Prime Minister Mark Carney has presented the protection of French language and culture as a red line in negotiations with Donald Trump. Today, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), alongside other federal public sector unions, members of Parliament, and French organizations, demanded that the Carney government apply that same commitment at home, where cuts, unreliable AI, outsourcing, and unsafe working conditions are degrading the federal language services that uphold francophones’ rights, language, and culture.
At a press conference on Parliament Hill, CAPE, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), MP and Bloc Québécois Whip Yves Perron, MP and Bloc Québécois Official Languages critic Mario Beaulieu, MP and NDP Labour Critic Don Davies, and the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) stood in solidarity to demand that Carney match his public defence of French against Trump with investment in the translators, interpreters, and terminologists who protect French language rights at home. They called on his government to reverse cuts and properly resource federal language services so francophones can have equal access to public services, follow parliamentary proceedings, and participate fully in Canadian democracy in their own language.
Federal language experts – the 800 translators, interpreters and terminologists represented by CAPE – begin negotiations for their next collective agreement on October 21, after their last agreement expired in April. Their bargaining demands connect working conditions directly to the protection of French: enforceable AI safeguards, manageable workloads, safe working conditions, enshrined quality standards, and language work brought back into a properly resourced public service.
The Translation Bureau’s plan to cut 25 per cent of its workforce over five years is already creating a vicious cycle: translators are being forced to cut corners in the name of “good enough”, undermining their professional integrity and causing burnout, as well as damaging the quality standards needed to ensure equal access to services in both official languages. Since more than 90 per cent of translations in the federal government are done from English to French, this directly risks creating a two-tier system where francophones are treated as second-class citizens and substantive equality between the two official languages is threatened.
In her Annual Report 2025-2026 released on October 8, Official Languages Commissioner Kelly Burke recognizes the English bias of AI tools and calls for official languages to be integrated into all the federal government’s AI strategies, policies and resources.
On October 19, CAPE launched a public campaign blanketing Quebec and the National Capital Region with online and bus stop advertisements demanding that Carney stop paying lip service to the Official Languages Act as he quietly dismantles the linguistic services that keep French language rights alive.
QUOTES
“Carney can’t say he’s protecting French while cutting workers whose work is required to ensure francophones have equal access to public services. As the translators, interpreters, and terminologists of the Translation Bureau, we are bargaining for the safeguards and working conditions that allow us to protect and maintain the integrity of official languages in Canada. We want an agreement that ensures our professional integrity and our judgment are never sacrificed in the name of “good enough”.
-Antoine Hersberger, TR Vice-President, CAPE
“Protecting French language rights requires investing in the public services and workers who make those rights a reality. Instead, Prime Minister Carney is cutting translation services and relying on AI and outsourcing, putting public sector jobs at risk. The NDP stands with federal translators, interpreters and terminologists: their work is vital to a truly bilingual country, and they deserve the resources, protections and working conditions to do it well.”
-Avi Lewis, Leader, NDP
"We work in a bilingual workplace, yet this federal government is weakening the very tools that ensure everyone has access to quality language services. That’s a failure to uphold its responsibility to Canada’s official languages. We stand with federal translators, interpreters and terminologists fighting to protect their jobs and their right to a healthy and safe workplace. AI and private contractors cannot replace their expertise, judgment and accountability. The government should be strengthening these essential public services—not outsourcing them and putting language services at risk.”
-Sharon DeSousa, National President, PSAC
“Canadians deserve high-quality language services that protect their rights and ensure full participation in democracy. That takes skilled, accountable experts—not cuts, outsourcing or AI replacing qualified workers. The government should be strengthening these essential services, not putting rights, safety and jobs at risk.”
-Sean O’Reilly, President, PIPSC
“This is about more than a labour dispute; it’s the fight for the integrity of our public services. Cuts, outsourcing, and unreliable AI are stripping public institutions of the expertise they need to serve francophones and uphold their rights. This is a fight for the French language and culture in Canada. Translators, interpreters, terminologists, and assessors are public service workers who care deeply about their work. Public sector unions stand united with them all. Protecting the services that francophones—and all Canadians—rely on means protecting the people who deliver them.”
Ruth Lau MacDonald, Regional Executive Vice-President, PSAC-NCR
“AIIC-Canada stands with our colleagues at the Translation Bureau, many of whom are active members of our Association. By protecting interpreters, we protect every Canadian’s right to be heard and understood in the language of their choice. Yet the cuts, the degradation of our working conditions, and the threats to our health and safety directly jeopardize the quality and long-term viability of our services.”
- Alionka Skup, President, International Association of Conference Interpreters – Canada Region
