On April 11, 2025, Ombudsperson Marc-André Dowd sent a letter to the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge. In the letter, he comments on the proposed amendments to two draft regulations on the use of French by the civil administration.
Currently, ministries and public bodies must always communicate with the public in French. However, this rule does not apply under certain circumstances. This is the case, for example, when the exclusive use of French prevents public services from properly carry out their mandates. This is known as the “mission exception.”
The draft regulations under consideration provide for this exception to be replaced by more specific ones as of December 1, 2025. However, not all special circumstances which, according to Mr. Dowd, should allow the civil administration to use a language other than French are on the new list of exceptions. Some people are therefore at risk of being deprived of information and support to which they are entitled simply because they do not speak French.
The Protecteur du citoyen has made two recommendations to ensure that no citizens find themselves in this situation.
Mr. Dowd also welcomes the addition of an exception that allows people to be contacted in a language other than French to enrol them in language learning courses. However, he insists that this flexibility should extend to the entire enrolment process.
Related to the above:
