The impacts of Bill 961
Legend of the coming into force of changes to the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business (following the final version published on June 26, 2024):
| July 11, 2024 | June 1, 2025 |
| Modified provision: 27.3 |
Modified provision: 7, 7.1, 25, 25.1, 25.2, 25.3, 25.4, 25.5, 27.1, 27.2, 27.4, 27.5, 27.6, 27.7 |
Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business
Charter of the French language
(chapter C-11, ss. 54.1, 58, 3d par., and s. 93).
DIVISION I
EXCEPTIONS TO SECTION 51 OF THE CHARTER OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
- For the purposes of this Division and unless the context
indicates otherwise, any provision applicable to an inscription on
a product also applies, with the necessary modifications, to an
inscription on its container or wrapping or on a leaflet, brochure
or card supplied with it, including the directions for use and the
warranty certificates.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 1. - An inscription on a cultural or educational product such as a
book, magazine, publication, disk, film or tape, or on a
non-promotional greeting card, appointment book or calendar, may be
exclusively in a language other than French if the content is in a
language other than French or if the cultural or educational
product, greeting card, appointment book or calendar has no
language content.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 2 - An inscription on a product may be exclusively in a language
other than French in the following cases:
- the product is intended for a market outside Québec;
- the inscription appears on a container used in interprovincial or international transportation of merchandise;
- the product is from outside Québec, has not yet been marketed in Québec and is being exhibited at a convention, conference, fair or exhibition;
- the product is from outside Québec, is intended for incorporation into a finished product or for use in a manufacturing, processing or repair operation and is not offered in Québec for retail sale;
- the product is from outside Québec and is in limited use in Québec and no equivalent substitute presented in French is available in Québec; or
- the product is from outside Québec and the inscription is engraved, baked or inlaid in the product itself, riveted or welded to it or embossed on it, in a permanent manner. However, inscriptions concerning safety must be written in French and appear on the product or accompany it in a permanent manner.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 3. - An inscription embossed on a tire may be exclusively in a
language other than French.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 4. - An inscription on the original wrapping of perishable food from
outside Québec may be exclusively in a language other than
French provided that the food is not offered for retail sale in
that wrapping.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 5. - An inscription on a product from outside Québec to be
used for medical, pharmaceutical or scientific purposes or an
inscription on the container of such a product may be exclusively
in a language other than French provided that the French version of
the inscription appears on the wrapping of the product or on a
document supplied with the product and either of the following
conditions is met:
- the product is not offered in Québec for retail sale and no equivalent substitute presented in French is available in Québec; or
- the product weighs 100 g or less or its container has a capacity of 10 cm3 or less or 10 ml or less.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 6 - The following inscriptions on a product may be exclusively in a
language other than French:
- the name of a firm established exclusively outside Québec;
- a name of origin, the denomination of an exotic product or foreign specialty, a heraldic motto or any other non-commercial motto;
- a place name designating a place situated outside Québec or a place name in such other language as officialized by the Commission de toponymie du Québec, a family name, a given name or the name of a personality or character or a distinctive name of a cultural nature; and
- a recognized trade mark within the meaning of the Trade Marks Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. T-13), unless a French version has been registered.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 7; O.C. 1000-2024, s. 1.
7.1. If no corresponding French version appears in the register kept under the Trademarks Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. T-13), a recognized trademark within the meaning of the Act, other than a trademark referred to in section 51.1 of the Charter of the French language (chapter C-11), as made by section 43 of the Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (2022, chapter 14), may be drawn up, even partially, on a product only in a language other than French.
If a generic term or a description of the product is included in the trademark, however, it must appear in French on the product or on a medium permanently attached to the product.
O.C. 1000-2024, s. 2.
- A toy or game the operation of which requires the use of a
non-French vocabulary may bear an inscription that is exclusively
in a language other than French provided that a French version of
the toy or game is available on no less favourable terms on the
Québec market.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 8
8.1. A list of the ingredients of a cosmetic may be written according to the conditions prescribed by the Cosmetic Regulations (C.R.C., c. 869).
D. 770-2006, s. 1.
- Nothing in this Division precludes the inscription on a product
of any artificial combination of letters, syllables or figures or
of pictographs, figures or initials.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 9.
DIVISION II
EXCEPTIONS TO SECTION 52 OF THE CHARTER OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
- Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any
similar publications may be in 2 separate versions, one exclusively
in French, the other exclusively in another language, provided that
the material presentation of the French version is available under
no less favourable conditions of accessibility and quality than the
version in the other language.
However, the version exclusively in another language may be inserted in a news publication published exclusively in that language; it may also be sent to any natural person having made a written request to receive such documents in that other language.
In addition, catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications intended for persons belonging to the same ethnical group may be written only in the language of such group.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 10. - Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any
similar publications concerning a cultural or educational product
within the meaning of section 2, concerning a cultural or
educational activity such as a show, recital, speech, lecture,
course, seminar or radio or television program or promoting a news
medium may be exclusively in a language other than French provided
that the content of the cultural or educational product is in that
other language, the activity is held in that other language or the
news medium publishes or broadcasts in that other language, as the
case may be.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 11. - Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any
similar publications relating to a convention, conference, fair or
exhibition, intended solely for a specialized or limited public,
may be exclusively in a language other than French.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 12. - In catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and
any similar publications, the following may appear exclusively in a
language other than French:
- the name of a firm established exclusively outside Québec;
- a name of origin, the denomination of an exotic product or foreign specialty, a heraldic motto or any other non-commercial motto;
- a place name designating a place situated outside Québec or a place name in such other language as officialized by the Commission de toponymie du Québec, a family name, a given name or the name of a personality or character or a distinctive name of a cultural nature; and
- a recognized trade mark within the meaning of the Trade Marks Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. T-13), unless a French version has been registered.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 13. - Nothing in this Division precludes the use of any artificial
combination of letters, syllables or figures or the use of
pictographs, figures or initials in catalogues, brochures, folders,
commercial directories and any similar publications.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 14.
DIVISION III
PUBLIC SIGNS AND POSTERS AND COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING
- A firm's commercial advertising, displayed on billboards,
on signs or posters or on any other medium having an area of 16 m2
or more and visible from any public highway within the meaning of
section 4 of the Highway Safety Code (chapter C-24.2), must be
exclusively in French unless the advertising is displayed on the
very premises of an establishment of the firm.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 15. - A firm's commercial advertising on or in any public means
of transportation and on or in the accesses thereto, including bus
shelters, must be exclusively in French.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 16. - Public signs and posters displayed on or in a vehicle regularly
used to transport passengers or merchandise, both in Québec
and outside Québec, may be both in French and in another
language provided that French appears at least as
prominently.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 17. - Public signs and posters concerning health or public safety may
be both in French and in another language provided that French
appears at least as prominently.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 18. - Public signs and posters of a museum, botanical garden, zoo or
cultural or scientific exhibition may, on the premises thereof, be
both in French and in another language provided that French appears
at least as prominently.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 19. - Public signs and posters and commercial advertising concerning
an event intended for an international public or an event in which
the majority of participants come from outside Québec, where
directly related to the nature and recognized purpose of the event,
may be both in French and in another language provided that French
appears at least as prominently.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 20. - A public sign or poster bearing directions for the use of a
device permanently installed in a public place may be both in
French and in another language provided that French appears at
least as prominently.
O.C. 1756-93, s. 21.
Footnotes
1 An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, SQ 2022, c 14, assented on June 1, 2022.
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