Internal Audit Report - Official Languages

June 2006

Executive Summary

As part of the Internal Audit Plan for 2005-2006, the Internal Audit branch conducted an internal audit of the Official Languages Program within CIHR.

In our professional judgment, the audit procedures followed and the evidence gathered are appropriate and sufficient to provide reasonable assurance on the accuracy of the findings of this report.

The audit was conducted in accordance with the Institute of Internal Auditors' International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, the Treasury Board's Policy on Internal Audit and the CIHR's Internal Audit Policy.

Key Observations

CIHR has taken many positive measures with respect to Service to the Public and Language of Work Components of the Official Languages Act such as having bilingual Internet and Intranet Websites; having a number of bilingual positions within CIHR; providing employees with work instruments in the language of their choice; dedicating a budget for second language training. Nonetheless, CIHR could further accentuate its commitment to serving the public in both official languages and fostering a work environment conducive to the use of both official languages. In addition, CIHR needs to develop creative solutions within its unique virtual Institute model in order to meet its obligations in terms of providing service to the public in both official languages.

CIHR needs to clearly state its intent to implement the Treasury Board's Directive on Identification of Linguistic Profiles. Presently, 6% of CIHR incumbents do not meet the language requirements of their positions. This compares to 4%¹ in the Federal Public Service as of March 31, 2004. However, since a few linguistic profiles may have been determined on the basis of their incumbents' linguistic skills, this percentage would likely be higher if the above mentioned Directive was implemented.

CIHR needs to develop control measures designed to identify, monitor and follow-up on official languages program matters such as language training effectiveness.

CIHR Official Languages Policy was put in place in 2002 and therefore needs to be updated to reflect the new official languages policy instruments which came into effect on July 15^th, 2005 in the purpose of setting out the linguistic obligations of federal institutions in the area of communications and services to the public.

Key Recommendations

1 - CIHR should ensure that its existing Official Languages Policy is updated in order to:

• encompass all components of the Official Languages Act and the new policy instruments that took effect in July 2005 to reflect senior management's commitment to the Act;
• clearly define roles and responsibilities of those who are primarily responsible for its implementation: Senior Management, Director, Human Resources, and employees, including the "official languages champion";
• clearly define CIHR Institutes' obligations regarding service to the public under the Official Languages Act; and
• include a component on language training and learning retention to reinforce management support to employees for attaining their positions' language requirements.

2 - CIHR should develop a comprehensive strategy concerning Official Languages at CIHR and ensure its effective implementation with a rigorous monitoring system. Results and achievements should be reported to Senior Management and as part of the Treasury Board's Annual Review on Official Languages.

3 - CIHR must develop and implement more comprehensive systems and processes to make sure that service to the public is made in both official languages. Theses processes should be monitored regularly to ensure their effectiveness.

4 - CIHR should:

• include its Official Languages Program as part of its strategic and operational plans, with clear accountabilities for its implementation and its performance;
• increase awareness and understanding among all staff members about their rights and responsibilities with respect to official languages, linguistic duality and respect for official languages.
• integrate official languages objectives in the performance management of CIHR managers and executives.

5 - CIHR should create effective monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of its Official Languages Program including:

• the development and implementation of a structured process to determine the linguistic identification of its positions;
• the development, implementation and rigorous monitoring of training plans and learning retention measures;
• the proper staffing of positions assigned to serve the public, including institutes;
• the effective administration of the bilingualism bonus;
• the addition of periodic discussion of official languages to the Executive Management Committee agenda;
• the consideration of the knowledge of the second language as an evaluation criterion for Directors and senior executives positions;
• the allocation of sufficient resources to improve the official languages visibility among staff particularly in supervisory positions.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
1. Objectives, Scope, Approach and Criteria
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Scope
1.3 Audit Approach
1.4 Audit Criteria
2. Background
3. Key Risk Factors
4. Audit Observations
4.1 Management Framework
4.1.1 Official Languages Policy
4.1.2 Roles and Responsibilities
4.1.3 Treasury Board's Annual Review on Official Languages
4.2 Service to the Public
4.2.1 Positions Assigned to Service to the Public
4.2.2 Internet Site
4.2.3 Telephone Services
4.2.4 Correspondence Files
4.3 Language of Work
4.3.1 Creating a Bilingual Work Environment
4.3.2 Employee Satisfaction
4.3.3 Meetings
4.3.4 Supervision and Performance Appraisals
4.3.5 Internal Communications
4.3.6 Central Services
4.4 Program Management
4.4.1 Linguistic Identification of Positions
4.4.2 Language Training
4.4.3 Bilingualism Bonus
4.4.4 Executives
4.4.5 Supervisory Positions
4.4.6 Organizational Culture
4.4.7 Second Language Test Results
Appendix 1 - Action Plan

