Canada’s defense minister has announced a review of a directive from 2025 that dictates the use of languages within military workplaces, following recent concerns. The Department of National Defense (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces made changes to language rules for internal activities and services like meetings and documents in January 2025. Previously, units were categorized as English, French, or both.
According to a DND blog post in late July, many organizations in unilingual regions struggled to meet language obligations, leading to complaints and frustrations. The directive, known as DAOD 5039-2, was implemented in January 2025, aligning internal language requirements with the language designation of the office location under the Official Languages Act.
The new rules meant that only workplaces in officially designated bilingual regions, such as New Brunswick, the National Capital Region, and parts of northern Ontario, were required to use English and French exclusively for communication. However, these changes did not impact communication with the public or military families. The military still emphasized the use of both official languages to promote inclusivity and respect for Canada’s linguistic diversity.
Following criticism from advocates and opposition parties, Minister of National Defense David McGuinty announced a review of workplace language designations in response to concerns raised about the directive. The review will assess the application of language-of-work requirements and evaluate whether the current approach aligns with operational needs while upholding the language rights of the Defense Team. The timeline for the review was not specified.
In a separate development, the Conservative Party urged McGuinty to reverse the changes immediately, emphasizing the importance of allowing Francophone members to work, lead, and advance professionally in French, even in predominantly English-speaking regions.