Program profile
2.1 Program Overview
The Initiative is comprised of the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund (hereafter the Support Fund), and a related policy function. The Support Fund was created in 2003 in response to the Government of Canada Action Plan for Official Languages. The action plan and its successors have included several initiatives aimed at enhancing the vitality of OLMCs, as well as fostering linguistic duality in Canada. The Support Fund is part of the current Action Plan for Official Languages - 2018-2023: Investing in Our Future.
The main purpose of the Initiative is to provide Canadians from OLMCs with access to legal information regarding their rights and responsibilities in the official language of their choice, and with access to a justice system that meets their needs in that language. To this end, the Initiative includes two main pillars:
- The information pillar, established in 2003, supports activities that specifically aim to offer legal information to help members of the OLMCs learn about their rights, obligations and responsibilities in the official language of their choice.
- The training pillar, established in 2008, involves training and development of bilingual justice professionals in order to improve their language skills, thereby increasing their ability to offer services in French outside Quebec and in English in Quebec, as part of their work within the justice system.
In addition, the Initiative provides support to the Advisory Committee on Access to Justice in Both Official Languages (Advisory Committee). The committee’s mandate is to promote consultation, information exchange and the creation of partnerships between the Department, the legal representatives in OLMCs and the spokespersons for these communities on issues affecting access to justice in a minority language setting. The Initiative also supports the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Access to Justice in Both Official Languages (FPT Working Group), which includes representatives from Justice, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, and representatives from provincial and territorial governments.
Furthermore, since 2018, the Initiative reintroduced operational and core funding to strengthen the internal capacity and financial stability of eligible organizations working in the field of access to justice in both official languages. This operational and core funding is expected to further enhance the capacity of the justice system and its stakeholders to offer justice services in both official languages. It is also expected to increase awareness in the legal community and official language minority and majority communities concerning their rights and issues related to access to justice in both official languages. See Appendix A for the Initiative’s logic model.
2.2 Governance Structure
The activities related to the Initiative are managed by the following two groups:
- The Official Languages Directorate, under the Public Law and Legislative Services Sector, is responsible for policy development and for the coordination of all activities under the Initiative. The Directorate oversees the work of the Advisory Committee and of the FPT Working Group, supports the development of the Initiative’s strategic directions, and reports on all Initiative activities.
- The Innovations, Analysis and Integration Directorate, under the Programs Branch, is responsible for managing all funding agreements concluded in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Initiative. This group manages the submission, allocation and reporting process in connection with these agreements.
A selection committee, comprised of members of both groups, is responsible for reviewing funding applications in order to determine eligibility and to make recommendations for funding.
2.3 Resources
During the period covered by the evaluation, Justice allocated approximately $39.3 million in the Initiative. This includes the new funding included in the Action Plan to provide core funding for community organizations and to enhance the financial support available through the Support Fund. As this new funding is linked to the Action Plan, it started in 2018-19.
| Categories | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018-19 | FY 2019-20 | FY 2020-211 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operational costs2 |
$1.5 |
$1.5 |
$1.5 |
$1.5 |
$5.8 |
Funding Agreements3 |
$6.5 |
$8.5 |
$9.2 |
$9.2 |
$33.5 |
Total |
$8.0 |
$10.0 |
$10.7 |
$10.7 |
$39.3 |
- Financial Resources Allocated in 2020-21 exclude $0.4M received through Supplementary Estimates C under the initiative Funding to implement new family support enforcement provisions and increase access to family justice services in the official language of one's choice as it is out of the Evaluation Scope as per section 1.2.
- Operational costs include internal costs related to salaries and benefits, operations and maintenance, and other internal activities related to the Initiative.
- Funding is allocated based on agreements signed with funding recipients.
Source: Public Accounts of Canada - Total may differ slightly due to rounding.
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