Official Languages Act

Marginal note:Purpose

2 The purpose of this Act is to

• (a) ensure respect for English and French as the official languages of Canada and ensure equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions, in particular with respect to their use in parliamentary proceedings, in legislative and other instruments, in the administration of justice, in communicating with or providing services to the public and in carrying out the work of federal institutions;

• (b) support the development of English and French linguistic minority communities in order to protect them while taking into account the fact that they have different needs;

• (b.1) advance the equality of status and use of the English and French languages within Canadian society, taking into account the fact that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English and that there is a diversity of provincial and territorial language regimes that contribute to the advancement, including Quebec’s Charter of the French language, which provides that French is the official language of Quebec;

• (b.2) advance the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured; and

• (c) set out the powers, duties and functions of federal institutions with respect to the official languages of Canada.