If your business sells to customers in Quebec, your website is not just a marketing tool. Under the Charter of the French Language, it is also a commercial document that has to respect your customers’ right to be informed and served in French. Since Bill 96 was adopted in 2022, those rules have been tightened, enforcement has become more visible, and a final wave of changes came into force on June 1, 2025. The good news: for most small businesses, compliance is very achievable once you know what the law actually asks for.
This guide explains the Bill 96 website requirements in plain English, what changed and when, and gives you a practical checklist to review your own site. It is written for owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses in Montreal and across Quebec, as well as companies elsewhere in Canada that sell to Quebec customers.
Important: This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules have exceptions and nuances, so consult a lawyer about your specific situation.
What is Bill 96, in a nutshell?
Bill 96, officially the Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, received assent on June 1, 2022. It amended the Charter of the French Language (often called Bill 101) and several other laws. Rather than switching on all at once, its provisions were phased in:
- June 1, 2022: most amendments took effect, including stronger enforcement powers for the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) and higher fines.
- June 1, 2023: the “French first” rule for contracts of adhesion (standard, non-negotiable contracts) took effect.
- July 11, 2024: regulatory amendments took effect, including rules on contracts concluded by phone or other technological means.
- June 1, 2025: the last major set of changes took effect, including new rules on trademarks and stricter requirements for French on signs visible from outside a business.
The core idea behind all of it is simple: a Quebec consumer should be able to do business with you entirely in French, with nothing lost along the way.
Who has to comply?
The language-of-commerce rules apply to businesses that offer goods or services to consumers in Quebec. If you have an establishment in Quebec, whether you are a café in the Plateau, a contractor in Laval or an online store run from Longueuil, assume these rules apply to your website. Non-profit organizations are generally treated as enterprises too, with some specific exceptions.
Businesses based outside Quebec that sell to Quebec customers often ask whether they are covered. The answer depends on the facts, including where you operate and how you target Quebec. This is precisely the kind of question to put to a lawyer.
Bill 96 website requirements: the core rules
1. A complete French version of your site
The Charter treats catalogues, brochures, commercial directories and similar publications, which include business websites, as documents that must be available in French. You can absolutely offer English, Spanish, Arabic or any other language as well, but only if the French version is:
- At least as complete: every product, service, price, promotion and piece of useful information available in another language must also be available in French.
- At least as favourable: no better deals, bonuses or conditions reserved for the English version.
- Equally accessible: the French version cannot be harder to find, slower to reach or buried in a menu.
- Of comparable quality: a rough machine translation that leaves pages half in English, or garbled French, is a risk.
In practice, this means a full bilingual website, not an English site with a French home page. If you are building or rebuilding, a properly structured bilingual website makes this much easier to maintain over time.
2. The right to be informed and served in French
Consumers have the right to be informed and served in French. On a website, that covers far more than page text. Think about your contact forms, live chat, chatbots, automated emails, order confirmations, account pages, error messages and customer support. If a customer writes to you in French, they should be able to get an answer in French.
3. Online contracts and terms of sale: “French first”
Since June 1, 2023, contracts of adhesion, meaning standard contracts whose essential terms are set by you and not negotiated, must be provided in French first. The customer can then choose to be bound by another language version, but only if that is their express wish after having been given the French version. A simple language-selection clause buried in your terms is no longer enough.
For a website, this can affect your terms of sale, terms of use, subscription agreements, booking conditions, contest rules and account sign-up terms. If you run an online store, have your checkout flow reviewed so the French version of the terms is presented properly. Our e-commerce team can set up the technical side once your lawyer has validated the approach.
4. Invoices, receipts and transactional documents
Invoices, receipts and similar documents must be in French. They can also include another language, provided the French is at least as prominent. If your online store generates invoices or receipts automatically, make sure the French templates are complete and are actually the ones sent to Quebec customers.
5. Online advertising and social media
Commercial advertising aimed at Quebec consumers is subject to the Charter’s advertising rules, which require French to be markedly predominant when another language is used, subject to exceptions. Review your social media ads, banners and sponsored posts that target Quebec, not just your website.
