considered; and feedback from parliamentarians and/or official languages parliamentary committees)
The public, official language minority communities, the media and those subject to the Act have access to information and tools to understand official language rights and obligations and the importance of linguistic duality in Canada	Outreach to and feedback from the public, official language minority communities, the media and those subject to the Act about the information and tools provided and/or made available by OCOL (Tracking and analysis of outreach and feedback from selected interactions with various audiences, distribution of publications, OCOL’s booths at events; review of number and range of inquiries and correspondence with the public)
Canadian public policy is influenced by research and analyses on language rights and linguistic duality issues	Key public stakeholders’ access to and consideration of OCOL research and analyses in their policy making (Tracking of feedback from key stakeholders and content analysis of a selection of study recommendations and formal letters to government officials to see how they influenced government policies)

 

Planned Resources	2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012
Financial Resources ($000)	7,159	7,159	7,159
Human Resources (FTEs)	55.0	55.0	55.0

Planning Highlights for this Program Activity

Over the next three years, and more particularly in 2009-2010, OCOL will pursue these results and support the four corporate operational priorities (presented in Section 1.2 of this Report) through the following activities:

• Continue to monitor the inclusion of official language components in the Government of Canada’s Public Service Renewal Initiative. The federal public service is at the front line of federal official language policy implementation. Canadians see the public service as the face of the federal government. As a result, the government’s commitment to Canada’s linguistic duality is often clearly and concretely reflected in the public service. As 15,000 people are expected to join the public service every year, Canada’s linguistic duality must be considered in the recruitment, training and upgrading of skills.
• Continue to work proactively with Regional Federal Councils across the country to support them as official language leaders and encourage activities that help member institutions meet their commitments under the Act. In 2009-2010, OCOL will collaborate with the Councils to promote the development of a strategic plan for official languages, with a view to raising the profile and knowledge of linguistic duality as a national value in the public service.
• Continue to monitor the implementation of the Government of Canada’s Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality announced in June 2008. This new official languages plan will allow the progress accomplished through the Action Plan for Official Languages 2003-2008 to continue. The Roadmap also contains some new components, specifically in the area of arts and culture. In his 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Commissioner had issued a recommendation to this effect. However, the Roadmap does not include a component on the public service, a matter of concern to the Commissioner.
• Continue to monitor the establishment of the new Language Rights Support Program. In exchange for the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne’s (FCFA’s) withdrawal of its court action against the government’s decision to abolish funding for the Court Challenges Program, the Government of Canada agreed to implement by December 31, 2009 a Language Rights Support Program, which will have promotion, conflict resolution and legal recourse components.     
• Capitalize on the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act to strengthen the place of official languages in Canadian society as a Canadian value and demonstrate how they are part of our past, present and future. OCOL will also make federal institutions and Canadians aware of the role they can plan in promoting linguistic duality.
• Continue to monitor the implementation of Part VII of the Act within federal institutions. The amendment of the Act in November 2005 clarified the Government’s obligations regarding Canadians’ language rights. Today, federal institutions must take positive measures to promote linguistic duality and support the development of official language communities.
• Monitor the inclusion of official languages in the work of the Organizing Committee and the Federal Secretariat of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, and the implementation of the Commissioner’s recommendations from his 2008 study to ensure a truly bilingual event. 
• Conduct a follow-up to the awareness campaign Raising Our Game: Official Languages and the Vancouver 2010 Games to determine the extent to which federal institutions targeted by the campaign have integrated linguistic duality into the development and implementation of their policies, programs and activities related to the Games. This campaign takes place in 2008-2009. In addition, OCOL will seek to develop an agreement with key federal institutions on a process for quickly resolving official language complaints that are lodged during the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
• To deepen its understanding of the relationship between cultural diversity and linguistic duality, OCOL will organize a discussion forum on the perspectives of Canadians of diverse backgrounds towards linguistic duality. This will be the third such forum organized across the country on the subject, and in 2009-2010 it will take place in Montréal. As well as building an understanding of the links between cultural diversity and linguistic duality, the forum will establish relationships with participants to continue this important dialogue.
• Conduct three research studies as follows:
  • OCOL will examine, through an action research project, the essential competencies and behaviours that senior officials must demonstrate to fully integrate linguistic duality as a core value into the federal public service. This would foster a change in organizational culture, ensuring that federal institutions fully respect their language of work obligations under the Act.
  • OCOL will undertake a third phase of its community vitality studies. The first phase was conducted in three Francophone communities in New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba, and a second study examined three Anglophone communities in Quebec. In this third study, using a participative approach, OCOL will work with three Francophone communities from Western Canada to identify indicators and outcomes in key sectors of vitality. This approach will build capacity in participating communities. As well, OCOL is now proceeding, in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage, with a community vitality study in the three northern territories. 
  • OCOL will continue its study examining the possibilities for second-language learning at Canadian universities. This study is motivated in part by the high number of graduates from immersion and other French second-language educational programs currently studying or about to study at the post-secondary level. New socio-economic realities brought on by globalization and the characteristics required by the knowledge economy, such as language skills and openness to other cultures, are also driving this study.

