The Government of Canada is committed to defending and promoting our two official languages as an important symbol of our diverse and inclusive society. The government is determined to present a clear and ambitious vision for official languages that demonstrates its commitment to ensuring the vitality of official-language minority communities and working with various key partners.
Today, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, unveiled the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection - Promotion - Collaboration. It is a five-year plan to reverse the decline of French and promote the vitality of our official-language minority communities.
The Action Plan includes investments totalling more than $4.1 billion over the next five years, the largest amount ever provided by a government in the area of official languages. This unprecedented figure reflects the Government of Canada's firm commitment to bilingualism and the protection of our two official languages.
The investments specified in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection - Promotion - Collaboration are based on the following themes:
· Accelerate the restoration of the demographic weight of Francophones through Francophone immigration
· Promote lifelong learning opportunities for our two official languages
· Support the vitality of official-language minority communities
· Build on positive government action to support communities
The more than 30 measures that arise from this range from support for scientific production in French, to the vitality of official-language minority communities through key sectors (including health, justice and early childhood education), to French-language learning for newcomers, to Francophone cultural production.
The Action Plan, inspired by the document English and French: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada and the cross-Canada consultations on official languages, is in effect from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2028. The Government of Canada will work with provincial and territorial governments and stakeholders to implement the Action Plan.
