Review on Official Languages 2015-2016

Monitoring of Official Languages

6. Measures are regularly taken to ensure that employees are well aware of the federal government’s obligations related to Parts IV, V, VI and VII (section 41) of the OLA.

Yes

7. Activities are conducted throughout the year to measure the availability and quality of the services offered in both official languages (Part IV).

No

8. Activities are carried out to periodically measure whether employees (in regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes) can use their official language of choice in the workplace (Part V). 

No

9. Mechanisms are in place to ensure that the institution remains systematically informed of official-language minority communities’ priorities (Part VII).

Yes

10. Deputy heads are informed of the results of monitoring activities.

Yes

11. Mechanisms are in place to determine and document the impact of the institution’s decisions on the implementation of Parts IV, V, VI and VII (section 41) of the OLA (such as adopting or revising a policy, creating or abolishing a program, or establishing or closing a service location).

Yes

12. Audit or evaluation activities are undertaken, either by the internal audit unit or by other units, to evaluate to what extent official languages requirements are being implemented.

No

13. When the institution’s monitoring activities or mechanisms reveal shortcomings or deficiencies steps are taken and documented to quickly improve or rectify the situation.

Yes

Clarifications

Parts IV and V

Although the department did not conduct any audits or monitoring activities in 2015-2016 to specifically measure its compliance with Parts IV, V and VI of the OLA, it should be noted that the Corporate Official Languages Unit conducted a review of departmental positions to identify those affected by the requirements set out in the new departmental Directive on Language Requirements of Positions and Staffing of Bilingual Positions.

This Directive was developed to ensure that the language requirements of all positions are established in a consistent and objective manner, and that positions are staffed in compliance with the OLA and PSEA, thus enabling the organization to fulfill its official language obligations to the public and to its employees. Management has been informed of the results of the review and an implementation plan will be issued to ensure full compliance with the new Directive.

With regard to Part V, the department relied on the results of the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) 2014, which measured whether employees feel free to use their official language of choice in the workplace (Part V). The PSES results were analysed and shared with management and employees. A departmental action plan was developed to address shortcomings identified by the survey, including those pertaining to the language of work rights of employees.