Canada’s Minister of Defence has announced an initiative to review a directive from 2025 that regulates the use of languages within military workplaces. The Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces modified regulations in January 2025 regarding the languages employees must use for internal activities and services, such as meetings and documents. Previously, units were categorized as English, French, or both.
According to a blog post by the DND in late July, numerous organizations and units in unilingual regions faced challenges meeting language requirements, leading to legitimate complaints and frustrations. The directive, officially known as DAOD 5039-2, was implemented in January 2025 to align internal language mandates with the language designation of the office location under the Official Languages Act. Consequently, only workplaces in designated bilingual regions like New Brunswick, the National Capital Region, and parts of northern Ontario were mandated to use English and French exclusively.
These adjustments did not impact communication with the public or military families. Nonetheless, the military continued to promote the use of both official languages to enhance inclusivity and uphold Canada’s linguistic diversity.
Following media scrutiny and backlash from advocacy groups and opposition parties, Minister of National Defence David McGuinty declared on Thursday that he acknowledges the concerns about the directive, takes them seriously, and has initiated a review of workplace language designations. McGuinty emphasized the review’s focus on evaluating how language-of-work requirements have been implemented and determining if the current approach aligns with operational requirements while safeguarding the language rights of the Defence Team. The timeline for the review was not specified.
Subsequently, the Conservative Party urged McGuinty to immediately revoke the changes, asserting that a Francophone member should not be disadvantaged in working, commanding, or advancing professionally in French merely due to being stationed in a primarily English-speaking area.