What this is
Every public body that serves a designated community carries a duty it feels most sharply on the day someone is standing at the counter: to serve the public in French, actively and without being asked. The real test is simple. Can a francophone resident complete the task, on the phone, at the counter, or online, in French, from beginning to end, without being handed off or asked to switch to English?
Provenance answers that question with evidence, then builds the system that makes the answer yes and keeps it that way. We audit every public touchpoint, map the service journey where it breaks, chart who on your team can serve in French and where, check whether the procedures and documents your team works from actually let them serve in French, and assemble the record that proves your readiness to your council, your community, and the Secretariat responsible for francophone affairs. The work is grounded in a defined rubric we own, the Bilingual Service Readiness Index, so what you receive is a rating you can show and improve against.
The three packages
The engagement follows a simple arc. A fixed-fee assessment tells you exactly where you stand and what to fix first. A scoped build closes the gaps. A light annual retainer keeps you ready through each reporting cycle.
Bilingual Service Readiness Assessment
The full picture in one engagement. We audit every point where the public meets your organization and rate your active-offer readiness against the Bilingual Service Readiness Index.
- A touchpoint audit across signage and wayfinding, phone and voicemail, reception and the active offer, forms and letters, your website and online services, publications, social media, and the service counter.
- An internal-operations review of whether the procedures, templates, scripts, forms, and job aids your staff actually work from exist and function in French, so a French-speaking employee is not left delivering the service from English-only tools.
- A service-journey map that shows precisely where a francophone resident waits, gets handed off, or is moved into English.
- A capacity map of who can serve in French, at which service points, and on which shifts.
- A rated Readiness Index, a gap report, and a prioritized remediation roadmap with owners and dates.
- A Provenance readiness seal you can show your council, your community, and your funders.
Readiness Build
We implement the roadmap and turn the plan into standard work your team runs every day.
- Active-offer standard work, so French is offered proactively at every first point of contact.
- Bilingual templates for the forms, letters, and notices the public actually receives.
- Your French-language services plan, written and ready for the reporting cycle.
- The staff-capacity map and the evidence file that let you prove readiness on demand.
Readiness Maintained
Readiness is not a one-time event. A light annual retainer keeps the plan, the evidence, and the rating current.
- An annual re-assessment against the Index.
- A resident and user satisfaction check that feeds your maturity reporting.
- The plan and evidence kept current for each reporting cycle, so a review never catches you unprepared.
Who it's for
This is built for the public bodies that carry an active-offer duty and want to meet it with confidence rather than hope.
- Bilingual municipalities that need assessments to feed their maturity model and want a defensible rating to show council and residents.
- Provincial departments, agencies, and Crown corporations that are designated to serve the public in French and must keep a current services plan.
- Health and social-services authorities, where being understood in French is a matter of care.
- School divisions and other public agencies that run day to day in English but carry a duty to serve the public in both official languages.
How we work, and what we issue
We look at how the service actually runs, put a number on where it falls short, fix the process rather than blame the people, and write the better way down so it survives the next busy season and the next new hire. You are left with a rating you can defend and a plan your community and the Secretariat can see.
The Bilingual Service Readiness rating and seal are our own professional assessment against a defined rubric, not a government certification. They give you a credible, independent measure of your readiness and a clear path to improve it.
Who leads it
Benjamin Kobe
Benjamin Kobe, founder of Provenance Advisory Group. Natively bilingual, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and a former Canada Revenue Agency auditor, he built his career on process auditing and the discipline of evidence. His roots in francophone Manitoba, from Saint-Boniface to the RPFM, make this work close to home.
Common questions
Is this a legal service?
No. This is an operations engagement. We audit how your service actually runs in French, build the system that closes the gaps, and assemble the evidence. Your legal counsel advises on the law; we make the operation ready. The two sit side by side.
Do you issue an official certification?
No. We issue a private Bilingual Service Readiness rating and seal against our own defined rubric. It is an independent professional assessment you can show your council and community, not a government certification.
What exactly do you audit?
Every point where the public meets you: signage and wayfinding, phone and voicemail, reception and the active offer, forms and letters, your website and online services, publications, social media, and the service counter. We also review the internal side that makes service possible: the procedures, templates, and job aids your staff work from, the service journey end to end, and your staff capacity in French.
How long does the assessment take?
It is a fixed-fee engagement scoped to your size. A small municipality is quick; a larger designated body takes longer. We agree the scope and timeline before we begin.
Can you deliver in French?
Yes. The work is delivered in French, English, or both, by a natively bilingual practitioner rooted in francophone Manitoba.
Do we have to do the build with you?
No. The assessment stands on its own and is yours to act on. Many clients ask us to implement the roadmap because we wrote it, but that is entirely your choice.
Who leads the work?
Benjamin Kobe, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and former federal auditor, natively bilingual and rooted in the francophone community. See below.
Request an assessment or ask a question
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Also for private companies: Quebec francization
If your organization, or a partner you work with, operates in Quebec as a private company, the equivalent operational work there is francization and the OQLF certificate. There is a dedicated engagement for it.