Canada-wide Analysis of Official Language Training Needs in the Area of Justice
Technical Report: Analysis of Socio-Professional Data

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1.0 Introduction

1.1 Context of the study

Adequate training of the justice system's main stakeholders is necessary for access to justice in both official languages. This statement can be found in the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality, submitted by the federal government in June 2008, which provides for investments in the order of $20 million for the 2008 to 2013 period, including a specific component for training in the area of justice. This study will help identify and define the needs in that area. It is held in a context that, to a certain extent, encourages the provision of justice services in both official languages, although this often comes with many practical challenges that could end up limiting access.

This access benefits from certain legislative resources that have increased in scope over the years. Language rights are generally associated with the jurisdictions of the two levels of government, making them responsible for determining how the services under their jurisdiction will be accessible in the two official languages. Through constitutional, quasi-constitutional, legislative and administrative provisions, the federal government and the provincial and territorial governments have given Canadians increased access to justice services in both official languages, particularly in the past three decades.¹

The logic of the distribution of powers, combined with the particularly active role of the federal government in the area of official languages, gives certain areas of law stronger language protections. This means that all Canadians have the right to access criminal law justice services in both official languages, whereas in other areas such as penal law (other than criminal) and family law, access to services in both official languages varies considerably from one province or territory to another.

Among the challenges the courts and other stakeholders such as law firms and legal aid services must meet are:

• Difficulty anticipating the demand for services in the minority language.
• Difficulty implementing the active offer of services in both official languages.
• The level of proficiency required in both official languages.
• The ability to recruit and retain bilingual employees.

1.2 Training component of the Roadmap

In the area of justice, the Roadmap supports three initiatives, one of which concerns access to justice in both official languages. The federal government plans to invest $41 million over five years to encourage access to justice in both official languages:

• About $21 million will be invested in the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund, which aims to strengthen the ability of stakeholders in the area of justice to offer services in both official languages and to raise awareness in official languages communities about exercising their language rights.
• As mentioned in the introduction, about $20 million will be invested to train bilingual stakeholders in the area of justice. To this end, four areas of focus for the study were identified:
  • Training and development for bilingual legal auxiliaries already working in the justice system.
  • Development of a program of studies for bilingual students who want a career in the justice system.
  • A recruiting strategy and promotion of careers in the area of justice.
  • Development of training support tools.

Because investing in training is a new component in the federal strategy on access to justice in both official languages, the Department of Justice plans to proceed gradually with the implementation of this component. The Department anticipates the following activities:

• Determine the training needs and priorities, which is the purpose of this study.
• Add colleges and universities to its list of partners.
• Develop new tools to support the needs and priorities that will be determined.
• Create a coordination and monitoring mechanism for the training activities initiated.

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1. For an overview of the constitutional and legislative provisions regarding access to justice in both official languages, see: Department of Justice Canada (2003). Environmental Scan: Access to Justice in Both Official Languages and Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (2005). Language Rights: 2003-2004.

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