The Fraser Institute has released a study that calculates the cost of official bilingualism in Canada to be $2.4 billion annually.
The study found the federal government spends $1.5 billion annually to provide services in both official languages; the provinces pay $900 million annually.
Ontario alone spends more than $600 million annually on official bilingualism – the lion’s share of the provincial total.
British Columbia’s bilingual services total $23 million annually. The Fraser Institute calculates that to be $426.90 per francophone in the province.
The study concluded that provinces with large francophone populations could decrease the costs associated with the policy by contracting translation services from companies in the private sector.
The study was co-authored by François Vaillancourt, a professor in the University of Montreal’s department of economics.
Vaillancourt, who specializes in public policy issues, said the purpose of the study was to calculate costs, not to determine whether bilingualism is a good policy. He was unavailable for further comment by press time.
Emma Crawford