Unilingual English-speaking diplomats will soon no longer be able to benefit from a special privilege allowing them to occupy bilingual positions at Global Affairs Canada, the department announced in an internal memo obtained by The Duty.
The email sent Monday implicitly acknowledges that diplomats, managers, and even senior executives currently lack the language skills required for their positions, or have not passed an exam to demonstrate it.
However, for the past two years, a departmental “guideline” has required all managers to prove a sufficient level of proficiency in their second language in order to obtain a promotion. This requirement was promised by Minister Mélanie Joly in 2021, before she moved from the Official Languages portfolio to that of Foreign Affairs.
” He [a] “It has been difficult to adhere to these guidelines to the letter, particularly because of the difficulty in scheduling tests,” reads the note signed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Morrison.
Starting with the “2025 Assignment Cycle,” which is held at this time of year, no Global Affairs Canada senior management employee will be confirmed in their position without having demonstrated proficiency in their second language.
All diplomatic personnel will suffer the same fate the following year, in 2026. This concerns civil servants “both abroad and in the central administration [à Ottawa]all rotating staff, including non-management staff”. Finally, from 2027, diplomats will have to prove their language skills when submitting their applications for new positions.
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has been under fire for several years from internal critics for having only English-speakers access to the most prestigious positions in diplomacy. The department is also criticized for not making room for French in its meetings. In 2023, Minister Joly entrusted former Quebec ambassador Antoine Chevrier with the ambitious task of changing GAC’s organizational culture.
Exceptions are the norm
The Duty obtained through access to information a memo dated February 23, 2024, which shows that an assistant director at Global Affairs Canada requested, and then obtained, the right to remain in her position despite the fact that she did not obtain a grade of “C” in oral communication in French, which is associated with the “advanced” level. This executive had nevertheless been doing work for more than two years that required this knowledge of French.
Several sources within the ministry confirm that this situation is far from being an isolated case. A very tolerant regime in terms of compliance with the language requirements of positions would allow unilingual English-speaking diplomats to access jobs whose job description nevertheless requires mastery of French.
“It is often said that the exception confirms the rule, but here [en matière d’exigences linguistiques à AMC]it’s rather the exception that becomes the rule,” explains former diplomat Louise Blais, who was Canada’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations from 2017 to 2021.
It attests to the fact that these exceptions mainly benefit English speakers who do not master French, and never the other way around. Most of the time, operational needs take precedence over following up on promises to learn French.
Working in English
The diplomat in residence at the École supérieure d’études internationales at Université Laval insists that many of her English-speaking colleagues learned French. However, the work environment at the ministry is said to be so anglicized that some of them lose the use of the language of Molière over the course of their careers.
“Often what happens is that the tests [de français langue seconde] are not renewed. The ministry was not diligent about this. So we ended up with people whose language tests had expired. We still sent them abroad, and it’s the same thing with executives,” says Louise Blais.
All this tolerance will soon be a thing of the past, according to the warning issued by the ministry’s senior management. “We are now determined to fully implement this commitment [de forcer la maîtrise de la langue seconde]while allowing sufficient time for employees interested in rotation opportunities to develop their language skills,” Monday’s memo reads.
It is also recalled that all Global Affairs Canada managers must obtain the results of their language test to prove that they have reached the “CBC” level. This means, in the administrative language, an “advanced” level in written comprehension and oral expression, and “intermediate” in written expression of their second language.