Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future

The starting point

Both official languages, English and French, represent a great cultural wealth for Canada. As a founding and fundamental characteristic of Canadian identity and culture, linguistic duality is at the heart of the values that have forged Canada, making it a strong and united country that is open to the world. This duality rests on the synergy of two large communities, and is well expressed, notably, in the vitality of the many officiallanguage minority communities throughout the country. This duality is also shaped by multitudes of Canadians who use their knowledge and appreciation of both English and French to build bridges between the country's linguistic communities.

Over the past few years, Canada has seen gradual but definite progress in this area: Canadians have gained more access to services in both official languages, particularly in the areas of justice and health services; a host of other actions from federal institutions have been complemented by the efforts of the provinces and territories. The Government of Canada believes in the importance of building on these successes and the partnerships that drive them. So, over the past year, the Government made a concerted effort to gather the ideas and perspectives of all stakeholders, including Canadians from both official-language communities, to chart the road ahead for official languages in Canada – one that would consolidate current actions and present a coordinated approach for the future. This effort became the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future.

This Roadmap marks a new start, and invites all Canadians to participate. It aims at allowing Canadians, whatever their official language of choice, to participate fully in Canadian society and to take advantage of linguistic duality today and for the future. As an unprecedented $1.1 billion investment, the Roadmap enhances and expands action across the Government of Canada to increase the benefits of linguistic duality and extend them to all Canadians. It presents new, targeted measures that will have a ripple effect, promoting an approach that contributes to a better understanding among English- and French-speaking Canadians, and to their mutual enrichment.

In planning the Roadmap, the Government has taken into account, among other things, the environment and the viewpoints expressed by Canadians and key partners. These factors acted as the "signposts" outlined in the next section.

Five areas for action emerged from consultations and conditions:

• emphasizing the value of linguistic duality among all Canadians;
• building the future by investing in youth;
• improving access to services for official-language minority communities;
• capitalizing on economic benefits; and
• ensuring efficient governance to better serve Canadians.

These five areas are the heart of the Roadmap; the Government's planned actions in these areas and their benefits for Canadians are detailed in the "Charting the course for the next five years: Acting for the Future" section.

The Government of Canada exercises its leadership and collaborates closely with its key partners, notably the provinces and territories, to help promote the vitality of official-language minority communities, and to offer every Canadian the benefits of linguistic duality. It supports the development of Francophone communities outside Quebec and of Anglophone communities within Quebec, by promoting access to education, services and a social environment in the minority language. The Government is working to encourage and strengthen the learning of both official languages, and to promote them throughout Canada and on the world stage. The Government also aims to create conditions that favour a dialogue between the country's two official-language communities, which include all Canadians.

To better serve Canadians, the Government has been working to give itself the necessary tools to respect both the spirit and the letter of the Official Languages Act. It ensures that services are provided in both English and French and that English- and Frenchspeaking Canadians can work within federal institutions in the language of their choice, in the National Capital Region and in other regions designated as bilingual in terms of their language of work.

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