How to Start Meeting Quebec's French-Language Requirements for Your Business

This guide covers the process only: what Quebec's French-language rules require of a business, the deadlines the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) states, and the registration steps exactly as the OQLF states them. It states what the law requires as the OQLF presents it. It offers no commentary on the policy behind the rules, and it is not legal advice. If a specific sign, label, contract, or workplace document is in dispute, or if the business has received a notice from the OQLF, get advice on that specific item rather than relying on a general guide. The OQLF states on its business pages that it supports businesses in applying the changes and takes their particular circumstances into account, and its contact page is the route for a question about a specific case.

Two ideas organize everything in this guide, and confusing them causes most mistakes. The first is the francization process: a formal, staged process run through the OQLF that applies to larger employers. The second is the everyday language obligations that apply to all businesses: the language of work inside the business and the language of commerce and business toward customers. A small business with four employees never registers for francization, but it still has to serve and inform customers in French, still has to follow the signage rules, and still has to give a standard-form contract in French first. A business with 200 employees has to do all of that and work through the francization process as well.

Step 1: Work out whether the francization process applies to your business

The test the OQLF states is headcount over time, in Quebec. Businesses that employ 25 or more people in Quebec during a period of six months must register with the OQLF in order to begin a francization process. Businesses that are not yet registered must do so through the OQLF Portal. The OQLF notes that creating an account on the Portal is not possible for a business already registered with the Office or already holding a francization certificate, which means a business that registered years ago follows the Office's existing file route rather than creating a new Portal account.

Count people employed in Quebec, not full-time equivalents, and count across the business's Quebec establishments together. The Government of Quebec's francization page for temporary foreign worker files states the same test in the same terms: a business carrying on activities in Quebec that employs 25 or more people during a period of six months is subject to the francization chapter of the Charter. If the business is close to the threshold, keep a dated record of headcount month by month, so the date the six-month period ends can be shown if the OQLF asks. This guide states no registration deadline measured in days or months from the end of that period, because the OQLF business page states the obligation and the Portal route but does not state that deadline figure. Confirm the deadline for registering with the OQLF directly before planning around it; do not carry a deadline from a law-firm summary into the file.

Certain organizations are outside the francization process even at 25 or more employees. The Government of Quebec page lists university establishments, religious associations, professional orders, businesses located on an Indigenous reserve, and bodies of the Administration as organizations not subject to the process, and businesses employing 24 or fewer people as outside it. If the business believes it falls in one of those categories, confirm the position with the OQLF rather than assuming the exemption applies, because the exemption turns on the organization's legal character, not on its size alone.

Step 2: Register with the OQLF through the Portal

Registration is the first formal step, and it is the step that creates the file everything else hangs from. The OQLF issues an attestation of registration once the business is registered. Keep that attestation: it is one of the documents that can prove compliance with the francization process when the business seeks a subsidy, takes part in a public call for tenders, or concludes a contract with a body of the Administration. The OQLF states that a business employing 25 or more people that wishes to obtain a subsidy, take part in a public call for tenders, or conclude a contract with a body of the Administration must attach an attestation of registration, a francization certificate, or another valid Office document confirming it complies with the francization process. A business can be judged compliant even before it holds a francization certificate, if it holds an attestation of registration or another valid document confirming compliance.

The Charter provision the Government of Quebec cites for this consequence is section 152.1, which provides that the Administration may not conclude a contract with a business or grant it a subsidy if the business fails in its obligation to comply with the francization process. In practice this means the registration documents are procurement documents as well as compliance documents: a missing attestation can block a contract or a subsidy even while the francization work itself is still under way. File the attestation where the people who prepare tenders and subsidy applications can find it, not only where the human-resources file lives.

Step 3: Assess the linguistic situation within three months

Within three months of the date the attestation of registration is issued, the business assesses how French is used in its general operations and in its internal and external communications, and sends the relevant information to the Office. The OQLF cites articles 136 and 139 of the Charter for this step. The Office provides forms for the analysis, including a linguistic-situation analysis form and a form on the linguistic situation of information technologies, and the assessment covers the elements the Charter names: the knowledge of French of the business's personnel, the use of French as the language of work and internal communication, and the availability of French versions of information technologies, among others.

