By Canadian Press

Feds don’t know how many employees speak an Indigenous language at work

Oct 13, 2022 | 10:37 AM

OTTAWA — The federal government says it doesn’t know how many of its employees are expected to speak an Indigenous language as part of their job. 

It comes as Ottawa faces calls to expand the compensation it offers to employees who speak both French and English to public servants who speak an Indigenous language. 

The bilingualism bonus is an extra $800 per year employees receive if they work in a position where it’s required they speak both of Canada’s official languages. 

Some senior public servants have urged the government introduce similar pay for Indigenous-language speakers but the federal Treasury Board has rejected the idea. 

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat tabled a response earlier this fall to a question it received about the compensation from the federal New Democrats. 

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In its answer it says “there is no public service-wide data” about how many employees are expected to speak an Indigenous language as part of their daily responsibilities. 

Nunavut New Democrat MP Lori Idlout says the finding shows Ottawa doesn’t believe it’s a priority to provide services to Indigenous people in their own languages. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2022. 

The Canadian Press