Canada refuses to extend bilingual bonus to Indigenous-language workers

Since the late 1970s, the federal government has paid a bonus of C$800 to workers who use English and French. Photograph: Mazyar Asadi/Pacific Press/Rex/Shutterstock

Canada’s federal government says it will not expand the scope of a program that pays an annual bonus to bilingual employees, excluding hundreds of government workers who speak an Indigenous language on the job.

Since the late 1970s, the federal government has paid a bonus of C$800 (US$617) to workers who use English and French, the country’s two official languages. But Canada has more than 60 Indigenous languages, and about 500 federal employees frequently speak an Indigenous language on the job.