1. Objectives, Scope, Approach and Criteria

1.1 Objectives

The objectives of this audit were:

1. to ensure that CIHR is compliant with the Official Languages Act and that the policy in place at CIHR is in line with the Official Languages Program. The Official Languages Program encompasses senior management's leadership, accountability and commitment to linguistic duality as well as all activities intended to fulfill the Government of Canada's obligations and commitments under the Official Languages Act. These obligations and commitments include but are not limited to: communicating with and providing services to the public in both official languages; ensuring that English and French have equal status as the languages of work in federal institutions;
2. to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedures in place to manage this program.

1.2 Scope

The audit examined Part IV (Communications with and Services to the Public) and Part V (Language of Work) of the Official Languages Act and also focused on the administration of the Official Languages Program.

1.3 Audit Approach

The audit was undertaken using interviews with selected staff, analysis of relevant files, and reviews of written communications. Unidentified telephone calls were made to all CIHR Institutes in order to assess their ability to serve members of the public in the official language of their choice. In addition, a questionnaire was sent to all CIHR employees to assess employee satisfaction with respect to the use of both official languages in the performance of their duties.

1.4 Audit Criteria

The following criteria were established based on the Official Languages Act, the new Official Languages Policy Instruments issued by the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (PSHRMAC), as well as CIHR Official Languages Policy.

1. A complete, specific, clear and properly documented policy exists, is available and communicated to CIHR employees.
2. CIHR's policy is consistently applied with the Treasury Board of Canada's Official Languages Policy Framework and the Policy on Official Languages for Human Resources Management.
3. Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined for the application of the official languages program.
4. CIHR communicates with and serves members of the public in both official languages as prescribed by the Official Languages Act.
5. The work environment is conducive to the use of both official languages in designated bilingual regions so that employees can use either official language in performing their duties.
6. The process of identifying the language requirements of positions and the level of proficiency required is based on actual needs.
7. Necessary mechanisms are in place to plan, coordinate and control the eligibility and costs of language training and the bilingualism bonus.
8. CIHR has an appropriate mechanism for managing and monitoring the implementation of the official languages program.
9. Members of the Executive group must be able to function in both official languages and are responsible to ensure that the obligations of CIHR with respect to official languages are met.
10. An effective mechanism is in place for handling complaints filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, under which the managers responsible are involved in addressing problems and identifying solutions.

2. Background

The Official Languages Act states that the institutions of the government of Canada have a duty to guarantee language rights of the Canadians they serve and they must ensure that those rights are respected. It prescribes in detail the language rights of English and French-speaking Canadians.

CIHR, like all federal institutions, must ensure that the Act is concretely implemented on a daily basis and that monitoring activities are carried out to ensure that the official languages program is managed effectively to comply with the main requirements under the Act and the official languages policies of the Treasury Board, including the Policy on the Use of Official Languages for Communications with and Services to the Public, Policy on Language of Work, and the Policy on Official Languages for Human Resources Management.

3. Key Risk Factors

The main risk associated with Official Languages is the risk of non-compliance with the Official Languages Act and Regulations, which could translate in:

• not serving the Canadian public in the official language of its choice which could lead to formal complaints and potentially hurt CIHR's reputation;
• not securing a fully bilingual EX category therefore failing to secure the language of work rights of employees;
• adjusting the language requirements of a position during or after the hiring process in favour of a particular candidate.
• not having clearly defined roles and responsibilities for those with a role in implementing the Official Languages Act and other related policies;
• having ineffective language training resulting in ineffective use of financial resources.

