Province accepts majority of the Commissioner's recommendations to ensure equitable treatment of Ontarians in French
TORONTO, Oct. 15, 2026 /CNW/ -- French Language Services Commissioner Carl Bouchard today released an investigation report, In search of services in French. The report sets out a roadmap for strengthening French-language services at ServiceOntario while shedding light on serious issues requiring immediate attention for ServiceOntario to fully comply with its obligations under the French Language Services Act (FLSA).
The investigation, launched in April 2025, identified significant issues in how services are delivered in French at locations where frontline service in French is required. With about 24 million in-person transactions yearly, ServiceOntario delivers essential government services, including driver's licences, health cards, birth registrations, permits and certificates.
Ontarians repeatedly described barriers to accessing these vital services in French and reported that French-language services were often not actively offered. Some people were forced to complete their transactions in English, or in some cases using hand gestures. Others had to verbally translate personal and private information at the counter, were asked to return on a different day when French-speaking staff were available, or endured negative comments from other ServiceOntario clients.
"The FLSA protects quasi-constitutional language rights. These rights are not suggestions, nor are they mere administrative requirements," Commissioner Bouchard said. "Our investigation identified important opportunities to strengthen how services in French are delivered and monitored. I am encouraged that the ministries have committed to reviewing and implementing measures that will help ensure Francophones receive the quality of service they are entitled to."
The investigation team examined the extent and quality of in-person services in French at ServiceOntario locations across Ontario through a review of more than 1,000 documents, 69 interviews, visits to 23 ServiceOntario locations and direct interactions with Ontarians who experienced difficulties obtaining service in French.
The investigation found that:
- ServiceOntario staff and officials were often confused about where services in French are legally required under the French Language Services Act;
- Twelve ServiceOntario locations required to provide service in French had no bilingual employees at all;
- Frontline staff at contracted locations were generally less aware of their French-language service obligations and training requirements than staff at provincially operated locations;
- ServiceOntario locations routinely relied on contingency plans, such as translation tools or staff from other locations or agencies, instead of ensuring bilingual service was available;
- Audit processes frequently treated French-language service obligations as minor administrative requirements and sometimes awarded passing scores even when locations were not meeting their obligations under the law; and
- The Ministry responsible for ServiceOntario failed for years to comply with regulatory reporting requirements related to services delivered by third-party operators.
In his report, Commissioner Bouchard makes 25 recommendations to strengthen French-language service delivery, improve accountability, and better support Francophones throughout Ontario, including recommendations designed to strengthen compliance with the law and improve staffing, training and auditing practices. These include:
- Clarifying where French-language services must be available;
- Ensuring all ServiceOntario locations required to provide services in French actively offer and provide these services;
- Strengthening and tracking bilingual staffing, recruitment and retention efforts;
- Requiring regular training on active offer and language obligations;
- Limiting contingency plans to exceptional circumstances and improving oversight of their use;
- Improving audits, oversight and accountability mechanisms; and
- Strengthening collaboration and reporting between ministries, including oversight of and reporting on contracted services.
The Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement and the Ministry of Francophone Affairs have accepted 18 of the 25 recommendations and committed to reviewing the outstanding issues and recommendations intended to address them.
The Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement has committed to ensuring that all ServiceOntario locations required to provide services in French do so, meeting its reporting obligations, strengthening oversight of French-language services, improving audit practices, enhancing staff training, and working with the Ministry of Francophone Affairs to monitor compliance and improve service delivery.
The Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement also agreed to improve public information about the availability of French-language services. The Ministry has committed to reviewing the issues raised in the report regarding compliance with linguistic obligations at all ServiceOntario locations serving designated areas, assessing bilingual staffing needs and setting minimum staffing requirements for contracted operators.
For its part, the Ministry of Francophone Affairs has committed to reviewing the recommendation to strengthen its oversight of compliance with reporting requirements under the French Language Services Act and its third-party services regulation.
"These commitments represent an important step toward improving access to services in French throughout Ontario," said Commissioner Bouchard. "We will continue to monitor progress closely as the recommendations are implemented or reviewed and we will report publicly and regularly on the progress achieved. Compliance with the Act means achieving excellence in serving the public in French in keeping with the spirit and intent of the French Language Services Act. These commitments will help ensure services continue to improve for future generations."
About the Office of the Ombudsman: The Ombudsman is an independent, non-partisan Officer of the Ontario Legislature, appointed by all parties, whose role is to ensure that the provincial government and public sector serve people in a way that is fair, accountable and respectful of their rights. Under the Ombudsman Act, the Ombudsman reviews and resolves complaints and inquiries from the public about provincial government organizations, as well as French language services, child protection services, municipalities, universities and school boards.
About the Commissioner and French Language Services Unit: The role of the Commissioner is to monitor compliance with the French Language Services Act by government agencies and institutions of the Legislature. As part of the Ombudsman's Office, the Commissioner is completely independent of government, political parties, individual complainants and interest groups. The French Language Services Unit is a team of Early Resolution Officers and Investigators that is supported by the entire Office of the Ontario Ombudsman, including the Ombudsman's Legal Services, Communications, Finance and Information Technology and People and Culture teams.
SOURCE Ombudsman Ontario
For more information, contact: Emmanuelle Bleytou,Communications Manager: [email protected]; Josée Laperrière,Communications Officer: [email protected]
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