Normand Labrie has distinguished himself with his work on linguistic pluralism, a field he has studied from several angles, ranging from language practices and linguistic policies to identity-building and access to education for francophones living in French-language minority communities.
As a guest lecturer, he has taught sociolinguistics and Canadian studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle–Paris 3, and the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.
After leading the Centre de recherches en éducation franco-ontarienne for 10 years, Labrie was associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies from 2004 to 2012 at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, which ranks among the world’s best institutions in the field of education. He was also scientific director from 2012 to 2015 of the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Société et culture.
For several years, Labrie acted as an international expert on linguistic minorities for the European Commission. He also chaired the Réseau international des observatoires du français et des langues nationales at the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie. From 2013 to 2017, he represented Canada on the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations program, where he was elected rapporteur.
Labrie was named a chevalier of the Order of La Pléiade in 2007, in recognition of his contributions to the Francophonie in Ontario, and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016.