The Language of Service policy was implemented to ensure the delivery of services of equal quality in both official languages, English and French, by provincial departments, agencies, health sector, crown corporations, institutions and third party enterprises who offer services to the public on behalf of government.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is language of service?
Language of Service means actively offering and providing all government services in English and French across the province. Every New Brunswickers have a legal right to receive government services in the official language of his or her choice. This policy will help us honor this obligation.
What do you mean by actively offering services?
Actively offering services means informing the public, at the first point of contact, that services are available in both official languages. The government provides the active offer of service through the use of bilingual signs and of two-language greetings on the telephone and in person. All public services, including documents, electronic postings and other materials, must be actively offered in both official languages to ensure service of equal quality.
What is service of equal quality?
Service of equal quality is service which is actively offered in both official languages and which is available without undue delay in the language chosen by the member of the public.
What parts of government have the obligation to provide services in both official languages?
The policy on Official Languages - Language of Service applies to all departments, agencies, health sectors, crown corporations, institutions and third party enterprises that offer services to the public on behalf of government.
Can I choose the language in which I wish to communicate with government and its employees?
Yes, it’s your choice.
Can I change my choice of official language?
Yes you may. However, for some administrative matters, changing this choice once the procedure starts may create a delay in the provision of the service. An example would be for staffing interviews.
What services are available in both official languages?
All government services to the public are available in both official languages.
This includes consultative, professional and technical assistance services and it also includes requests or appeals from individuals, groups or organizations for government to deal with unusual problems related to the delivery or need for government services.
Are third party service providers subject to the policy?
Yes, when the government hires a private company or organization to deliver programs or services on its behalf. The group providing the service is under the obligation of this policy. They must ensure the service or program is actively offered and delivered to the public in both official languages.
Can I expect to be served in my language of choice anywhere in New Brunswick?
Yes, anywhere services are offered to the public by government. There are no exceptions based upon minimum numbers of either linguistic community in a particular area.
How does this work? Do all government employees have to be bilingual?
No. We are using a team approach to provide quality services in both official languages to the public and other government department and agencies. Employees work in functional teams so that the services each team offers can be provided in either language, as needed.
What does the government mean by "bilingual"?
In some cases, it means having reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in English and French. In other cases, it means having only some of these skills in both languages. For example, let's say an employee in a team deals with members of both linguistic groups, but contact is mostly verbal. In that case, the employee probably only needs speaking and listening skills in the second language; the reading and writing skills may not be needed.
Are jobs designated bilingual or unilingual?
No, individual positions are not designated as bilingual or unilingual. We use a team approach based on a mix of employees having the combined required language skills. When, for example, a bilingual employee leaves his or her job, it does not necessarily mean it will be staffed with another bilingual employee. It depends on the current overall linguistic capability of the team.
Does every member of the team have to know both languages?
Not necessarily. The linguistic capability of the team as a whole is what matters.
Does this mean that employees, who are not bilingual, are not obligated to provide an active offer of service in both official languages?
No, all employees have the obligation to provide an active offer of service in both official languages. By using both official languages in your greeting, you would be providing an active offer of services. If you are not able to provide the service yourself once the active offer of service is made, one of your team members should step in to assist you with the requested services.
How much capacity in both languages will each team need?
That will depend on how much and what type of contact a team has with the public or other government department and agencies. For example, teams that have a lot of contact with the public or other government department and agencies, provide specialized services, or work in areas with a balanced linguistic mix, will need greater capacity in English and French than those that have little contact with the public, or work in areas where one language predominates.
Do I need to be bilingual to obtain a job with the province?
Not necessarily, each job is advertised in relation to what is needed to meet the linguistic profile of the team at the time of the competition. Depending on the situation, jobs will continue to be advertised with a variety of linguistic requirements.
What is taken into consideration to determine if an employee can obtain language training?
Priority for the provision of second language training and language upgrading courses will be based on ensuring that: