Languages Policy | The Canadian Encyclopedia
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Languages Policy

This timeline includes events and debates related languages policy in Canada.

Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

  1. March 08, 1867 ce - March 08, 1867 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    British North America Act

    The British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament and given royal assent by Queen Victoria on 29 March. It came into effect on 1 July. The Act joined the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in one federal union. In 1949, Newfoundland becomes Canada’s newest province. In 1999, Nunavut becomes Canada’s newest territory. Its creation establishes self-governance for the region’s Inuit population.

  2. May 17, 1871 ce - May 17, 1871 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    New Brunswick Schools

    The New Brunswick government passed the Common Schools Act to strengthen and reform the school system. At the same time, it abandoned an informal system of separate schools that had grown up since the 1850s.

  3. March 31, 1890 ce - March 31, 1890 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Manitoba School Act

    The Manitoba School Act abolished publicly funded support for separate schools for Catholics. The aggrieved French minority argued that the Act violated the agreements under which Manitoba entered Confederation.

  4. August 17, 1912 ce - August 17, 1912 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Circular No. 17

    The Ontario Department of Instruction issued Circular No. 17, which banned the use of French in Ontario schools past Grade 1.

  5. March 06, 1934 ce - March 06, 1934 ce

    Activists and Legislators 

    Birth of Keith Spicer

    Keith Spicer, first commissioner of official languages and later chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, was born at Toronto.

  6. July 12, 1960 ce - July 12, 1960 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Louis J. Robichaud becomes premier of NB

    Elected leader of the NB Liberal Party in 1958, Louis Joseph Robichaud led it to victory over Hugh J. Flemming in 1960, served as attorney general between 1960 and 1965, and as minister of youth in 1968. The first Acadian elected premier of NB, he introduced far-reaching social reforms through the centralizing Programme of Equal Opportunity. His government passed an Official Languages Act, established Université de Moncton, increased Acadian administrative influence, and encouraged the mining and forestry industries.

  7. July 22, 1963 ce - July 22, 1963 ce

    Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

    Canada Languages Policy 

    B&B Commission Formed

    The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was announced, to be chaired by André Laurendeau and Arnold Davidson Dunton.

  8. February 25, 1965 ce - February 25, 1965 ce

    Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

    Canada Languages Policy 

    Preliminary B&B Report

    The preliminary report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was tabled in the House of Commons.

  9. December 05, 1967 ce - December 05, 1967 ce

    Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

    Canada Languages Policy 

    B&B Report Released

    The first volume of the report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was released.

  10. December 09, 1968 ce - December 09, 1968 ce

    Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

    Canada Languages Policy 

    Second B&B Report Released

    The second report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism recommended that all children in Canadian schools be required to study the second official language.

  11. July 09, 1969 ce - July 09, 1969 ce

    Canada Languages Policy  Canada Official Languages 

    Official Languages Act (1969)

    The Official Languages Act was given assent, to come into effect on September 7. It declared English and French the official languages of the federal administration. Federal government services — including all services related to federal elections — must now be available in both French and English. (See Official Languages Act, 1969.)

  12. October 23, 1969 ce - October 23, 1969 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Bill 63 (Québec)

    Jean Jacques Bertrand's government introduces Bill 63, a controversial language bill that allowed parents the freedom to choose their children's language of instruction.

  13. March 02, 1970 ce - March 02, 1970 ce

    Activists and Legislators 

    Spicer Appointed Commissioner

    Keith Spicer was appointed first Commissioner of Official Languages.

  14. March 20, 1970 ce - March 20, 1970 ce

    Canada Official Languages 

    Francophonie Established

    Canada signed an agreement with 19 other countries to establish the Francophone International Cooperation Society, for cultural and technological exchange among French-speaking nations.

  15. October 01, 1971 ce - October 01, 1971 ce

    Canada Languages Policy 

    Trudeau Introduces Canada's Multicultural Policy

    Canada's multiculturalism policy grew partly in reaction to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which endorsed a "bicultural Canada," barely recognizing "other ethnic groups." This dilemma was partially resolved in 1971 by Prime Minister Trudeau's assertion that Canada was a "multicultural country with two official languages."

  16. December 02, 1971 ce - December 02, 1971 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Gendron Report

    The Gendron Report was published, recommending that Québec have French as its official provincial language while maintaining both English and French as its two national languages.

  17. May 23, 1974 ce - May 23, 1974 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    New Brunswick's Bilingual Acts

    New Brunswick became the first province to draft statutes in both official languages.

  18. July 31, 1974 ce - July 31, 1974 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Bill 22 Passed

    Bill 22 made French the language of civic administration and services, and of the workplace, in Québec.

