Official language minority communities (OLMCs) have an invaluable impact on our country's workforce and economy. That is why the Government of Canada is continuing its leadership on official languages by introducing the necessary measures to protect the vitality of Quebec's English-speaking minority communities and of French-speaking minority communities in the rest of the country, and to respond to the issues those communities face.
Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, Steven MacKinnon, announced important amendments to the agreements with organizations under the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities (EF-OLMC). Funding for those amendments is part of a $20.5 million indexing initiative, phased in over five years (2023 to 2028). This funding is in addition to the $74.5 million already renewed for 2023 to 2028. The amendments for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 indexing funding were completed in March 2024.
The EF-OLMC is Employment and Social Development Canada's flagship program to promote the vitality of OLMCs. The program funds a network of 14 organizations: one national Francophone organization and one organization in each province and territory. This additional funding will enable the 14 organizations to strengthen their capacity in community economic development, human resource development and partnership promotion to support inclusive local labour markets.
The Minister made this announcement during a visit to the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité (RDÉÉ) Canada, an organization dedicated to supporting OLMCs nationally.
Today's announcement highlights the federal government's ongoing commitment to work with OLMC organizations to support the development of these communities across the country. The EF-OLMC is also part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration. The Action Plan is the main instrument used by the Government of Canada to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society, in accordance with the Official Languages Act.
