Ottawa, ON, March 20, 2025 – On the Journée de la Francophonie, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) is condemning the Translation Bureau’s new five-year business plan that will shrink the bureau’s workforce by nearly 25%, directly undermining the rights of francophone Canadians to access information of equal quality to that enjoyed by anglophones and damaging the integrity of both official languages in Canada.
The plan, which eliminates 339 positions through attrition over five years, will force translators to work faster with fewer resources, resulting in an unacceptable decline in quality. Since the vast majority of translations done by the Translation Bureau are from English into French, francophone communities across Canada will be disproportionately affected by these cuts and will lose access to accurate, high-quality information, services and resources.
“CAPE’s TR members are proud to uphold Canada’s two official languages,” said Nathan Prier, CAPE president. “We are outraged that the Canadian government’s Translation Bureau would betray its fundamental role in fulfilling the Official Languages Act. We demand immediate action and are calling on Minister Ehsassi to reverse this misguided plan and adequately fund the Translation Bureau before irreversible damage is done to the rights of francophones to access services and receive communications of equal quality.”
CAPE and its members stand firmly against the erosion of the French language in the public service for the sake of cost-cutting, and are calling for the government to invest in the Translation Bureau and make it a true centre of excellence for official languages that will be able to uphold the highest standards of bilingualism in Canada and maintain the bridge between francophones and anglophones that is central to Canada’s heritage in these uncertain times for our country.
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media@acep-cape.ca
