French Language Health Services

Provision of French Language Services on Behalf of Government Agencies (Regulation 284/11)

Some services may be provided on behalf of a government agency (e.g. a ministry, Crown agency) by an outside third party. If a third party is carrying out a service on behalf of a government agency, this does not negate the government’s or its agencies’ obligation to provide services in French, including LHINs.

Under Regulation 284/11, every government agency is required to ensure that any service provided to the public on its behalf by a third party pursuant to an agreement between the government agency and the third party is provided in accordance with the Act. Specifically, the government agency ensures that the third party providing the service takes appropriate measures, including providing signs, notices, and other information on services, and initiating communication with the public, to make it known to members of the public that the service is available in French at the choice of any member of the public.

The deadline to comply with the requirements in Regulation 284/11 varies depending on when the agreement between the government agency and the third party respecting the provision of services comes into force. For agreements that came into force before July 1, 2011, the deadline is July 1, 2014. For agreements that come into force after July 1, 2011, the deadline for compliance is the day on which the agreement comes into force.