Program directory · Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Protection of Official Languages Rights
- Program code
- BGH01 (OCOL)
- Core responsibility
- Protection of rights related to official Languages
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Take the appropriate steps, including complaints processing, audits and interventions, to ensure compliance with the Official Languages Act and language rights in Canada.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protection of Official Languages Rights | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $55.8M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Indicators added: Percentage of complaints and inquiries processed within the timelines set out by the service standards.; Remedies involving the Commissioner that had a positive impact on the interpretation or the application of the Official Languages Act or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.; The Commissioner’s recommendations made in response to deficiencies identified through audit and investigation reports that have been implemented. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2019-20 | Indicators dropped: Recommendations made through audits and investigations reports that were fully or partially implemented. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024 | Budget 2024 measure “Protecting Official Language Rights”: $35M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2024, PDF page 274 |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 70% | 2020 | 46% The continued increase in complaints in recent years, efforts made to reduce the number of outstanding files, and the personnel turnover rate contributed to the non-achievement of this standard. Despite these factors, the Investigations Directorate still successfully completed 9% more investigations in 2019–2020 compared to the previous year. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 70% | 2021 | 50% The continuous increase in the number of complaints and requests over the last few years, as well as efforts to reduce the number of non-standard cases and staff turnover, have contributed to the failure to meet this standard. Despite these factors, the Investigations Directorate still improved its result compared to previous years. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 70% | 2022 | 73% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 70% | 2023 | 84% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 70% | 2024 | 33% This year, OCOL prioritized processing outstanding complaints that were outside of service standards. OCOL successfully closed a large number of these complaints, so as a result the majority of files closed this fiscal year were outside of service standards. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 70% | 2025 | 78.8% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 60% | 2020 | 65% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 60% | 2021 | 71% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 60% | 2022 | 81% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 60% | 2023 | 90% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 60% | 2024 | 92% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 60% | 2025 | 100% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 60% | 2020 | 72% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 60% | 2021 | 81% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 60% | 2022 | 57% Federal institutions are responsible for implementing the recommendations. In 2021–2022, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages noted a significant drop in the measures taken by a number of uncooperative institutions to implement the Commissioner of Official Languages’ recommendations. The Commissioner of Official Languages is continuing to monitor the situation | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 60% | 2023 | 69% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 60% | 2024 | 66% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 60% | 2025 | 67% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 60% | 2019 | 80% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 70% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 60% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 60% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $7.4M | $7.9M |
| 2019-20 | $7.6M | $7.4M |
| 2020-21 | $7.5M | $7.7M |
| 2021-22 | $7.8M | $7.8M |
| 2022-23 | $7.8M | $7.5M |
| 2023-24 | $7.9M | $8.6M |
| 2024-25 | $8.9M | $8.8M |
| 2025-26 | $9.1M | — |
| 2026-27 | $9.2M | — |
| 2027-28 | $9.2M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $9.2M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 65 | 70 |
| 2019-20 | 65 | 66 |
| 2020-21 | 65 | 67 |
| 2021-22 | 64 | 67 |
| 2022-23 | 64 | 63 |
| 2023-24 | 64 | 69 |
| 2024-25 | 68 | 67 |
| 2025-26 | 68 | — |
| 2026-27 | 73 | — |
| 2027-28 | 73* | — |
| 2028-29 | 73* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $7,448,906 | $7,448,906 | $7,448,906 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $7,588,107 | $7,491,164 | $7,491,164 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $7,531,284 | $7,528,394 | $7,512,188 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $7,772,181 | $7,755,975 | $7,801,725 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $7,773,258 | $7,819,007 | $7,819,007 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $7,899,692 | $7,899,692 | $7,899,692 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $8,873,979 | $8,548,331 | $8,558,425 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $9,078,391 | $9,088,919 | $9,088,919 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $9,191,532 | $9,191,532 | $9,193,657 | ||||||||
| Actual | $7,935,758 | $7,427,123 | $7,657,634 | $7,821,975 | $7,510,619 | $8,582,140 | $8,844,674 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