4. Audit Observations

4.1 Management Framework

4.1.1 Official Languages Policy

CIHR's Official Languages Policy issued in 2002, covers the main components of the Official Languages Act. However, new policy instruments of the Government of Canada on Official Languages took effect on July 15, 2005. These include the Official Languages Policy Framework; Policy on the Use of Official Languages for Communications with and Services to the Public; Policy on Language of Work; Policy on Official Languages for Human Resources Management; Directive on the Linguistic Identification of Positions or Functions; Directive on the Staffing of Bilingual Positions; Directive on Language Training and Learning Retention. The new instruments were prepared to update and clarify official languages obligations of federal institutions with regard to service to the public in general. The directives also clarify obligations for service to the public and employees' language of work on Web sites and in electronic communications.

Being on schedule II of the Financial Administration Act, CIHR is not subject to the Directive on the Linguistic Identification of Positions and the Directive on the Staffing of Bilingual Positions.

4.1.2 Roles and Responsibilities

The existing CIHR policy on Official Languages does not clearly define roles and responsibilities of those who are primarily responsible for its implementation such as Senior Management, Human Resources and employees. It does not clearly define CIHR Institutes' obligations regarding service to the public under the Official Languages Act neither does it reflect the role of the "champion" of official languages.

Accountability for the implementation of Parts IV and V of the Official Languages Act should be shared between CIHR's senior management and the Human Resources Branch. Senior management would play a key role in demonstrating leadership and the Human Resources Branch should handle all parts of the policy of concern to employees in the areas of language of work; it should also play a key role in promoting the understanding and awareness of official languages responsibility; providing advice and guidance regarding policies, staffing of bilingual positions and language training; developing strategic plans to identify and address areas of risk.

Recommendation 1: CIHR should ensure that its existing Official Languages Policy is updated in order to:

• encompass all components of the Official Languages Act and the new policy instruments that took effect in July 2005 to reflect senior management's commitment to the Act;
• clearly define roles and responsibilities of those who are primarily responsible for its implementation: Senior Management, Director, Human Resources, and employees, including the "official languages champion";
• clearly define CIHR Institutes' obligations regarding service to the public under the Official Languages Act; and
• include a component on language training and learning retention to reinforce management support to employees in attaining their positions' language requirements.

4.1.3 Treasury Board's Annual Review on Official Languages

In accordance with section 48 of the Official Languages Act (OLA), a report on the status of the federal government's Official Languages Program in all institutions subject to the OLA must be tabled in Parliament each year. CIHR submits an annual report of its achievements to the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada with copies to the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Senate Standing Committee on Official Languages and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

This report describes CIHR's achievements in matters of official languages and good practices. In the April 2005's annual report, CIHR reported that an Employee Survey was conducted in 2004. It included questions formulated to sound out employees on matters of training, language of work and general sense of satisfaction. The report stated that the survey results have recently been analyzed and will be a valuable source of information for improving the Official Languages Program at CIHR. However, no initiatives were implemented to address the issues revealed from the survey.

Recommendation 2: CIHR should develop a comprehensive strategy concerning Official Languages at CIHR and ensure its effective implementation with a rigorous monitoring system. Results and achievements should be reported to Senior Management and as part of the Treasury Board's Annual Review on Official Languages.

4.2 Service to the Public

4.2.1 Positions Assigned to Service to the Public

According to the official languages information reported to Treasury Board of Canada as of December 31, 2005, CIHR had a total of 187 positions assigned to serve the public at different language proficiency levels²; out of the 187 positions, 162 or 87% were held by CIHR employees (including Ottawa-based Institute staff) who could serve the public in both official languages, and 25 positions were held by employees who could only serve the public in English.

As for CIHR Institutes located in host institutions, 92% of employees in institutes located in the province of Québec and 16% of employees of Institutes located in other provinces in Canada were capable of serving the public in the minority official language. It is to be noted that CIHR Institutes located in host institutions staff their own positions, and Institutes staff (except for Ottawa Based Institute Staff) are not employees of CIHR. However, according to CIHR's legal counsel and under CIHR's Act, the Institutes are "divisions" of CIHR and therefore, are subject to the Official Languages Act.

4.2.2 Internet Site

Publications are available in both official languages and are displayed so as to respect the equal status of both official languages. CIHR and its thirteen Institutes' Internet sites are in compliance with the Treasury Board of Canada's Directive on the Use of Official Languages on Web Sites with respect to the institutional signature, domain name, greeting, navigation links marked "English" and "Français", etc.

