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Canada's Linguistic Duality
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British North America Act
The British North America Act was imlemented on July 1st 1867 and provided bilingual status for the federal government thus allowing debates, services, proceedings, journals etc. in both official languages. -
Common Schools Act - New Brunswick
The Common Schools Act was implemented in New Brunswick in 1871 and its purpose was to abolish church-run schooling to any piblicily funded schools. This act was amended in1875 to exempt members of religous order from new teachers' certificates and permitting religious teaching after school hours. -
Manitoba Official Language Act
The Manitoba Official Language Act implemented on March 31st 1890 making English the only language for all laws, verbal processions and registries concerning the government. -
Alberta chooses the English language
The province of Alberta chooses to adopt the English language as well as the English customs provincially. -
Lavergne Law
The Lavergne Law was implemented in 1910 which required public utilities to provide bilingual signs and communications to citizens. -
Regulation 17 - Banning of French language instruction
In 1912, regulation 17 was implemented, which forbids the use of French as a language of instruction after the first year of school, and bans the teaching of French after the fourth year of school. -
Regulation 17 Repealed
Mounting protests forced the government to moderate regulation 17 and in 1927 bilingual schools were officially recognized. -
Catholic Church Decline
In the 1950's there was a decline inb the Catholic Church which began to impact on the French-speaking communities given they were huge supporters of the French culture. -
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was implemented on July 19th 1963 with the purpose to inquire and to report about the state of biligualism and biculturalism in Canada and to make recommendations. -
Private Members Bill - Bilingual Company Names
Jean Chrétien initiated a private member's bill, giving Canada's state-owned airline, Trans-Canada Air Lines, the new bilingual name "Air Canada," starting a trend of giving bilingual names to federal institutions which formerly had borne English-only names. The name change came into effect on January 1st 1965. -
Equal Authenticity Rule
In 1968 the Authenticity Rule was established where statutes of Canada are printed with the English and the French versions side by side and no longer in seperate volumes. -
Ontario Bill 140 & 141
The province of Ontario passes bill 140 & 141 in July 1968 guaranteeing the right to Franco-Ontarians to publicly funded French-language secondary schools. -
The Official Languages Act
Canadian Law that came into effect on September 9th 1969 which officially made the French and the English languages Canada's official languages. This was enacted by the Trudeau government. -
Creation of the Official Languages in Education Programs.
The Commissioner of Official Languages whose mission is "to take all measures to achieve the three main objectives of the Official Languages Act" is established. -
Resolution on Official Languages in the Public Service
The Resolution on Official Languages in the Public Service was implemented in 1973 which permitted civil servants to work in the language of their choice. -
Amendement to the Criminal Code
The Criminal Code of Canada was amended in 1978 which gave the right to all citizens tried under the code the right to a hearing and a jury in their prefered language. -
Official Languages Act Amended
In 1988 the new Official Languages Act is adopted by Parliament. It repeats and qualifies the obligations under the 1982 Charter regarding the use of the two official languages in the provision of government services and throughout government institutions. -
Action Plan for Official Languages
In 2003 the Liberal government under Jean Chrétien tables its Action Plan for Official Languages. The Action Plan includes a statement of intention to raise the ratio of bilingual young Canadians (aged 15–19) through increased inter-departmental co-ordination, and new investments in education, community development and the public service. -
Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality
In 2008 the Conservative government under Stephen Harper tables its Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, a five-year plan to spend $1.1 billion to promote the two official languages.
