Liberals’ Push to Strengthen French in Federal Institutions Could Surpass $240M in Compliance Costs: Budget Watchdog

Liberals’ Push to Strengthen French in Federal Institutions Could Surpass $240M in Compliance Costs: Budget Watchdog
Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before the Commons finance committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 10, 2020. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
|Updated:
The federal government has underestimated by a huge margin the costs needed to extend French-language rights to federally regulated businesses in its proposed changes to the Official Languages Act, according to a report by the parliamentary budget officer (PBO).

Bill C-13 seeks to strengthen the state of French in federal public institutions and expand the use of the language in the federally regulated private sector.