Québec's French-language rules for your website

If your business is established in Québec and uses its website to sell or promote what it does, that website has to be available in French. English can sit right beside it. Here is what the rules ask for in practice, and a checklist to get there.

This guide explains the rules in plain language as we apply them when we build sites. It isn't legal advice. For your specific situation, check with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) or a lawyer.

The law in one paragraph

The Charter of the French Language makes French the official language of Québec, including in commerce. It was significantly amended by the law known as Bill 96 (now Law 14), which became law on June 1, 2022. Websites aren't named word for word in the Charter, but the courts and the OQLF treat a business website as a commercial publication, so the same rules apply to it.

Who it applies to

Businesses with an establishment in Québec. The obligation to have commercial website content in French applies to businesses established in Québec that target the Québec market.

Every size of business. There's no small-business exemption for this. Éducaloi notes that the Charter applies regardless of size; the employee thresholds you may have heard about relate to separate francization rules for larger companies.

Businesses outside Québec are a less clear-cut case. Some sources describe the website obligation as aimed at businesses established in the province, while Éducaloi notes that businesses carrying on activities in Québec generally have to comply with the Charter. If you sell into Québec from elsewhere, get specific advice.

What it requires

• Your commercial content must be available in French. That covers the pages that market your products or services, including product information and the terms of purchase.
• Other languages are allowed. You don't need a French-only site. Montréal International puts it simply: the content must be available in French, and it can also be offered in other languages.
• Machine translation by the visitor doesn't count. Relying on a browser's auto-translate isn't enough. The French version has to be reachable without changing settings or signing in, and it has to work in every browser.

What it doesn't require

• The site doesn't have to open in French. According to the OQLF, as reported by Éducaloi, there's no rule that a website must load in French by default. A clear language switcher is enough.
• You don't have to delete your English site. A bilingual site is the normal, compliant setup in Montréal.

How it's enforced

Enforcement is mostly complaint-driven. Anyone who believes a business isn't following the Charter can file a complaint with the OQLF, which can also investigate on its own initiative. The OQLF can issue a warning with a deadline to comply.

Fines for businesses range from 3,000 to 30,000 dollars, and they double or triple for repeat offences. Websites are a real source of complaints: Éducaloi reports that in 2023 about ten businesses were fined after complaints that their website content wasn't available in French.

A compliance checklist for your site

• Every page that markets a product or service has a complete French version, not a summary
• Prices, terms of sale, warranties and policies are available in French
• Forms, buttons, error messages and confirmation emails exist in French
• Text inside images and videos is translated, or the images are replaced
• The language switcher is visible on every page and keeps visitors on the same page in the other language
• The French version works without an account, a plugin or a browser setting
• New pages and blog posts get a French version when they're published, not months later
• Translations are written or reviewed by a fluent French speaker, not left to raw machine output

The upside: French pages bring French traffic

A French version isn't only about compliance. It also lets you show up for the searches people in Québec type in French, which an English-only site will mostly miss. Built properly, with each language at its own address and the two versions linked to each other, both rank on their own.

When we build bilingual sites, we treat French as a full version of the site from day one, with its own page titles, descriptions and search settings, so neither language feels like an afterthought.