Standing Committee on Official Languages

Comité permanent des langues officielles

For immediate release

Ottawa, November 21, 2018 -

Today, the Honourable Denis Paradis, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, presented a report entitled Issues Related to French-Language Training in the Field of Nursing.

The Committee examined the success rate of francophone registered nurses who take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN), a mandatory exam adopted in 2015 by the provincial and territorial regulatory bodies for the nursing profession (except in Quebec).

The Committee found that the decision to adopt the NCLEX-RN without coordinating its translation with certified Canadian translators or developing French study resources of equal quality to those available in English did significant harm to minority francophone registered nurses.

The Committee’s first recommendation concerns three issues: the active offer of health services in the minority language, including for access to nursing care; the awareness of health care professional bodies about the needs of official language minority communities (OLMCs); and the inclusion of enforceable language clauses in bilateral health care agreements between the federal and provincial or territorial governments.

The second recommendation relates to the addition of linguistic variables to health studies in order to collect hard data on the health of OLMCs.

The final two recommendations focus on improving the experience of francophones who take the NCLEX-RN. The Committee proposes that the federal government offer the Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators translation support for both the exam and the preparatory materials. It also proposes that the federal government provide financial assistance to the Consortium national de santé en français so that it can coordinate the development of tools to improve the success rate for francophone registered nurses who take the NCLEX-RN.

In conclusion, the Committee hopes that nursing students across the country will persevere and continue their training in French.

The report can be consulted on the Committee’s web page on the Parliament of Canada website. Anyone unable to access an electronic copy of the report can obtain a paper copy by contacting the Committee Clerk.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages is composed of 11 MPs. The Chair is the Hon. Denis Paradis (Brome—Missisquoi) and the Vice-Chairs are Alupa Clarke (Beauport—Limoilou) and François Choquette (Drummond). The other members are René Arseneault (Madawaska—Restigouche), Sylvie Boucher (Beauport— Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans— Charlevoix), Mona Fortier (Ottawa—Vanier), Bernard Généreux (Montmagny—L’Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup), Emmanuella Lambropoulos (Saint-Laurent), Alaina Lockhart (Fundy Royal), Jean R. Rioux (Saint-Jean) and Darrell Samson (Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook).