Official languages in Canada : Langues officielles au Canada : la politique fédérale

The legal protection of English and French is rooted in the British North America Act. Section 133 of this Act allowed for the use of English and French in parliamentary debates and court proceedings, as well as in the printing and publication of laws by the Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Quebec. In 1969, the federal government established a more formal framework for the use of English and French in its very first Official Languages Act, consequent to the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism's recommendations.