On June 20, 2023, Bill C-13, which makes several changes to strengthen, protect and promote the French language, received royal assent. While its first part amends the Official Languages Act, its second part enacts the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (the Act). The provisions of the Act will come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.1
Since our last Update on the new rights and obligations that the Act provides respecting the use of French with consumers and employees of federally regulated private businesses (federal undertakings) operating in Québec, the Standing Committee on Official Languages studied Bill C-13 and proposed certain amendments, which were subsequently adopted by Parliament. This Update focuses on these amendments, many of which were made so that the employment obligations under the Act mirror those of the Québec Charter of the French language, as recently amended.
Of note, the Act allows federal undertakings to choose to be governed, in respect of their Québec operations, solely by the Québec Charter of the French language. Given that the Act has been harmonized with the Québec statute in many respects, the practical consequence of such an election is whether the federal undertaking accepts to submit itself to a francization program overseen by the Office québécois de la langue française or not. The Government of Québec takes the position that federal undertakings have the obligation to do so in...
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