Retail Council of Quebec asks for financial help to meet signage rules

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QUEBEC — The province’s retail council is asking the government for financial aid to help its members shoulder the hefty costs of replacing or adjusting hundreds of outdoor commercial signs and business facades.

Having failed to convince the Legault government to give Quebec’s 33,000 retail outlets more time to adjust to new French-language sign regulations, the Retail Council of Quebec said members will need help to meet the June 1, 2025 deadline to change their facades.

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Damien Silès, director general of the council, said while most Quebec retailers have signs that respect the new regulations, which stem from Bill 96, others — particularly smaller firms with fewer means — will have a harder time evolving.

More than half of Quebec’s retailers employ fewer than 10 people.

“Yes, we need more time, but we also need money because there’s a cost for those who have to take action,” Silès said in an interview with The Gazette Friday.

“This represents an additional financial burden for businesses. If they have to make modifications, they are the ones to bear the cost. It’s clear if you are talking about an international group, with hundreds of stores, the bill is going to climb incredibly fast.”

Silès was reacting to new government regulations for outdoor commercial signs published this week by French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge.

The regulations, which Quebec says simplify previous rules, require Quebec companies — from small corner stores to multinational chains — to adopt a “French first and predominant” policy for their outdoor signs.

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English is not banned, but it has to be accompanied by slogans or descriptives in French. The regulations say French must be “markedly predominant,” have “a greater visual impact” over any other language on the sign, and take up two-thirds of the area.

Silès said it is too soon to tell how many retailers will need to change their signs, or what the costs will be, because the regulations have just arrived. But he added there have been indications in the last few days that those costs could be high.

Michel Rochette, president of the Retail Council of Canada’s Quebec chapter, has said adjusting to the new regulations will cost $20 million to $25 million per operation for certain large companies.

Roberge has estimated it will cost Quebec retailers a total of $7 million to $15 million to conform.

Silès said many retailers just finished adjusting their signage from the last round of government regulations presented in 2019 and now are being hit again. There were no government subsidies offered for those previous changes.

“The changes they are asking for a second time are significant,” he said. “The idea would be to obtain financial support to help these companies make the changes.

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“We are in a francophone province, so we must respect the law. We are not against (the law) but we are saying improvements, more time to put this in place and financial aid would be welcome.

“Like everyone, we are living with inflation, rising interest rates, higher rents, and this becomes a new fee. It’s starting to really add up.”

Silès noted his council has been working in co-operation with the Office québécois de la langue française and has produced a kit to guide retailers on the new rules and find solutions.

“(The OQLF is) in a solution mode; they want to assist,” he said. “They are not in repression mode.”

Other organizations, including Quebec’s largest employer group, the Conseil du patronat, have also questioned the government’s haste in wanting to see the changes applied.

Asked about the retail council’s suggestion Friday, Conseil du patronat spokesperson Victoria Drolet said: “We aren’t against the idea, but our main demand today is, above all, giving companies more time to conform.”

Asked about the request for a subsidy, Roberge’s press aide Thomas Verville said: “There are many programs to help companies (on the books) but none specifically for signage.”

pauthier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/philipauthier

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