C-13An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages
An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts
Government bill, introduced in the House of Commons on March 1, 2022
- Status
- Became law on June 20, 2023 · S.C. 2023, c. 15
What it does
Updates the Official Languages Act, creates French-language rights for federally regulated private businesses, and adds new enforcement tools and duties.
What it does
- Specifies that official language duties apply at all times, including during emergencies, and adds interpretive rules for language rights.
- Extends part of the Official Languages Act to the Supreme Court of Canada, and requires certain federal court decisions with precedential value to be issued in both official languages at the same time.
- Sets out federal commitments to protect and promote French, support minority-language education, advance English and French in external affairs, and require a francophone immigration policy with objectives, targets and indicators.
- Gives the Treasury Board new duties to set policies, monitor and audit federal institutions, evaluate official languages programs, and share information with the public and employees.
- Lets the Commissioner of Official Languages enter compliance agreements, make orders in some cases, and impose administrative monetary penalties for some non-compliance.
- Creates rights and duties for the use of French as a language of service and work in federally regulated private businesses in Quebec, and later in regions with a strong francophone presence, and lets workers complain to the Commissioner in some cases.
Who it affects
- Federal institutions
- Official Languages Commissioner
- Federally regulated private businesses
- Employees of federally regulated private businesses
- Francophone immigrants
- English and French minority communities
- Supreme Court of Canada
Background
The bill amends the Official Languages Act and the Department of Canadian Heritage Act. It also enacts the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and makes related amendments to the Canada Labour Code.
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Completed.
Committee
Completed.
Report stage
Completed.
Third reading
Completed.
Senate
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Completed.
Committee
Completed.
Third reading
Completed.
Senate pre study
Completed.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Completed.
Introduced by a cabinet minister on behalf of the government. Government bills get set time for debate, so they are the most likely to become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
3rd reading and adoption of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts
Vote 323,
Passed
301 yeato1 nay · 14 paired
Party breakdown for vote 323 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea1 broke ranks 141 1 14 Conservative Yea 104 0 11 Bloc Yea 28 0 4 NDP Yea 24 0 1 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 2 0 1 Total 301 1 Concurrence at report stage of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts
Vote 320,
Passed
311 yeato1 nay · 4 paired
Party breakdown for vote 320 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea1 broke ranks 144 1 11 Conservative Yea 109 0 6 Bloc Yea 28 0 4 NDP Yea 25 0 0 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 311 1 Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (report stage amendment)
Vote 319,
Passed
319 yeato0 nay · 4 paired
Party breakdown for vote 319 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 149 0 7 Conservative Yea 109 0 6 Bloc Yea 31 0 1 NDP Yea 25 0 0 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 319 0 Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (report stage amendment)
Vote 318,
Passed
318 yeato0 nay · 4 paired
Party breakdown for vote 318 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 147 0 9 Conservative Yea 110 0 5 Bloc Yea 31 0 1 NDP Yea 25 0 0 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 318 0 Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (report stage amendment)
Vote 317,
Passed
316 yeato0 nay · 4 paired
Party breakdown for vote 317 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 148 0 8 Conservative Yea 109 0 6 Bloc Yea 29 0 3 NDP Yea 25 0 0 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 316 0 2nd reading of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts
Vote 108,
Passed
289 yeato29 nay
Party breakdown for vote 108 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 151 0 8 Conservative Yea 111 0 8 Bloc Nay 0 29 3 NDP Yea 24 0 1 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 1 0 0 Total 289 29 2nd reading of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (amendment)
Vote 107,
Failed
29 yeato289 nay
Party breakdown for vote 107 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Nay 0 151 8 Conservative Nay 0 111 8 Bloc Yea 29 0 3 NDP Nay 0 24 1 Green Nay 0 2 0 Independent Nay 0 1 0 Total 29 289 2nd reading of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (subamendment)
Vote 106,
Failed
29 yeato288 nay
Party breakdown for vote 106 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Nay 0 151 8 Conservative Nay 0 110 9 Bloc Yea 29 0 3 NDP Nay 0 24 1 Green Nay 0 2 0 Independent Nay 0 1 0 Total 29 288 Time allocation for Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts
Vote 102,
Passed
168 yeato131 nay
Party breakdown for vote 102 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 146 0 13 Conservative Nay 0 102 17 Bloc Nay 0 27 5 NDP Yea 22 0 3 Green Nay 0 1 1 Independent Nay 0 1 0 Total 168 131
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalGinette Petitpas Taylor· April 1, 2022
“With Bill C-13, we are ensuring that the act responds to current linguistic realities and that it promotes substantive equality between English and French while contributing to the vitality of official language minority communities.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeJoël Godin· April 1, 2022
“Colleagues, I rise today to speak to Bill C-13, an act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the use of French in federally regulated private businesses act and to make related amendments to other acts. I address this House as the member for Portneuf—Jacques‑Cartier but also as a proud Canadian who cherishes French.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocMario Beaulieu· April 1, 2022
“Bill C-13 seeks to amend the Official Languages Act, which was enacted by Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal government in 1969 and then amended once by Brian Mulroney's Conservatives in 1998 based on the same principles. Before that, for almost a century, the so-called equality of languages established by the Constitution of 1867 never really existed, except in theory.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caNDPNiki Ashton· April 1, 2022
“Reform is long overdue, and the only reason we are finally studying this bill after all this time is that linguistic communities have exerted pressure and repeatedly called for new concrete, effective measures.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caGreenElizabeth May· May 12, 2022
“This is my first opportunity to speak to this bill. We clearly need to address the decline of French in this country because French is still threatened, in spite of all of the work that has been done on official languages in Canada.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: Royal assent received. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.