4.2.3 Telephone Services

Under the Official Languages Act, federal institutions have the duty to ensure that any member of the public can communicate with and obtain available services from offices of the institution in either official language in areas where there is a significant demand. Significant demand is defined in the Official Languages Regulations (A Description of the Official Languages Regulations on Service to the Public). CIHR and its thirteen Institutes are all located in areas where services to the public are to be provided in both official languages.

The audit team conducted unidentified telephone calls to all 13 Institutes on 2 occasions at different times of the day in two different weeks to assess their ability to serve the public in the language of its choice. Calls to Institutes in Québec were made in English and those to Institutes in the other provinces were made in French.

Only four of the thirteen Institutes had the ability to provide bilingual service equal in quality in both official languages, seven Institutes recognized the need for service in the minority language, however, were not able to direct the call to a bilingual person using the minority language, but rather in the majority official language; one Institute had a limited ability to provide service in the minority language and one Institute was unable to understand the conversation in the minority language, therefore unable to direct the call at all. In addition, under the Official Languages Act - Active offer, CIHR is required to make it known to the public that its services are available in either official language. All 13 Institutes did not answer the calls in a way to spontaneously offer to the caller the option of using the language of choice.

Recommendation 3: CIHR's Institutes must develop and implement comprehensive systems and processes to make sure that service to the public is made in both official languages. Theses processes should be monitored regularly to ensure their effectiveness.

4.2.4 Correspondence Files

On its correspondence material such as applications for funding, CIHR seeks to determine the applicants' language preference. A review of correspondence files indicated that, in general, CIHR complies with the public's language preference when preparing administrative correspondences.

4.3 Language of Work

As stated in the Official Languages Act (Part V), every federal institution has the duty to create a work environment that is conducive to the effective use of both official languages and ensure that supervisors are able to communicate in both official languages in carrying out their supervisory responsibility.

Accordingly, CIHR must ensure that all employees can use either official language in such areas as:

• personal and central services (Human Resources, Administration and Financial services and Information Technology services);
• work instruments (Policies, procedures, Software applications);
• training and professional development;
• supervision and performance appraisals; and
• meetings.

This part of the audit was conducted between the period from April 11, 2006 and April 27, 2006 by electronically distributing a questionnaire to 371 CIHR employees. A total of 220 questionnaires were completed, that is 112 respondents whose first official language is English (referred to as Anglophones) and 108 respondents whose first official language is French (referred to as Francophones), for a response rate close to 60%.

4.3.1 Creating a Bilingual Work Environment

Overall, 42% of respondents replied that either CIHR has not informed them of their rights and obligations concerning the use of official languages at work or that they don't know whether CIHR has informed them about these rights.

In addition, 13% of Anglophones and 40% of Francophones disagreed that CIHR's work environment is conducive to the use of both official languages.

4.3.2 Employee Satisfaction

Overall 81% of respondents were satisfied concerning the opportunity to work in the official language of their choice. However, Francophone respondents were less satisfied than Anglophone respondents: 31% of Francophones were dissatisfied with the fact that English is used more often, whereas only 4% of Anglophones were dissatisfied that French is used more often.

4.3.3 Meetings

The questionnaire indicated that 45% approximately of Francophone respondents are neither comfortable nor satisfied in using the language of their choice during staff meetings, whereas only 5% of Anglophone respondents were in the same situation.

Comments received from respondents expressed that English appears to be the predominant language of work in meetings even when the majority of the attendees are Francophone.

4.3.4 Supervision and Performance Appraisals

Anglophones and Francophones do not enjoy an equal treatment in situations such as supervision and performance appraisals. 17 % of Francophones feel that their supervisors are seldom or never able to discuss work assignments in the language of their choice. On the other hand, all Anglophone respondents mentioned that their supervisors are often or always able to discuss work assignments in the language of their choice.

With regard to performance appraisals, 15% of Francophones responded that these are seldom or never available in their language of choice. In response to this question, all Anglophone respondents indicated that their performance appraisals are always or often available in the language of their choice.

4.3.5 Internal Communications

While carrying out duties, the use of English is more prevalent than French in both written and oral communications. English dominates in written communications for 97% of Anglophone respondents and 85% of Francophone respondents, and in oral communications, it dominates for 94% of Anglophone respondents, while French dominates for only 13% of Francophone respondents.

