Upcoming Hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada: Does the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick Have a Constitutional Obligation to Be Bilingual?

On November 13, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case concerning the appointment of an English-only Lieutenant-Governor in New Brunswick, the country’s only officially bilingual province.

At first instance, the Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench ruled that the appointment contravened the linguistic requirements arising from sections 16(2), 16.1(1), and 20(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but not section 18(2) of the same constitutional document.

However, this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which found that the appointment does not infringe sections 16(2), 16.1(1), 18(2), or 20(2) of the Charter.

See:

Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau‑Brunswick c Le très honorable premier ministre du Canada, 2022 NBBR 85, inf par 2024 NBCA 70 (on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, hearing scheduled for November 13, 2025).

https://www.canlii.org/fr/nb/nbbr/doc/2022/2022nbbr85/2022nbbr85.html

https://www.canlii.org/fr/nb/nbca/doc/2024/2024nbca70/2024nbca70.html

Case file at the SCC : https://www.scc-csc.ca/fr/cases-dossiers/search-recherche/41398/