Treat this assessment as evidence-gathering, not as a translation exercise. The questions the Office asks go to what actually happens: which language meetings run in, which language job offers and employment contracts are drawn up in, which language the tools and software present, and which language training is delivered in. Answer from observation and from documents, not from intention. A business that reports French is generalized everywhere when its internal systems run in another language will get a program request anyway, and will have lost the time it spent preparing a polished but inaccurate assessment. The francization committee, where one exists, is involved in this analysis; in a business with 100 or more employees, the committee sees to the development of the program that follows.

Step 4: Follow the Office's finding — certificate, or a francization program

The Office examines the analysis and makes one of two findings. If it considers the use of French generalized at all levels of the business, it issues a francization certificate, and the business must then ensure the permanence of the use of French. The OQLF publishes a form for the triennial report on how the use of French in the business has evolved, which is the reporting instrument for a certified business. If it considers the use of French is not generalized, it advises the business that it must develop and adopt a francization program, citing article 140 of the Charter.

A francization program must aim at generalizing the use of French within the business, and it addresses the elements that must be corrected, under articles 140, 141, and 142. The business develops the program and submits it to the Office for approval within three months of receiving the Office's request to develop a program. A francization program form is provided for this purpose; the OQLF directs businesses to contact the francization adviser responsible for their file for more information about the form. In businesses employing 100 or more people, the francization committee sees to the development of the program. After examining the submitted program, the Office assesses whether implementing it will achieve the objectives in the Charter. If so, it approves the program and issues an attestation that the program is being applied, under articles 140 and 143.

Once approved, the business implements the program's measures on the schedule the program sets. Every 12 months, it takes stock of progress and gives the Office a report on implementation, under article 143; in businesses with 100 or more employees, the committee writes the implementation report. The business must circulate its program and the implementation reports to its personnel. A business that expects it will not finish implementing its program within the set time may ask the Office to extend it, but the request must reach the Office no later than three months before the program's deadline expires, under article 144.1. The Office issues a francization certificate when it considers French generalized at all levels, whether no program was needed or following the application of a program.

Two special cases sit alongside the standard process. The application of a francization program in certain head offices and research centres may be the subject of a special agreement with the Office, valid for at most five years and renewable; head offices and research centres eligible for such an agreement may use a language other than French as the language of operation for the activities covered by the agreement. And the OQLF publishes a model language policy and models for a policy on the use of French in information and communications technologies, which a business can adopt as the written backbone of its program rather than drafting from a blank page. Neither instrument replaces the Office's approval: a model policy is a starting point, and the program still goes to the Office for approval.

Step 5: Meet the everyday obligations — work, customers, and the language of the business

The francization process is only one part of compliance. The OQLF states that all businesses have obligations concerning the language of work and the language of commerce and business, including the fundamental right of workers to carry on their activities in French and the right of consumers of goods and services to be informed and served in French. The Office's business page lists the topics under the language of work: employees' associations, dismissal or demotion, collective agreements, training, job application forms, language of service, mediation, disciplinary measures, nullity of legal acts, work tools, machines and equipment, publication of a job offer, work meetings, and information technologies and software. Each topic has its own page on the Office's site. This guide does not summarize those pages, because the rules differ by topic and a summary would flatten distinctions the Office draws carefully. Work through the topics that touch the business's actual practices, starting with the ones that generate documents: job offers, employment contracts, training material, and work tools.

The same discipline applies to the language requirement for a job. The OQLF publishes an aide-mémoire for employers on requiring knowledge of a language other than French, and an analysis tool for a business's language requirements. If a position genuinely requires knowledge of another language, use the Office's analysis tool to document why, and keep that analysis with the posting file. Do not copy a language requirement from another employer's posting, and do not state a requirement in a posting without the analysis behind it.