4.3.6 Central Services

Overall, 94% of Francophone and Anglophone respondents were satisfied with the availability of Human Resources services, Administration and Financial services, Information Technology services and work instruments in the official language of their choice.

Recommendation 4: CIHR should:

• include its Official Languages Program as part of CIHR's strategic and operational plans, with clear accountabilities for its implementation and its performance;
• increase awareness and understanding among all staff members about their rights and responsibilities with respect to official languages, linguistic duality and respect for official languages; and
• integrate official languages objectives in the performance management of CIHR managers and executives.

4.4 Program Management

4.4.1 Linguistic Identification of Positions

As directed by Treasury Board's Policy on Official Languages for Human Resources Management, the language requirements of positions or functions must be determined objectively. They should reflect the duties of employees or their work units as well as the obligations related to service to the public and language of work in the Official Languages Act.

CIHR does not have a policy in place to direct the process of identifying the linguistic requirements of duties and positions. In the absence of detailed directions, the identification of the linguistic requirements of a position may be subjective.

A review of employee files indicated that the language requirements for a number of positions seem not to have been identified objectively. In fact, out of the 338 files reviewed, 17 had an indication that the positions were initially identified as bilingual at different levels of proficiency and were modified to correspond to the incumbent's second language proficiency rather than requiring the incumbent to meet the position's requirements. No justification for changing the profile was on file.

4.4.2 Language Training

The audit team was unable to perform an analysis of language training effectiveness since training data were not compiled before April 1, 2005. This data provides information on the estimated number of hours to accomplish the desired level, and the actual hours taken. More complete data on the history of training plans, actual and estimated number of hours of language training for each employee as well as the training cost is not readily available to provide a measure of progress, assess the effectiveness of the training plans and the ability of the employee to learn a second language, especially for those employees who have been on training for an extended period of time. Moreover, no performance evaluation is being performed within Human Resources in order to assess the effectiveness of the language school currently providing second language training.

Such information would allow to determine whether a mechanism is in place for monitoring and follow-up on training plans and to ensure that those who are required to meet the language requirements of their positions do so in the prescribed time frame³.

Currently, training plans are mostly aimed at employees who must acquire the level needed to meet the linguistic requirements of their position, and no continuous training measures are in place to ensure that those who meet the language requirements of their positions continue to maintain the same level over time.

According to the questionnaire responses, 28% of Anglophone respondents indicated that they do not have access to language training. Only 6% of Francophone respondents answered that they do not have access to this training. In the open comments section of the Questionnaire, many comments were received from respondents indicating that language training is mostly geared towards incumbents in bilingual positions and who must meet their linguistic profile rather than being a step to career development.

4.4.3 Bilingualism Bonus

To determine compliance with the Bilingualism Bonus Directive, the audit team verified the data from the pay documents in the Human Resources Branch to ensure that incumbents who are receiving the bilingual bonus are in bilingual positions and meet the language requirements of their positions, and that employees in positions whose language requirements are other than bilingual (English essential, French essential, or either English or French essential) are not receiving the bilingualism bonus.

The review of pay records for all CIHR employees showed the following instances of non-compliance:

1. Five employees were entitled to the bilingualism bonus, but were not receiving it.
2. Two bilingual employees were receiving a bilingualism bonus while their position does not permit it since they were occupying unilingual positions.

Following the audit inquiry with the Human Resources Branch, the Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation has confirmed that the above situations were rectified and overpayments recovered.

4.4.4 Executives

In May 1998, Treasury Board of Canada established the following language proficiency requirements for the vast majority of public service executives working in bilingual regions for language of work purposes: level C for reading; level B for writing; level C for oral interaction. Executives were required to meet those requirements by March 31, 2003 so that they can carry out their duties and fulfil their obligation to create a work environment conducive to the effective use of both official languages.

In CIHR, of the 21 executives, 15 met the requirements while 2 were excluded based on the age of the incumbents. A total of 4 executives still did not meet the language requirements of their positions on April 30, 2006 and are currently on training. For these 4 executives, 3 had an approved one-time application to extend the exemption period until June 30, 2006 while 1 had to meet the requirement by January 2006. No extension was found on file and as of April 30, 2006, the incumbent had not met the language requirement of the position.

