April 1, 2004
The language requirements of positions or functions are determined objectively. They reflect the duties of
employees or their work units as well as obligations with respect to service to the public and language of work. Owing
to their supervisory and leadership role in institutions, positions or functions at the assistant deputy minister
level and other assistant
deputy head titles across Canada and those of members of the Executive Group in regions
designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes are identified as bilingual at the "CBC"
level.
This directive applies to all institutions subject to Schedules I and IV of the Financial
Administration Act.
Institutions subject to the Official Languages Act
(OLA), except for the Senate, the House of Commons, the Library of Parliament, the Office of the Senate Ethics
Officer and the Office of the Ethics Commissioner,must refer to the Policy
on Official Languages for Human Resources Management.
Deputy heads are accountable for implementing this directive in their institutions.
Determining official languages obligations
Institutions determine the official languages obligations applicable to their operations and establish the
linguistic identification of positions or functions accordingly.
Service to the public
Institutions ensure that, where required under Part
IV of the OLA and the Official Languages
(Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations, they have the capacity to communicate with and
provide services to members of the public, both orally and in writing, in the official language of their choice.
In regions designated as bilingual for
language-of-work purposes, institutions ensure that:
- employees occupying bilingual or either/or positions are
supervised in their preferred official language. All other employees are supervised in the official language of their
position;
- employees receive personal and central services
in their preferred official language.
Institutions also ensure that everywhere in Canada and regardless of the language requirements of their position,
employees may file grievances in their preferred official language.
Unilingual regions and use of the other official language in other functions
In exceptional cases, positions may be identified as bilingual for liaison functions that require the use of both
official languages between two unilingual regions of different official languages.
Once the official languages obligations are determined, institutions objectively establish the language
requirements of positions or functions to meet these obligations :
- bilingual, when the functions must be carried out in English and
in French;
- English essential, when the functions must be carried out in
English;
- French essential, when the functions must be carried out in
French;
- Either/or, when the functions may be carried out in English or
in French, in accordance with the employee's choice.
In any activity that affects human resources, including staffing actions, reorganizations or reclassifications,
managers review the language requirements of the positions or functions in question. If, as a result of this process,
the language requirements or the linguistic profile of the position are modified, the incumbent must be informed in
writing within ten working days following the modification. Obligations relating to incumbents are set out in the Directive
on the Staffing of Bilingual Positions.
Determining the linguistic profile of a position
When the language requirements of a position or function are identified as bilingual, the manager determines the
linguistic profile required. The linguistic profile reflects the tasks to be carried out and respects the principle of
equal status of the two official languages when carrying out the functions. Only in
exceptional circumstances do the tasks in one language differ from those in the other; linguistic profiles of
bilingual positions are therefore normally the same in both languages.
For information on how to determine the linguistic profile of a bilingual position in both official languages,
refer to the Qualification Standards in
Relation to Official Languages.
Specific requirements
To ensure services of quality in both official languages, the language proficiency levels of positions or functions
involving service to the public or to employees, as well as supervision of employees, are identified at the
"BBB" level or higher.
To ensure that the work environment is conducive to the effective use of both official languages:
- positions or functions at the assistant deputy minister level
and other assistant deputy
head titles anywhere in Canada are identified at the "CBC" proficiency level because of the nature
of their duties;
- the proficiency levels of executive positions or functions in
regions designated as bilingual for language‑of‑work purposes are set at least at "CBC" if the
positions or functions include at least one of the following activities:
- supervision of employees occupying bilingual positions or
positions with differing language requirements;
- participation as a regular member in the institution's management
team;
- a significant role in exercising the institution's authority to
direct, or to provide services to, other federal institutions;
- significant functions related to representing the institution to
the public or employees of the institution;
- a significant role in the co-ordination of programs or activities
of employees in regions designated as bilingual for language‑of‑work purposes.
The Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (PSHRMAC) is responsible for determining the
method for assessing performance and monitoring implementation of this directive in institutions.
Each institution is responsible for keeping its records and information systems up to date and assessing results
in order to report on them to PSHRMAC on request. At a minimum, the institution uses the following indicators to
assess its situation:
- for all staffing actions undertaken in the past year, number of positions or functions identified as
- bilingual
- English essential
- French essential
- either/or;
- language requirements and linguistic profile for positions identified as bilingual for
- service to the public
- personal and central services
- supervision;
- rationale for the language requirements of the positions or functions.
When assessment of the results reveals that the directive has not been respected, the institution reports the
situation to PSHRMAC and takes appropriate corrective action.
For further information, please contact the person
responsible for official languages in your institution.
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