The governments of Canada and Manitoba have signed a new five-year bilateral agreement on French-language services, Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Minister Randy Boissonnault and Manitoba Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Minister Glen Simard, minister responsible for francophone affairs, announced Monday (Aug 12). Under the new agreement, the annual federal contribution under the agreement is increasing by $576,704, bringing it to a total of $1,976,704.
“Access to French-language services in Manitoba and across Canada is vital to our country’s strong bilingual status,” said Boissonnault. “The work we are doing to improve French-language services is essential to community vitality. Today’s funding agreement upholds linguistic rights and helps foster inclusive communities across Manitoba.”
The new agreement runs from April 2023 to March 2028 and sees the federal government match provincial investments in a broad range of program areas and sectors that are priorities for Manitoba’s francophone communities. The agreement includes a new strategic work plan that sets out the various actions and initiatives the province is putting in place to build the bilingual capacity of the public service and enhance services in French.
“We’re taking action to make sure French-speaking Manitobans are able to access important government services in French,” said Simard. “The previous government shirked its responsibilities when it comes to ensuring our francophone communities receive these services. We’re different. We worked with the federal to ensure the resources and plans are in place to improve French-language services and we’re making significant changes to how we use these investments to better align with our commitment to make Manitoba a truly bilingual province.”
Areas being targeted for new and enhanced services include immigration, justice, health care, sport, recreation and wellness, social services, early childhood education, tourism, municipal services and public communications. The strategic plan also contains a number of initiatives aimed at supporting the recruitment and retention of bilingual employees in the public service, as well as new language training and professional development opportunities, noted Simard.
