Appendix B: Complaints – Summary analysis and table
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From April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages received 785 complaints related to implementation of the Official Languages Act. Of those complaints, 606 (77%) were considered admissible because, in the Office of the Commissioner’s opinion, they related to an obligation set out in the Act, involved an institution subject to the Act and concerned a specific incident.
These complaints involved 74 federal institutions, particularly institutions that, because of their mandate, have frequent contact with the general public. The majority of these complaints (90%) were made by Francophones. More than half of the alleged infractions occurred in the National Capital Region or the Atlantic provinces. Table 1 presents the data by province and territory.
Of the 606 admissible complaints recorded this year, 63% involved language of service; 18%, language of work; 5%, the advancement of English and French; 12%, the language requirements of positions in the federal public service; and 1%, equitable participation.
| Table 1 - Number of admissible complaints in 2008–2009, by province or territory and by category | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province or Territory | Admissible Complaints | Service to the Public | Language of Work | Equitable Participation | Advancement of English and French | Language Requirements | Other |
| National Capital Region (Ontario) | 163 | 96 | 43 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| Ontario | 105 | 72 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Quebec | 66 | 41 | 19 | 2 | – | 3 | 1 |
| Nova Scotia | 42 | 17 | 3 | – | – | 22 | – |
| Manitoba | 19 | 14 | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – |
| New Brunswick | 49 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 16 | – |
| National Capital Region (Quebec) | 67 | 36 | 10 | – | 13 | 8 | – |
| Alberta | 28 | 26 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| British colombia | 22 | 19 | – | – | 1 | 2 | – |
| Prince Edward Island | 17 | 14 | – | – | – | 3 | – |
| Saskatchewan | 6 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 7 | 6 | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| Northwest Territories | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| Yukon | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nunavut | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Outside Canada | 11 | 11 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 606 | 382 | 107 | 11 | 29 | 71 | 6 |
