Sounding the alarm about access to justice in French

A new report paints a unique picture of the French-language justice sector's needs and challenges — and sounds the alarm. 

Commissioned by the Association of Colleges and Universities of the Canadian Francophonie (ACUFC) and the Réseau national de formation en justice (RNFJ), The labour market in the justice sector in Canada (outside of Quebec), (available in French only) concludes that justice in French, which is already fragile outside of Quebec, is threatened by a growing labour shortage and practices that vary across the country.

Between October 2024 and March 2025, 134 members of the legal profession, including lawyers, court clerks, prosecutors, court interpreters, and probation officers, bore witness to a system under strain, where the supply of French-language services no longer meets demand.

A labour market under pressure  

The report draws a clear conclusion: recruiting and retaining human resources is now the biggest challenge facing judicial organizations, both public and private. Amid an aging workforce and a rising number of retirements, there is a shortage of bilingual lawyers, paralegals, court clerks, legal translators, and court interpreters, among others. As a result, wait times have increased, the workload of existing personnel has skyrocketed, and French-language hearings are often postponed due to a lack of qualified personnel. 

While this situation is widespread, it is particularly prevalent in family, criminal, and immigration law. Firms are struggling to find lawyers in these fields who can plead cases and draft documents in French with the accuracy required, in environments where legal resources in French, particularly case law and model documents, remain scarce. 

Invisible, yet essential links

In addition to the shortage, the report points out that effective access to justice depends on a fully staffed ecosystem: court clerks, court officers, court coordinators, court transcribers, legal translators, and court interpreters. Missing links or links with inadequate language skills cause the entire machine to grind to a halt, resulting in delayed filings, confusion at the counter, transcription errors, and the risk of misunderstandings in the courtroom. In some jurisdictions, such as New Brunswick, nearly 29 per cent of court clerk positions may remain vacant, leading to emergency reassignments and burnout among bilingual staff. 

Legal translators and interpreters are yet another weak link. Recognition of these professions varies from province to province, certification is expensive, and current working conditions are considered less favourable than those in other sectors (federal government, conferences). Since the pandemic, the rise of remote interpreting has certainly improved access to such services in remote areas, but the technical quality (sound, image, overlapping voices) remains uneven and can compromise the integrity of proceedings. 

Between theory and practice

While Canada guarantees language rights in certain areas (criminal trials, divorce), the report shows that there remains a significant gap between the rights as expressed on paper and the services available in practice. 

In the same case, a litigant may be entitled to a hearing in French but may have to navigate a unilingual English court registry or wait weeks for an official translation. It is not uncommon for litigants to forego using French to expedite the processing of their case, resulting in additional costs and frustration. 

The diversity of French accents and dialects, as well as Francophone cultural references, adds a degree of complexity. Professionals who rarely use French (or who learned the language at school but rarely use it at work) feel linguistically insecure, which reduces the spontaneous offer of services in French, especially where the demand for such services is perceived as “marginal.” 

Rural regions, territories hit twice as hard

Rural areas and the territories face multiple obstacles: a lack of law schools, distances, required versatility, and logistical challenges. Few students trained outside rural areas choose to return to live and work there, which contributes to the ongoing decline in the workforce. Closing smaller courthouses, even when court sessions are held only once a week, increases travel time for litigants and witnesses, and may be reason enough to discourage legal action. 

Fairness and public confidence

The study concluded that the quality of services offered in English and those offered in French are not guaranteed to be of the same standard. 

Every additional delay, every untranslated document, every postponed hearing undermines litigants’ confidence and reinforces the idea that opting for French is a disadvantage. The authors of the report insist that this is unacceptable in an officially bilingual country and are urging institutions, professional associations, universities, law firms, and community organizations to work together to address the issue. 

A systemic approach

According to Martin Normand, president and CEO of the ACUFC, the solutions that emerge must be implemented in a structured manner within a coherent and sustainable system capable of ensuring long-term access to justice in French. “Initial and continuing training, a central element of the RNFJ’s mandate, is merely one link in this chain. The Réseau is committed to finding ways to pursue joint efforts to address the recommendations in the report.”

The report’s key message is that none of the measures will work in the long term if they are implemented in isolation. Awareness raises demand, training fuels supply, compensation and working conditions retain talent, and resources and scheduling optimize the system's operation. 

According to Rénald Rémillard, executive director of the Fédération des associations de juristes d’expression française de common law inc, all of these drivers must be properly identified and integrated into a coherent national plan with adequate multi-year funding. Otherwise, the vicious cycle of poor foresight and use of French is likely to persist, once again at the expense of true equal access to justice.

Finally, justice in French is not limited to bilingual judges. Accessibility requires comprehensive teams, tools, practices, and incentives designed to operate in French on a daily basis. This alone can improve the availability of accessible, high-quality services in French.