CANADA UNVEILS FUNDING TO PROMOTE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

OTTAWA | March 29, 2018

The federal government unveiled its action plan on official languages Wednesday, funded with an extra $500 million over five years that will go toward a host of services for minority-language communities across the country.

About two-thirds of the new money is dedicated to organizations that promote either French or English in cities and towns where the language is in the minority. The cash is in addition to the $2.2 billion over five years that had already been earmarked for these community groups.

The plan includes $40.8 million over five years to help increase francophone immigration outside Quebec by 4.4 per cent by 2023, as well as $20 million over the same period for French-language daycare spaces in English Canada.

Most of the funding will go directly to organizations instead of provincial and federal governments

There will also be funding to help the City of Ottawa become officially bilingual.

A bill to formalize such status for the Canadian capital was passed by the Ontario legislature in December.