Section 38 of the Nunavut Act provides that the Official Languages Act of the Northwest Territories (inherited by Nunavut in 1999) “may not be repealed, amended or otherwise rendered inoperable (…) without the concurrence of Parliament (…) if that repeal, amendment or measure that otherwise renders that law inoperable would have the effect of diminishing the rights and services,” and thus confirms the official language status of French.

In 2008, Nunavut adopted its own Official Languages Act, which came into effect on April 1, 2013. Section 3 of the OLA recognizes three official languages in Nunavut: Inuktut, English and French, each having “equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in territorial institutions.”Sections 11 and 12 govern communication with the public and the provision of services. These articles recognize, among other things, the obligation of territorial institutions to make an active offer of their services and to communicate with members of the public in the official language of their choice. In short, the OLA aims to establish institutional trilingualism in Nunavut. The law began its five-year review at the end of 2023.

To coordinate the implementation of the OLA, the Minister of Languages tabled the plan, Uqausivut 2.0 (“our languages”) 2018-2023 in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in June 2018. This overall plan dictated the steps to be taken by territorial institutions with regard to the implementation of obligations, policies, programs and services.

Central coordination of the implementation of the plan is ensured by the Department of Culture and Heritage (DCH). The DCH also manages the Canada‑Nunavut Agreement on French Language Services and Inuktut Language. It offers consulting services to territorial institutions in the conceptualization, development and delivery of services in French, and provides financial support to their initiatives. The DCH supports the development of plans, policies and training, as well as the delivery of services in French in the Government of Nunavut departments through linguistic and communication services.

The Official Languages Branch plays a central role in promoting and coordinating the implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation of government language obligations and policies. The Francophone Affairs section of the branch oversees the administration of funds from the Canada‑Nunavut agreement allocated to departments and public agencies for their French programs and services, and supports community initiatives promoting Francophone vitality in the territory.