In just under a year’s time, important pieces of the new French language law are set to come into force for companies operating in Quebec. Although many are preparing for the laws to be applied, the future requirements are still causing some stress, notably because of the paperwork involved and what some say is a lack of clarity.
As June 1, 2025 approaches, Isabelle Jomphe and Brittany Carson, two lawyers at law firm Lavery, have their hands full. Since the adoption of Bill 96 in 2022, they have been helping numerous companies in Quebec and abroad to comply with the various amendments.
“We’re coming up to the last law. So, we need to look for the little additional details to try to advise companies as well as possible and avoid unpleasant surprises on June 2, 2025,” said Jomphe in an interview.
The lawyer devotes much of her time to the issues surrounding future trademark regulations.
One of these concerns exterior commercial signage. French will have to appear “clearly predominant” when a company’s trademark is displayed in a language other than French. A company that has a name with an expression taken from a language other than French is also affected by the measure.
“It may require merchants to make major changes to their storefronts if they don’t already meet this criterion,” said Jomphe.
Carson is working on the issue of francization, which from now on will affect small businesses with 25 to 49 employees. They must register with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) before June 1, 2025, and begin the process of francization.
This involves carrying out a linguistic analysis to demonstrate the widespread use of French at all levels of the organization and obtaining a francization certificate from the OQLF.
Carson said many of the questions she receives are from companies headquartered outside Quebec.
“For people who may work on a daily basis with people outside Quebec who don’t speak French, who don’t write in French, it’s quite a challenge,” says the labour and employment lawyer.
Still a “lack of understanding”
According to François Vincent, Quebec vice-President at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), there is still a “lack of awareness of what’s coming” among its members.
“Especially the administrative burden of being told that they function well in French,” he added, referring to the documents companies will need to complete as part of the francization process.
CFIB estimates that it will take between 20 and 50 hours for companies to answer francization-related questions. And based on the latest OQLF data, most of them will be told that they are meeting their linguistic obligations, Vincent believes.
As of March 31, 2023, 66 per cent of certified companies “obtained their certificate without having to implement a francization program,” according to the OQLF’s 2022-2023 annual management report.
With companies facing many challenges today, the francization process may be far down their list of priorities, Vincent said.
“Not that they don’t want to do it, or that they don’t operate in French. It’s just that it’s a real rush at the moment. The first consequence of the labour shortage is that the company director is on the floor putting out fires,” he said.
His organization is busy informing its members with a web page and webinars dedicated to the new obligations. On its website, CFIB has also launched a countdown to the new rules.
Vincent believes that Quebec could make an “extra effort” to better inform companies.
The OQLF said it’s planning “awareness-raising actions to inform companies of the new requirements.”
“It will offer personalized assistance to enable companies to validate their correction project, if necessary,” the office said by e-mail.
Grey areas
Implementing the new rules is causing “frustration” among retailers, said Damien Silès, general manager of the Retail Council of Quebec.
“Because it takes time, it takes money. And it was already very strict, so it’s making some of our retailers a little grumpy,” he said, noting that trademark display legislation was already updated a few years ago.
Véronique Proulx, president and CEO of Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters, noted that her members are “still very skeptical” about the usefulness and relevance of the measures.
“There’s also a lack of clarity,” she pointed out. “What we’ve often asked the OQLF for is a clear guide.”
The absence of an application guide creates a certain “concern among companies, because you don’t know whether you’re complying or not,” said Proulx.
Many are eagerly awaiting the final version of the regulations on the language of commerce and business to clarify the new provisions.
“There are still a few gray areas,” noted Jomphe. “There are still points that are open to interpretation, so we’re hoping for more clarification.”
Quebec’s Ministry of the French Language has said that “the regulation will be made public shortly.”
Silès hopes that retailers will be given more time to comply.
“Eighty per cent of the 32,000 businesses in Quebec have fewer than 20 employees. So they don’t have the same means to change,” he explained.
As to whether it will be flexible or tolerant in its application, the OQLF said that “certain transitional measures have been planned, notably to allow the sale of products already manufactured on this date that would not comply with the new rules.”
“The Office will work with each company to find a solution adapted to its situation,” the organization added.
Those interviewed reiterated that companies are keen to promote the French language and want to comply with the legislation.
“There’s a desire to do things right,” says Carson. But clear rules and a flexible approach are needed to enable “greater buy-in,” agreed Jomphe.
The ministry maintains that the government’s priorities “in terms of promoting and protecting the French language and the objectives of economic stakeholders are reconcilable.”
The new measures in the Official Language Act came into force gradually, some as early as 2002 and others last year.
– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 26, 2024.