Canada’s Minister of Defence has announced a review of a directive from 2025 that dictates the languages used in military workplaces due to recent concerns. The Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces made changes in January 2025 regarding the languages required for internal activities and services such as meetings and documents. Previously, units were categorized as English, French, or both.
According to a DND blog post in late July, organizations and units in unilingual regions faced challenges in meeting language obligations, leading to complaints and frustrations. The directive, known as DAOD 5039-2, took effect in January 2025, aligning internal language requirements with the language designation of the office location under the Official Languages Act. This meant that only workplaces in designated bilingual regions like New Brunswick, the National Capital Region, and parts of northern Ontario had to use English and French exclusively.
Despite these changes, communication with the public and military families remained unaffected. The military continued to promote the use of both official languages to enhance inclusivity and uphold Canada’s linguistic diversity.
The blog post sparked criticism from advocates and opposition parties, raising concerns about the weakening of French language protection within a major federal department. Addressing these concerns, Defence Minister David McGuinty stated that a review of workplace language designations will be conducted to assess the application of language-of-work requirements and ensure they meet operational needs while respecting the language rights of the Defence Team.
Although no specific timeline was provided for the review, the Conservative Party called for an immediate repeal of the changes, emphasizing the importance of allowing Francophone members to work, lead, and progress professionally in French even in predominantly English-speaking regions.