Vancouver - Vancouver's Olympics have the opportunity to be a model for showcasing Canada's bilingual heritage, but more must be done, the country's official languages watchdog says in a new report.

Resources allocated to translation must be beefed up and increasing the numbers of bilingual volunteers and staff needs to be a priority for the Games organizing committee and all its partners, Graham Fraser, the official languages commissioner, said in the report released on Tuesday.

"There is often a gap between good intentions and actually succeeding in delivering the goods," said Fraser.

"I've never had any doubt about (the head of the organizing committee) commitment to this; I've found it inspiring," he said.

But he said it's useful to look at preparations for the Games and make some recommendations for improvement.

The organizing committee, known as VANOC, is obliged to respect Canada's laws on the use of official languages as part of the multiparty agreement signed with federal, provincial and local governments as a condition of hosting the Games.

"Even if we didn't have a third-party agreement it's important to do this," said John Furlong, the committee's chief executive officer.

"This is who we are. This is the country we all live in and love as much as we do, so this really for us wasn't so much just about language, it's about this spirit of duality."

The report, which follows earlier government studies on the role of French language and culture at the 2010 Winter Olympics, issued 18 recommendations overall.

VANOC received a draft version of the study ahead of Tuesday's release, and has already implemented about half of the recommendations.

A francophone friendly torch run

Among them, organizers have made sure the route for the torch relay runs through many francophone locations.

The report suggests the route was modified after communities in New Brunswick and Quebec expressed displeasure at initial plans.

Vancouver organizers also finally signed a partnership with Quebec-based broadcaster RDS for French-language broadcasting of the Games.

They are also actively recruiting bilingual volunteers, said Furlong, and he's made the personal effort of making sure he surrounds himself with bilingual staff.

There's more in store.

Furlong confirmed that VANOC is working to close a deal with a French-language media partner to help increase French-language coverage of events.

The report said the French language will be represented in 25 per cent of the programming for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Remaining challenges include making sure Games-related merchandise is available in French, and that all Olympic signs are in both languages.

The report also said organizers must make sure to send bilingual representatives to meetings with the francophone community to ensure they can be held in both English and French.

With the federal government contributing $20 million for the opening ceremonies alone, the federal department of Canadian Heritage must ensure adequate representation of both French and English communities, the report said.

Shortfall in French communication

While VANOC has made great strides, there are still gaps beyond simply being able to communicate in French, said Serge Corbeil, the vice-president of the B.C. Federation of Francophones.

He said the Olympics is about culture, as well as sports.

"All of that cultural programming around the Olympics -- the one-year countdown show, all the shows that will be happening almost on a daily basis during the Games, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies -- we believe should incorporate elements of francophone culture," said Corbeil.

He said there are certainly enough francophone artists to fulfil the need but "we haven't noticed there will be an artist from the Francophonie."

A member of VANOC's board of directors said francophone artists have been identified to participate in the opening ceremonies.

Fraser said that at the end of the day, he hopes the Games can be a testament to how a private-public partnership can showcase the best of bilingualism.

"I hope this will be so successful and people will be so proud of what has been done that there will be a sense of, of course that's the way we should do it, it worked so well in Vancouver that should be the model."