CIHR does not have measures in place to ensure that language training plans are strictly followed.

4.4.5 Supervisory Positions

To ensure that the work environment is conducive to the effective use of both official languages and accommodate the use of either official language, supervisors should be able to communicate in both official languages with officers and employees of the institution in carrying out their supervisory responsibility.

As of April 2006, CIHR had 43 positions which have been identified on the organizational chart as having supervisory duties. This number does not include senior management positions (as mentioned in 4.4.4). The analysis of the positions indicated the following:

• four incumbents (9%) do not meet the language requirements of their position (3 supervisors whose first language is English do not meet as compared to one whose first language is French);
• four positions were designated as English or French or English Essential and staffed by unilingual Anglophone incumbents;
• anglophone supervisors/managers hold positions for which the bilingual requirements are lower than those held by Francophone supervisors/managers: 82% of Francophone supervisors hold positions with language requirements superior to BBB, while this is the case for only 14% of Anglophone supervisors.

There was no indication that CIHR has formally put in place administrative measures to ensure service delivery and employee supervision in both official languages where supervisors don't meet the language requirements or when they are unilingual.

4.4.6 Organizational Culture

English and French should be given equal status in order to maintain a work environment respectful of the language rights. This should be reflected in the organizational culture. At CIHR, a number of measures have been taken to show support of the official languages program:

• CIHR identified an official languages champion: the Executive Vice-President;
• CIHR has a dedicated intranet site for Official Languages with links to the Official Languages Act, CIHR's Official Languages Policy, official languages instruments and many other useful links, such as translation tools and dictionaries;
• the official languages training budget has increased from $140,000 in 2005-2006 to $300,000 in 2006-2007;
• "English or French...Go ahead, it's your choice!" posters are displayed in meeting rooms;
• meeting agendas and minutes are generally available in both official languages;
• work instruments, personal and central services, training and professional development courses are available in both official languages.

On the other hand, CIHR employees still do not feel at ease communicating and working in the language of their choice. Additional measures could further demonstrate senior management leadership and commitment to the implementation of the official languages program (see Recommendation 5).

4.4.7 Second Language Test Results

Unless the employee obtains an exemption from further testing, Second Language Evaluation (SLE) test results are valid for five years. At the expiry of the five year period, an employee's SLE results are valid indefinitely for the position he/ she occupies as long as the employee had valid SLE results at or above the level required, at the time of appointment or deployment to that position and the linguistic profile of the position has not been raised above the employee's skill level.

The review of employee files showed that in one instance, an employee's writing test result was expired when appointed to a bilingual position. In another instance, an employee's writing test result was expired at the time of hiring by CIHR. No evidence of new testing was found on either file.

Recommendation 5: CIHR should create effective monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of its Official Languages Program including:

• the development and implementation of a structured process to determine the linguistic identification of its positions;
• the development, implementation and rigorous monitoring of training plans and learning retention measures; in addition, CIHR should provide support to employees who must meet their positions' language requirements such as allowing them to attend full-time language training when required without also having to assume the responsibilities of their positions, and to remain in language training throughout the period for which they are enrolled in language courses;
• the proper staffing of positions assigned to serve the public, including Institutes;
• the effective administration of the bilingualism bonus;
• the addition of periodic discussion of official languages to the Executive Management Committee agenda;
• the consideration of the knowledge of the second language as an evaluation criterion for Directors and senior executives positions;
• the allocation of sufficient resources to improve the official languages visibility among staff particularly in supervisory positions.

