Official Languages Act — O-3.01 41
Commitment — enhancing vitality of communities and fostering English and French 41 (1) The Government of Canada is committed to (a) enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada and supporting and assisting their development, taking into account their uniqueness, diversity and historical and cultural contributions to Canadian society; and (b) fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society. Commitment — protection and promotion of French (2) The Government of Canada, recognizing and taking into account that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English, is committed to protecting and promoting the French language. Commitment — learning in minority language (3) The Government of Canada is committed to advancing formal, non-formal and informal opportunities for members of English and French linguistic minority communities to pursue quality learning in their own language throughout their lives, including from early childhood to post-secondary education. Commitment — section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (4) The Government of Canada shall estimate periodically, using the necessary tools, the number of children whose parents have, under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , the right to have their children receive their instruction in the language of the English or French linguistic minority population of a province or territory, including the right to have them receive that instruction in minority language educational facilities. Duty of federal institutions — positive measures (5) Every federal institution has the duty to ensure that the commitments under subsections (1) to (3) are implemented by the taking of positive measures. Positive measures (6) Positive measures taken under subsection (5) (a) shall be concrete and taken with the intention of having a beneficial effect on the implementation of the commitments under subsections (1) to (3); (b) shall respect (i) the necessity of protecting and promoting the French language in each province and territory, taking into account that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English, and (ii) the necessity of considering the specific needs of each of the two official language communities of Canada, taking into account the equal importance of the two communities; and (c) may include measures, among others, to (i) promote and support the learning of English and French in Canada, (ii) foster an acceptance and appreciation of both English and French by members of the public, (iii) induce and assist organizations and institutions to project and promote the bilingual character of Canada in their activities in Canada or elsewhere, (iii.1) restore and increase the demographic weight of French linguistic minority communities, (iv) support the creation and dissemination of information in French that contributes to the advancement of scientific knowledge in any discipline, and (v) support sectors that are essential to enhancing the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities, including the culture, education — from early childhood to post-secondary education — health, justice, employment and immigration sectors, and protect and promote the presence of strong institutions serving those communities. Potential to take positive measures and negative impacts (7) In carrying out its mandate, every federal institution shall, on the basis of analyses, (a) consider whether positive measures could potentially be taken under subsection (5); (a.1) subject to the regulations, take the necessary measures to promote, when negotiating agreements with the provincial and territorial governments, including funding agreements, that may contribute to the implementation of the commitments under subsections (1) to (3), the inclusion in those agreements of provisions estab