Official Languages at CIHR
CIHR Policy Statement on Official Languages
As an employer and in recognition of Canada's linguistic duality, CIHR is committed to serving the Canadian public in the official language of its choice, to the equitable participation of English and French speaking Canadians in the workplace, and to creating a work environment which is conducive to the use of both its official languages.
As Canada's federal health research funder, in order to ensure positive measures are undertaken within CIHR's mandate that will contribute to the vitality of English and French minority communities in Canada, CIHR:
- encourages the appropriate inclusion of Official Language considerations and of English and French speaking Canadians, including those living in linguistic minority communities, in health research design, conduct and application to improve health outcomes, and
- facilitates equitable access to its programs and services for health research stakeholders in official language minority communities.
CIHR, as Canada's federal funding agency for health research
- Is committed to supporting the development of official language minority communities (OLMCs) through investigator-initiated and priority-driven research funding programs. These programs may:
- support research that studies the health determinants and specific needs of OLMCs;
- support the generation and mobilization of knowledge on issues related to OLMCs (for example, access to health care/health services in the preferred official language, health status of OLMC populations); and
- support health research projects led by OLMC researchers.
- Is committed to supporting the development of OLMCs by encouraging researchers to consider issues related to official languages and OLMCs in developing their research projects, whatever their research field.
- Encourages researchers to submit their funding applications in the official language of their choice.
Resources
- Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
- Canadian Heritage Official Languages Secretariat
- Official Languages Act
- Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities
- SSHRC Policy on Section 41 of the Official Languages Act
Official Languages lexicon
Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC)
CIHR broadly defines OLMCs as groups of Canadians whose first or preferred language is French or English and who live in a province or territory where that language is in minority.
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) and Canadian Heritage define OLMCs as English-speaking communities in Quebec and French-speaking communities in a territory or in a province other than Quebec. About two million Canadians belong to an official language minority community.
OLMC Institutions
CIHR Eligible Institutions within OLMCs, which include Francophone or bilingual institutions, faculties and programs outside of Québec; and Anglophone or bilingual institutions/faculties/programs within Québec.
OLMC Researchers
For CIHR, OLMC Researchers refer to researchers studying any health-related topic who are based in an OLMC institution, and to researchers at any institution whose research is relevant to the health of Canadians living in OLMCs.
OLMC Associations
These are organizations that speak on behalf of OLMC institutions and researchers.
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