Canada’s defense minister has announced a review of a 2025 directive that determines the languages used in military workplaces due to recent concerns. In January 2025, the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces revised regulations regarding language requirements for internal activities and services. Previously, units were categorized as English, French, or both.
According to a DND blog post from late July, numerous organizations and units in unilingual regions faced challenges in meeting language obligations, leading to complaints and frustrations. The directive, known as DAOD 5039-2, took effect in January 2025, aligning internal language requirements with the language designation of the office location under the Official Languages Act.
Under the new rules, only workplaces in designated bilingual regions like New Brunswick, the National Capital Region, and parts of northern Ontario were mandated to use English and French exclusively for communication. However, these changes did not impact interactions with the public or military families. The military continued to promote the use of both official languages to enhance inclusivity and uphold Canada’s linguistic diversity.
The blog post garnered attention and criticism from advocates and official languages critics, along with opposition parties, who viewed it as a weakening of French language protection within a key federal department. In response to the concerns, Minister of National Defense David McGuinty announced a review of workplace language designations to ensure operational needs are met while respecting the language rights of the Defense Team.
The review will assess the application of language-of-work requirements and evaluate if the current approach aligns with operational demands. The timeline for the review was not specified in the announcement. The Conservative Party subsequently urged McGuinty to repeal the changes immediately, emphasizing the importance of Francophone members being able to work and advance professionally in French regardless of their posting in predominantly English-speaking regions.