Quebec Bill 96: What Your Business Must Translate Into French

If your business sells to customers or employs staff in Quebec, Bill 96 has changed what you are legally required to provide in French — and the requirements reach well beyond companies physically located in the province. Quebec Bill 96 translation requirements now touch consumer contracts, employment documents, product labelling, signage, and websites. For businesses outside Quebec that have treated French as optional, the law makes a professional French translation strategy a compliance issue, not just a marketing choice. Here is what Bill 96 requires and how to prepare.

What Bill 96 is

Bill 96 — formally An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec — strengthened Quebec's long-standing Charter of the French Language. It reinforces French as the official and common language of the province and expands the obligations of businesses that operate in or sell into Quebec. Its provisions have been phased in over several years, with further requirements for product labelling and public commercial signage taking effect in 2025.

The practical effect is that French can no longer be an afterthought or a partial translation bolted onto an English-first document. In many situations, French must be present, prominent, and at least equivalent to any other language used.

What your business may need to translate

The reach of the law is broad. Depending on how your business operates in Quebec, the documents and assets that may require French include:

• ✓Consumer contracts, terms of service, and related documents provided to customers
• ✓Employment contracts, offer letters, and key human-resources documents
• ✓Product labelling, packaging, and accompanying instructions
• ✓Public commercial signage and storefront displays
• ✓Websites, online stores, and marketing materials directed at Quebec consumers
• ✓Invoices, warranties, and after-sales communications

For consumer and employment contracts in particular, individuals generally have the right to receive a French version before agreeing to one in another language. That makes accurate legal and contract translation a front-line compliance task rather than a back-office formality.

Who has to comply

Bill 96 applies to businesses carrying on activities in Quebec — and "in Quebec" is interpreted broadly. A company headquartered in Calgary, Toronto, or outside Canada that ships products to Quebec consumers, runs a French-facing online store, or employs staff in the province can fall within scope. Larger employers face additional obligations around francization. The safest assumption for any business with Quebec customers or employees is that the French-language requirements apply to you.

French translation is not the same as localization

Meeting the requirement is not simply a matter of running text through a translation tool. Quebec French has its own conventions, terminology, and register, and a version that reads as generic or as European French can undermine the very trust the law is meant to protect. Effective compliance pairs accurate translation with proper localization for the Quebec market — adapting terminology, tone, and formatting so the French version reads naturally to a Quebec audience and stands on equal footing with the original.

This matters most for customer-facing material. A contract that is technically translated but awkwardly worded invites disputes; signage or packaging that uses the wrong term can draw complaints. Translators who specialize in Canadian French close that gap.

What is at stake if you don't comply

Compliance is overseen by Quebec's language regulator, which can receive complaints and require businesses to correct non-conforming documents, signage, or practices. Beyond any formal consequence, customers and employees can lose confidence when French is missing or visibly second-class. For most businesses, the disruption of being asked to redo customer-facing materials — and the reputational cost that comes with it — is reason enough to get the French right the first time.

How to prepare for compliance

You do not need to translate everything overnight, but you do need a plan. A practical approach:

• ✓Inventory every customer- and employee-facing document, asset, and touchpoint that reaches Quebec
• ✓Prioritize legally sensitive material first — contracts, labelling, and signage
• ✓Standardize terminology so the same terms are used consistently across documents
• ✓Work with translators who specialize in Quebec French rather than generic French
• ✓Build translation into your process for new content, so future documents launch bilingual

Treating French as part of your standard business translation workflow — rather than a one-time project — keeps you compliant as you add products, contracts, and pages. If you are mapping out what your business needs to translate for Quebec, you can request a quote with your documents and we will help scope the work.