Legislative Bilingualism in the Provinces and Territories

The language obligations of provincial legislatures with respect to legislative drafting vary widely. Four of Canada’s fourteen legislatures have constitutional obligations with respect to legislative bilingualism, while some of the legislatures without constitutional obligations have nevertheless established bilingualism regimes for legislation under their jurisdiction. John Mark Keyes, law professor and specialist on legislative drafting, provides an overview of the various provincial obligations in this area. He also discusses the case of Canada’s territories, for which no court has yet recognized a constitutional obligation for legislative bilingualism.

Please feel free to refer to the interactive map below, which provides an overview of the various manifestations of legislative bilingualism across the country, as well as the sources (constitutional or legislative) of these obligations.

Interactive Map of Linguistic Obligations in the Canadian Legislative System

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