For workers who need to learn or improve their French, the Government of Quebec page on francization in the temporary foreign worker program points to two routes the business can use: workers can enrol on their own in the French courses offered free of charge by the Government of Quebec, including courses specialized by field of employment, and the business can set up workplace courses with the support of Francisation Québec and its partners. Either route is a support measure, not a substitute for the francization process where that process applies.

Step 6: Check every customer-facing surface against the signage and advertising rules

Public signs and commercial advertising must be in French. They may also be in French and one or more other languages, provided every message in the sign is written in French and the elements in the same visual field ensure French is clearly predominant. A public sign is a message displayed on a sign adorning the exterior facade of a business, on a shop window, as a poster inside a business, on a display stand, or on a vehicle. The new rules on public signs and commercial advertising, including business names and trademarks, have been in force since June 1, 2025, under the amended Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, published June 26, 2024.

Clear predominance has a measurable meaning on the Office's page. For French to be clearly predominant in a sign, it must have a much greater visual impact than the other languages used. That means the French text must occupy a space at least twice as large as the text in another language, and must have permanence and visibility and legibility at least equivalent to any text in another language, including as to lighting. The French terms that ensure clear predominance must appear in the same visual field as the business name or trademark: one overall view in which all components of the public sign are visible and legible at the same time, without needing to move. For a dynamic sign, where text scrolls or alternates, French has a much greater visual impact when it is displayed at least twice as long as text in another language. Hours of opening, telephone numbers and addresses, figures and percentages, and definite, indefinite, and partitive articles do not count toward ensuring clear predominance. The components written in French must be designed, lit, and placed so they can be read at all times, easily and simultaneously with the other-language components.

A business name has its own rule. The specific element of a business name may be solely in another language than French if it is accompanied by a generic term in French: in the Office's example, in the name Vêtements Coolkids, Vêtements is the generic term and Coolkids is the specific element. A business may also add a French description or slogan, such as La mode à bas prix! or Vêtements pour enfants. A trademark may be written wholly or partly solely in another language than French if no French version of the trademark has been registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. If a French version of the trademark is registered with the Office, that French version must absolutely be displayed, inside and outside the premises. Since June 1, 2025, a business name containing a specific element in another language, or a recognized trademark wholly or partly in another language, that appears in a sign visible from outside a premises must be accompanied by French terms that ensure French is clearly predominant. A sign visible from outside includes one that can be seen from outside a space, enclosed or not, on a building or group of buildings, inside a shopping centre, or on a pylon or other freestanding structure.

The exceptions are narrow. Clear predominance is not required for a business name or trademark displayed inside a premises where it cannot be seen from outside, on a vehicle, or on a pylon or other freestanding structure carrying more than two business names or trademarks. Even in those cases, the business name must always be accompanied by a French generic term. The Charter also requires the exclusive use of French in some displays, such as commercial advertising inside public transport, allows equivalent French and another language in others, such as instructions for a treadmill in a gym, and allows the exclusive use of another language in others, such as the display of a surname or place name or advertising for a cultural product in another language. Before a sign is manufactured or installed, check the design against the Office's signage page and its illustrated examples of non-compliant and compliant signs, and keep the measurements: the twice-the-space test is checked on the finished sign, not on the design brief.

Step 7: Check product inscriptions and standard-form contracts before they go out

Product inscriptions follow a parallel rule. All information inscribed on a product, its packaging, or an accompanying document must be in French, and may also appear in another language provided the other-language inscription does not prevail over the French information or become accessible on more favourable conditions. A recognized trademark, meaning a trademark registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office or established by use, may appear on a product, packaging, or accompanying document solely in another language than French, except that a registered French version must appear on the products. Since June 1, 2025, the generic or descriptive elements of a trademark, such as ingredients, colour, scent, or other product characteristics, must also appear in French on the product or on a support permanently attached to it, while the name under which the product is marketed and the business name may remain solely in another language. A display stand, unlike packaging, counts as commercial advertising, so text on it must respect the clear-predominance rule rather than the product rule. The transition period to June 1, 2027 is described in the frequently asked questions section of this guide; confirm the product's manufacturing date and trademark filing position before relying on it.

