Official language official languages. The Northwest Territories has eleven official languages. All provinces, however, offer some necessary services in both English and French. Canadian advocates of a single official language say it promotes national identity. In Canada, debate has focused on whether the local majority language should be made the exclusive language of public business. In the Canadian province of Quebec, for example, laws restrict the use of the minority English in education, on signs, and in the workplace. According to the Finnish constitution, Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of the republic. Citizens have the right to communicate in either
Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms two changes were made to Manitoba's Public School Act (PSA) in 1966 and 1970 when French language instruction was once again recognized as an official language of instruction. Manitoba's minority French language instruction rights have developed since the introduction of the Charter and Section 23 to a point where they have allowed for the inclusion of a separate school board (La Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine DSFM) which is fully funded by the provincial treasury and operates throughout the Province. Significant with regards to the Province's (Manitoba) interpretation of section 23 is how the "number of Students" and not "mother tongue" is