As of June 1, 2023, any person or entity required to be
registered with the Quebec Enterprise Registrar that has five to 49
employees and whose workplace is within the province of Quebec is
legally obligated to disclose the proportion of such employees who
are not capable of communicating in the French language. This
obligation is pursuant to the Act respecting the legal publicity of
enterprises (Quebec), amended by Quebec's Bill 96,
An Act respecting French, the official and common
language of Québec.
This information will be available for public consultation through
the Quebec Enterprise Registrar. It will also allow the Office
québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
— the province's regulator for ensuring compliance with
the Charter of the French Language — to
identify businesses in need of French language learning services.
The Quebec government
defines being capable of communicating in the French language
as follows:
[Unofficial translation] Being capable of communicating in French at work means that an employee is able to accomplish their tasks in French. Depending on the employment category and the tasks assigned to an employee, this may be evaluated in verbal or written exchanges with the employee's colleagues, superiors or clients. Communicating in French implies, for example, the ability to understand work instructions, participate in meetings, receive training, write or share work documents (memos, reports, forms, etc.) and serve clients in French.
As of June 1, 2025, this requirement will be reduced to apply to those with five to 24 employees whose workplace is within the province of Quebec.
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