Appendix 1 - Action Plan

Summary of Recommendations and Management Action Plan

Recommendation	Action Plan	Responsibility	Time Frame
Recommendation 1: CIHR should ensure that its existing Official Languages Policy is updated in order to: encompass all components of the Official Languages Act and the new policy instruments that took effect in July 2005 to reflect senior management's commitment to the Act; clearly define roles and responsibilities of those who are primarily responsible for its implementation: Senior Management, Director, Human Resources, and employees, including the "official languages champion"; clearly define CIHR Institutes' obligations regarding service to the public under the Official Languages Act; and include a component on language training and learning retention to reinforce management support to employees for attaining their positions' language requirements.	Revise OL Policy to adopt the general provisions and spirit of the Treasury Board directives and to provide procedures for: the identification of linguistic requirements of positions; staffing of bilingual positions, and language training rights, obligations and access. Communicate this new policy to all staff including Institute Staff to ensure an understanding of roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for service to the public and language of work.   Develop a language training contract for each employee attending OL training that specifies consequence of failure to attend or acquire required grade.	Human Resources Branch (HRB)	March 2007       Dec. 2006
Recommendation 2: CIHR should develop a comprehensive strategy concerning Official Languages at CIHR and ensure its effective implementation with a rigorous monitoring system. Results and achievements should be reported to Senior Management and as part of the Treasury Board's Annual Review on Official Languages.	Official languages are identified as one of 5 priorities in CIHR's HR Strategy. An action plan to address shortcomings in our policy, staffing procedures and language training procedures was approved by EMC in April 2006. Report on number of employees who meet language requirements and language training costs to EEMC semi annually.	HRB   HRB	Completed April 2006 Commencing Fall 2006
Recommendation 3: CIHR must develop and implement comprehensive systems and processes to make sure that service to the public is made in both official languages. These processes should be monitored regularly to ensure their effectiveness.	A systematic review of all positions is underway to ensure that positions providing service to the public and supervisory positions are identified as bilingual. Remind all employees of the obligation to provide an active offer of bilingual service when dealing with the public. CIHR is currently investigating a toll-free number dedicated for the Institutes to allow for service to the public to be provided in both official languages.	HRB HRB ITMS	Sept. 2006 Dec. 2006 Mar. 2007
Recommendation 4: CIHR should: include its Official Languages Program as part of CIHR's strategic and operational plans, with clear accountabilities for its implementation and its performance; increase awareness and understanding among all staff members about their rights and responsibilities with respect to official languages, linguistic duality and respect for official languages. integrate official languages objectives in the performance management of CIHR managers and executives.	HR Strategy identifies OL as a priority and a specific action plan with accountabilities identified is being developed. Communicate objectives of the OL Act and policies applicable to CIHR. Provide regular bulletins in the HR Branch Communiqué (internal newsletter) to inform employees of rights and responsibilities related to official languages. Increase visibility of OL Champion. Place an accountability statement in all executive performance agreements regarding official languages.	HRB HRB and Champion HRB HRB/Champion EMC	Oct. 2006 March 2007 Ongoing Ongoing April 2007
Recommendation 5: CIHR should create effective monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of its Official Languages Program including: the development and implementation of a structured process to determine the linguistic identification of its positions; the development, implementation and rigorous monitoring of training plans and learning retention measures; the proper staffing of positions assigned to serve the public, including institutes; the effective administration of the bilingualism bonus;    the addition of periodic discussion of official languages to the Executive Management Committee agenda; the consideration of the knowledge of the second language as an evaluation criterion for Directors and senior executives positions; the allocation of sufficient resources to improve the official languages visibility among staff particularly in supervisory positions.	See Above - Recommendation 3 See Above - Recommendation 1 Decision of EMC in May 06 regarding imperative staffing as the norm has been communicated to all directors and implemented in June 2006. Conduct annual verification of bilingual bonus payments. Provide appropriate training to HR staff on OL rules and regulations. Semi-annual review of statistics on employees who meet/do not meet language requirements of positions and review of language training plan at EEMC. EMC decision of May 06 regarding imperative staffing for all bilingual positions and for CBC profile for all executive positions has been implemented and communicated. An additional 200K has been placed with the Human Resources branch to ensure sufficient funds for increased language training in 2006/7.	HRB HRB   HRB/Champion     HRB   HRB	Completed Annual   Commencing Fall 2006   Completed   Completed

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1. Source of information: Treasury Board's Annual Report on Official Languages 2003-04. [ return ] 
2. The linguistic profile for a given position is determined according to three levels of second-language proficiency: Level A - minimum proficiency; Level B - intermediate proficiency; Level C - superior proficiency; and Level E - Exempted, for those who have mastered the other official language. [ return ]  
3. According to the Directive on Language Training and Language Retention, the maximum number of hours of language training for each language proficiency level is 1,210 hours for level A, 1,710 hours for level B, and 2,270 hours for level C.[ return ]