Many Quebec business owners had marked June 1 on their calendar this year, some with concern. That is when the last major provisions of Bill 96 came into force, three years after the law itself was adopted in 2022. Most of the discussion this summer has focused on signage and trademarks. If a storefront displays a brand name in English, French must now be markedly predominant, which in practice means the French text occupies at least twice the space.
Websites have not been the main topic, since they have been covered by the rules for some time. The June deadline has nonetheless prompted questions about websites as well, and the website side is where we see the most small errors. This article sets out what we review.
This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects what a website developer committed to quality French pays attention to.
What do the French language rules require of a website?
The commercial content of the site must be available in French. The Charter of the French language treats a business website as a commercial document, in the same category as catalogues and brochures. The basic rule is therefore clear: any business operating in Quebec must offer its site's commercial content in French.
Other languages are permitted, and English is welcome. What Bill 96 tightened is the condition: the French version must be at least as available as the other language, and of comparable quality. A thinner French page linking to the "real" English site does not meet this requirement, nor does a French homepage with English everywhere else.
The Office québécois de la langue française is responsible for enforcement. Most cases begin with a complaint: someone notices a problem and reports it, and the OQLF contacts the business and asks it to correct the situation by a deadline. Most cases end there. Those that do not can become costly. Since 2022, fines for a business start at $3,000 per offence and can reach $30,000, and they double and then triple for repeat offences.
For a small business in the Petite-Nation, however, the fine is not the main risk. The main risk is a customer who writes in French, lands on an English page, and quietly takes their business elsewhere.
What changed on June 1?
For completeness, since these changes explain why Bill 96 has been widely discussed this summer:
- Signs visible from outside that include a trademark in another language must now give French marked predominance: twice the space, with similar legibility.
- If a product's trademark includes generic terms or a description in another language, those words must appear in French on the packaging. A grace period runs until June 1, 2027 for products manufactured before the deadline.
- Businesses with 25 or more employees in Quebec must now register with the OQLF for francization. Until June, the threshold was 50.
None of these are website rules as such. A business redoing its signage because of them, however, has a good opportunity to review its website with the same attention.
Which content must be translated?
All commercial content. This is where most small sites fall short, usually unintentionally.
The site is built in one language. Someone translates the homepage, the menu labels, and perhaps the contact page. The rest remains unchanged: product descriptions, booking conditions, the blog, the PDF price list, the form's error message, the confirmation email sent after a purchase.
Each of these elements is commercial content, and each is a moment when a French-speaking customer finds out whether the business's commitment to French is genuine.
Here are the points we check on any Quebec site:
- Every page in the English version has a French equivalent, and the language switcher leads to the matching page, not to the French homepage.
- Forms, error messages and automatic emails are also in French.
- Downloadable documents exist in French.
- The French text was written or reviewed by someone who speaks Quebec French, rather than pasted from a machine and left as is.
- The site opens in French by default for visitors in Quebec, or at the very least does not hide the French version.
Machine translation deserves particular attention. AI translation is currently good enough for a first draft, but not good enough to publish without review. It tends to produce France French, or a stiff, textbook French that nobody in Papineauville would use in conversation. Quebecers notice immediately, and the text conveys a lack of effort.
We recommend using it to save time, then having someone from the region read the text aloud and correcting any passage that sounds unnatural.
Can bilingualism be a business advantage?
Yes, when it is done properly. In this case, the law and sound business practice point in the same direction.
In the Petite-Nation, most year-round customers speak French. A significant share of cottagers, tourists and new arrivals from Ottawa or Montreal speak English, or prefer it. A business that serves both groups properly has a wider market than one that serves one and merely tolerates the other.
It is also better for search. Two complete language versions, configured correctly so that Google understands which page is which, allow a business to appear in searches in both languages. A half-translated site rarely appears in either. This is our main focus in bilingual copywriting: the French and the English must each read as though written for their own audience.
We see French first as the front door. English is a second door, and a valuable one to have.
How should a bilingual website be checked?
Page by page. A business may have redone its sign in the spring. What we still regularly find on local sites is the website version of the same problem: a French homepage placed on top of an English site, a booking form that switches language halfway through, a French menu two seasons behind the English one.
In most cases, there is no bad intent. The site simply was never reviewed in full, page by page.
We therefore recommend reviewing the entire site page by page, with both languages side by side, and clicking every button. It takes an afternoon, and the effort is worthwhile.