  19. August 26, 1977 ce - August 26, 1977 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Bill 101 Passed

    Bill 101, Québec's French-language charter, was passed by the National Assembly.

  20. September 01, 1981 ce - September 01, 1981 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    French-Only Sign Law

    Québec's French-only sign law came into effect. A part of the original draft of Bill 101, Charter of the French Language, the law stipulated that public signs in Québec were to be in French only.

  21. June 09, 1983 ce - June 09, 1983 ce

    Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Bill 101 Violates Charter

    The Québec Court of Appeal ruled that Bill 101, Québec's language law, violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

  22. December 15, 1984 ce - December 15, 1984 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Bill 101 Challenged

    The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the compulsory exclusive use of French on public commercial signs, as per Bill 101, was contrary to the right of freedom of speech. The Bourassa government reacted by introducing Bill 178, reinstating the use of French-only signs.

  23. December 21, 1988 ce - December 21, 1988 ce

    Robert Bourassa

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Bill 178

    Bourassa's government adopted Bill 178, an Act to countermand Bill 101. The new Bill reinforced that "public signs and posters and commercial advertising, outside or intended for the public outside, shall be solely in French."

  24. November 01, 1990 ce - November 01, 1990 ce

    Brian Mulroney

    Canada Languages Policy 

    Citizen's Forum Announced

    Prime Minister Brian Mulroney launched the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future, with Keith Spicer as chair, to seek opinions and solutions from the people of Canada on the Constitution.

  25. June 27, 1991 ce - June 27, 1991 ce

    Activists and Legislators  Canada Languages Policy  Indigenous Languages 

    Spicer Commission Report

    The Spicer Commission recommended that the government foster a sense of country, that Québec be recognized as a unique province, that there be a prompt settlement of Indigenous land claims and that the Senate be reformed or abolished.

  26. October 12, 1994 ce - October 12, 1994 ce

    Activists and Legislators 

    Death of Gérald Godin

    Gérald Godin, poet, journalist, politician and a strong militant for the French language, died at Montréal. He was the minister responsible for enacting Bill 101.

  27. February 17, 1998 ce - February 17, 1998 ce

    Immigrant Languages in Canada 

    Race Statistics Released

    Statistics Canada released the results of its controversial question on race showing that the percentage of Canadians neither white nor Indigenous identify themselves as visible minorities, of whom 27 per cent were Chinese, 21 per cent South Asians and 18 per cent Blacks.

  28. March 11, 1999 ce - March 11, 1999 ce

    Activists and Legislators 

    Death of Camille Laurin

    Camille Laurin, psychiatrist, politician and president of the executive committee of the Parti Québécois, died at Montreal. Author of the white paper declaring French as the only official language of government, education and business in Québec, Laurin was known as the father of Bill 101.

  29. November 05, 1999 ce - November 05, 1999 ce

    Challenges and Controversies  Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Sign Law Overturned

    A Québec court judge overturned parts of Québec's language law, which rules that French must be the "predominant" language on all signs.

  30. August 06, 2002 ce - August 06, 2002 ce

    Provinces and Territories Language Policies 

    Moncton becomes a bilingual city

    Moncton, NB, became the first officially bilingual Canadian city.

  31. June 11, 2008 ce - June 11, 2008 ce

    Canada Languages Policy 

    Formal Apology to Former Residential Schools Students

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on behalf of the Government of Canada, delivers a formal apology in the House of Commons to former students, their families, and communities for Canada's role in the operation of residential schools. Provincial and territorial apologies follow in the years ahead.

  32. February 11, 2016 ce - February 11, 2016 ce

    Indigenous Languages 

    Last Fluent Nuchatlaht Speaker Dies

    Alban Michael, the last fluent speaker of the Nuchatlaht language, died in Campbell River, British Columbia, at age 89. Raised on Nootka Island, Michael spoke only Nuchatlaht until he was forced to learn English at a residential school in Tofino as a child. He nevertheless maintained his fluency in Nuchatlaht so that he could speak with his mother, who did not speak English.

  33. May 10, 2016 ce - May 10, 2016 ce

    Flag of the United Nations

    Canada Languages Policy 

    Canada Supports UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

    Indigenous Affairs minister Carolyn Bennett announced Canada’s full support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Conservative government under Stephen Harper had endorsed the declaration in 2010, but with qualifications that gave Canada “objector” status at the UN with respect to the document. Bennett's announcement removed this status. The declaration recognizes a wide range of Indigenous rights, from basic human rights to land, language and self-determination rights.

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