What changed on June 1, 2025?
The June 1, 2025 changes mostly target product labelling and physical signage rather than websites, but they matter for any business with products or a storefront.
- Trademarks: a trademark can now appear only in another language on products and signs if it is registered and no corresponding French version is on the register. Generic terms and product descriptions that are part of a trademark must appear in French.
- Grace period for products: certain non-compliant products manufactured before June 1, 2025 can still be sold until June 1, 2027, under conditions set by regulation.
- Exterior signage: on signs visible from outside a premises, French must be markedly predominant. In practice, French text generally needs at least twice the space of the other language, with comparable legibility and visibility.
Websites themselves were not dramatically changed by the 2025 wave. But the media attention around that date raised public awareness, and a site that was not compliant before is still not compliant today.
Fines and enforcement
The OQLF can act on a complaint or on its own initiative and can order a business to comply within a set deadline. For a business, fines for violations under the current rules range from $3,000 to $30,000. They double for a second offence and triple for subsequent ones, and each day a violation continues can count as a separate offence. Directors can also be held responsible.
Separately, businesses with 25 or more employees in Quebec over six months have francization obligations with the OQLF. That threshold dropped from 50 to 25 under Bill 96.
Practical Bill 96 website compliance checklist
- Audit every page: list all pages, products, blog posts and landing pages, then confirm each one has a French equivalent.
- Check the language switcher: it should be visible on every page and lead to the matching French page, not just the French home page.
- Compare offers and prices: promotions, coupons, shipping conditions and bonuses must be at least as favourable in French.
- Review forms and messages: contact forms, validation errors, confirmation messages, newsletters and automated emails.
- Review checkout and terms: terms of sale, terms of use and subscription conditions presented in French first, as advised by your lawyer.
- Check invoices and receipts: French templates active for Quebec customers.
- Check images and PDFs: text embedded in banners, infographics, downloadable guides and product sheets also needs French versions.
- Check plugins and third-party tools: booking widgets, chatbots, review widgets and payment pages should display in French.
- Review ads and social posts: any commercial advertising aimed at Quebec.
- Plan for maintenance: every new page or product should be published in both languages at the same time.
Good news: French is also good for SEO
Compliance and marketing point in the same direction. A large share of Quebec searchers use French, and many search terms they type have no English equivalent. A well-built French version, with proper hreflang tags, translated URLs, French meta titles and localized keywords, lets you rank for searches your English-only competitors simply miss. That is why we treat French content as an opportunity in our SEO work and in local SEO for Montreal businesses.
Language is only one part of being compliant online. Quebec’s privacy law also affects your forms, analytics and cookie banner; see our Law 25 website privacy checklist. For a broader review, our online presence checklist for Quebec businesses is a good next step.
Frequently asked questions
Can my website be English-only if most of my customers speak English?
If you are a business offering goods or services to consumers in Quebec, the general rule is that a French version must be available, regardless of your customers’ preferred language. You can keep an English version alongside it. Exceptions exist, so check your situation with a lawyer.
Is a Google Translate widget enough?
It is risky. The French version must be of comparable quality and as complete as the other versions. Automatic widgets often leave parts untranslated and produce poor-quality text. A professionally translated or carefully reviewed French version is the safer approach.
Which language should my website open in?
The law focuses on the French version being complete, accessible and of comparable quality. Many Quebec businesses choose French as the default language, which is a simple way to show French is not secondary. For online contracts, the French-first rule applies regardless.
Do my blog posts need to be in French too?
Content that informs consumers about your products and services is safest in both languages. Translating your blog is also useful for French-language SEO.
What happens if someone complains to the OQLF?
The OQLF generally contacts the business and can order it to correct the situation within a deadline. Failing to comply can lead to fines. Acting early is always cheaper than acting under an order.
Need a hand making your website fully bilingual, from content and SEO to forms and checkout? Loubane builds and updates WordPress websites for businesses across Montreal and Quebec. Contact us or call or WhatsApp us at 438-933-7601 to talk about your project.
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