ARCHIVED - Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

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.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page