| Objective | • Protects the language rights of Canadians and promotes the equality of English and French | • Adds strengthening measures to protect the French language in Canada |
| Scope | • Applies to the entire Canadian territory | • Continues to apply to the entire Canadian territory |
| Official languages | • Recognizes English and French as Canada’s two official languages | • Continues to recognize English and French as Canada’s two official languages• Recognizes the different linguistic realities of the provinces and territories, as well as the minority status of the French language in North America |
| Language promotion | • Supports the promotion of the use of English and French in Canadian society | • Reinforces the promotion of the use of English and French in Canadian society by enhancing the vitality and supporting the development of official language minority communities |
| Language rights | • Guarantees the public the right to receive government services in the official language of their choice in certain regions | • Continues to guarantee the public the right to receive government services in the official language of their choice in certain regions• Strengthens the linguistic rights of English and French speakers, particularly in the areas of justice and public administration |
| Federal institutions | • Promotes bilingualism within federal institutions and encourages the provision of bilingual services | • Reinforces the bilingualism obligations of federal institutions and aims to increase the availability of services in French.• Specifies obligations related to positive measures to be taken by federal institutions Imposes measures to ensure that deputy ministers and associate deputy ministers take language training so they can speak and understand both official languages clearly• Also strengthens the Treasury Board’s oversight role and the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages |
| Language learning | • Promotes minority language instruction | • Reinforces the implementation of the right to minority language education by creating a requirement for the federal government to contribute to statistical data on the children of rights holders |
| Francophone immigration | • Makes no reference to Francophone immigration to counter the decline of the French language | • Sets out the obligation to implement a federal Francophone immigration policy to help maintain and increase the demographic weight of Francophone minority communities |
| Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages | • Establishes the Office of the Commissioner of Official oLanguages as an independent agency responsible for overseeing the application of the Act | • Strengthens the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages, including new powers to enter into compliance agreements, issue orders, and impose administrative monetary penalties (the latter applying to the transportation sector) |
| Access to justice | • Promotes the publication of judicial decisions in both official languages | • Creates an obligation to be heard in the official language of one’s choice at the Supreme Court Strengthens the provisions on federal court decisions to obtain immediate translation of more judicial decisions coming from federal courts |
| Federally regulated private businesses | • Does not establish any language rights and obligations for federally regulated private businesses | • Creates new legislation, the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act, which confers rights and obligations about language of service to consumers and employees of these entities in Quebec and regions with a strong Francophone presence |