News
“Language police” set sights on Canadian airports
Aug. 8, 2012, Ottawa - Canada's bilingualism watchdog is going undercover at eight major airports to see if travellers are served equally well in English and French.
August 8, 2012 By The Canadian Press
Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser says his office will conduct more than 1,500 anonymous observations this fall at
airports in Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.
All airports that serve more than one million passengers a year must provide services in both English and French.
The commissioner will check if signs are in both official languages, if staff offer a bilingual greeting to travellers and if services are available in French in predominantly English-speaking parts of the country and in English in French-speaking parts.
Fraser's office says the project will include observations of Air Canada's services on the ground and in the air on flights designated
as bilingual.
It will also look at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority's third-party services in security areas.