Contracts of adhesion are the third surface to check. Since June 1, 2023, every new contract of adhesion must first be given in French to the adhering party, and only after the French version has been given may the parties choose to conclude the contract in another language if that is their express wish. The attached documents, including an insurance certificate or attestation, a termination or resolution form, and any other accessory document, may then be drawn up solely in that other language. A bilingual contract, or the simultaneous giving of a French version and another-language version, is acceptable if French appears at least as evidently as any other language and the same means of transmission is used for all versions. If the French version and the other-language version diverge, the adhering party may invoke either version, as they choose. For a contract concluded by telephone, the obligation is satisfied where the adhering party has expressly wished to conclude in another language and either the contract must take effect immediately and the person lacks the technological tools to access the applicable standard clauses in French, or the person was first invited to consult the applicable standard clauses in French by technological means. For a contract concluded by technological means, such as a website or mobile application, the obligation is satisfied if the applicable standard clauses in French are given to the adhering party, or if the technological means is available in French and the French version of the contract is accessible on it. Exceptions cover contracts used in relations outside Quebec and certain insurance policies with no French equivalent in Quebec. Renewal that creates a new contract triggers the obligation again, whatever the date of the original contract.

Figures cut from this guide

This guide states no penalty or fine figure for non-compliance, because no penalty figure could be verified on an OQLF or Government of Quebec page. It states no deadline for registering with the Office measured from the end of the six-month employment period, because the Office's business page states the registration obligation and the Portal route without stating that deadline figure. It states no composition or quorum rule for a francization committee, because those details sit in the Office's committee documents, which could not be verified on an official page. It states no rule for the language of a website or social media account beyond what the Office's business pages state generally, because no rule beyond those general statements could be verified on the Office's website and social-media guides; do not assume an English-only website selling into Quebec satisfies the Charter. Confirm every figure and deadline on the Office page that owns it before acting on it.

Related guides:

• How to Register a Business in Quebec: the REQ, Your NEQ, and the French-Language Rules — registering the business itself in Quebec, including the enterprise register and the French-language rules that registration engages.
• How to Start an Online Store in Canada — setting up online selling, including the tax and platform steps that sit alongside the Quebec language rules for a website.
• How to Register for GST/HST in Canada — the federal tax registration that a Quebec business handles through Revenu Québec for GST/HST.

Sources

• Office québécois de la langue française, "Entreprises" — the 25-employee, six-month registration obligation, registration through the OQLF Portal, the three-month linguistic-situation analysis, the francization program and its approval, the 100-employee francization committee, 12-month implementation reports, special agreements for head offices and research centres, public-contract and subsidy compliance documents, and the language-of-work and language-of-commerce topics list.
• Office québécois de la langue française, "Entreprises — affichage des marques de commerce et des noms d'entreprises" — public signs and commercial advertising in French, clear predominance defined as at least twice the space with equivalent permanence, visibility, and legibility in the same visual field, the June 1, 2025 rules for business names and recognized trademarks visible from outside, and the exceptions.
• Office québécois de la langue française, "Entreprises — marque de commerce sur les produits" — product, packaging, and accompanying-document inscriptions in French, recognized trademarks, the June 1, 2025 generic and descriptive element rule, and the transition period to June 1, 2027.
• Office québécois de la langue française, "Entreprises — contrats d'adhésion" — contracts of adhesion in French first since June 1, 2023, bilingual and simultaneous-version rules, telephone and technological-means satisfaction, and the exceptions.
• Gouvernement du Québec, "Contribution des entreprises à la francisation dans le cadre du Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires" — the 25-employee, six-month francization test, section 152.1 of the Charter on contracts and subsidies, the accepted proof-of-compliance documents, the organizations outside the process, and the Francisation Québec workplace-course routes.

Figures that could not be verified on an official page were cut from this guide: all penalty and fine figures; the registration deadline measured from the end of the six-month employment period; francization committee composition and quorum rules; and website and social-media language rules beyond the general statements on the Office's business pages. Check the OQLF pages linked above for current figures and steps before you act.