Quebec goes ahead with new French signage rules, delays requirements for appliances

The Quebec government will go ahead with its rules requiring all signs on commercial businesses, aside from the company name, to be predominately in French by June 2025. 

But the rules requiring appliance manufacturers to add French to their engraved markings, such as those on ovens, coffee makers and washing machines, will be postponed to maintain the supply chain. 

Aside from some minor changes, the regulations published in the province's Official Gazette Wednesday are essentially the same as those published in draft form in January.

Businesses have one year to give French at least twice as much space on their storefronts as any other language as part of the government's ongoing effort to protect Quebec's official language, said Jean-François Roberge, minister of the French language.

"Our objective is clear: to ensure that the French landscape of Quebec is clearly predominant in commercial signage," Roberge said in a statement. 

"It's a question of respect for North America's only French-speaking nation. We must also ensure that companies respect consumers' right to be informed and served in French."

While businesses are allowed to keep their names and logos in English, for example, the new rules stipulate that a description in French must take up two-thirds of the facade's signage.

"To ensure the clear predominance of French, the public display visible from the exterior of the premises of a trademark or company name must be accompanied by terms in French, including a generic term or description of the products or services offered, or a slogan," the regulation states. 

Roberge says the majority of businesses' signs already conform with the rules. 

In January, the province estimated compliance will cost Quebec businesses $7 million to $15 million to comply. Experts and business leaders have since contested that estimate.

"Certain companies, without naming them, have calculated that the regulatory changes will cost them between $20 and $25 million. And that's just for one," said the Retail Council of Canada's Quebec chapter president, Michel Rochette.

His organization called for a three-year delay between the publication of the new rules and their entry into force because certain brands will have to pay significant sums to comply — costs that could be passed on to consumers.

This update to the province's Charter of the French language came into force Wednesday and will be enforced next year — with fines ranging from $700 to $30,000.

Roberge said Quebec's French language watchdog, the OQLF, will have more resources to enforce the law and help businesses successfully comply with the new rules.