Rescinded [2012-11-19] - Directive on the Linguistic Identification of Positions or Functions

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.

Language of work

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.

Establishing language requirements

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.