Lessons learned: OCOL’s participation in the Canada Pavilion during Quebéc City’s 400th anniversary festivities was a rare opportunity to work side by side with other federal institutions to raise awareness of Canada’s linguistic duality and the presence of official language communities all across the country. It was evident that people are interested in information on official language communities as long as the information is presented in an appealing and accessible manner. Therefore, as such opportunities arise, OCOL will seek to find ways to reach broader audiences in Canadian society.

Benefits of this Program Activity for Canadians

Canada’s language policies exist within a broader dialogue among legislators, the courts and citizens. OCOL’s work is part of that conversation. Through its efforts, federal institutions and the public gain a better understanding of the core value of linguistic duality and of the situation of official language communities. Those communities, in turn, benefit from this increased understanding and openness from institutions and the population.

2.4   Program Activity 3:  Internal Services

Activity Description

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources administered to support the needs of OCOL’s other program activities and corporate obligations. As a small entity, OCOL’s Internal Services include two sub-activities: governance and management support, and resource management services. Given the legislated requirement to pursue court action under the law, legal services are excluded from Internal Services at OCOL and form part of Program Activity 1 – Protection Through Compliance Assurance. Equally, given its specific mandate, OCOL’s communications services are not included in Internal Services but rather form part of Program Activity 2 – Promotion Through Policy and Communications.

Planned Resources	2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012
Financial Resources ($000)	6,159	6,159	6,159
Human Resources (FTEs)	54.5	54.5	54.5

Planning Highlights for this Program Activity

Over the next three years, and more particularly in 2009-2010, OCOL will pursue its strategic outcome through the corporate management priority (presented in Section 1.2 of this Report) by focusing on the development and implementation of management tools to allow for continuous improvement in integrated planning. 
 
More specifically, OCOL will:

• Continue the implementation of the Three-Year Strategic Human Resources Management Plan and report organizational progress on the various components and on employment equity. Furthermore, the development of apprenticeship programs and the recruitment of recent graduates are expected to enhance personnel retention. As well, the introduction of competency profiles will contribute to building capacity and expertise in the organization.
• Implement phase one of the Five-Year IM/IT Strategic Plan, which involves benchmarking OCOL’s IM/IT management practices and services to achieve sustainability in support resources. Once implemented, the Plan will address the business needs of both the Commissioner’s evolving ombudsman role as well as existing functions within OCOL by deploying an Integrated Management Information System while reinforcing the systems’ capacities.
• Continue to strengthen OCOL’s management accountability framework through better alignment of management instruments such as the Strategic Plan, Performance Measurement Strategy, Corporate Risk Profile, Integrated Operational and Human Resources Plan and IM/IT Strategic Plan. Building on the management accountability framework, OCOL will also improve its management tools to support strategic forecasting, planning and reporting.

Lessons learned: Work on developing different strategic plans for human resources and information and technology management, among others, through a complete horizontal consultation process, allowed OCOL to better position itself for the future in order to improve the management of the organization and the achievement of results.

SECTION III – SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

3.1  List of Tables

The Internal Audit Plan is located on OCOL’s Web site at http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/internalaudit_verifinterne_e.php.

3.2  Other Items of Interest

Contact Information for Headquarters and Regional Offices

For further information, visit the Office of the Commissioner’s Web site at http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca, or contact one of the following offices:

HEADQUARTERS

Canada Building
344 Slater Street
3rd Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0T8
Tel.: 613-996-6368 or 1-877-996-6368
Fax: 613-993-5082
E-mail: message@ocol-clo.gc.ca

REGIONAL OFFICES

Atlantic Region

Tel.: 506-851-7047 or 1-800-561-7109
Fax: 506-851-7046

Quebec Region

Tel.: 514-283-4996 or 1-800-363-0628
Fax: 514-283-6677

Ontario Region

Toronto
Tel.: 416-973-1903 or 1-800-387-0635
Fax: 416-973-1906

Sudbury
Tel.: 705-671-4101 or 1-888-272-3704
Fax : 705-671-3100

Manitoba and Saskatchewan Region

Winnipeg
Tel.: 204-983-2111 or 1-800-665-8731
Fax: 204-983-7801

Regina
Tel.: 306-780-7866 or 1-800-665-8731
Fax : 306-780-7896

Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut Region

Edmonton
Tel.: 780-495-3111 or 1-800-661-3642
Fax: 780-495-4094

Vancouver
Tel.: 604-666-5802 or 1-800-661-3642
Fax: 604-666-5803