Reform of the Charter of the French Language: consequences for companies doing business in Quebec

Do you have questions about the reform of the Charter of the French Language? Is the Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, assented on June 1, 2022, creating doubts and concerns within your teams and your company? Our speakers will analyze the key points of this new Act in order to shed light on the main impact it will have on businesses doing business in Quebec.

The reform of the Charter of the French Language, which has resulted in the Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, aims above all to strengthen and affirm the status of French in all spheres of society.

The Act thus has significant implications for companies’ business practices and obligations in a number of areas, including labour relations, public posting, advertising, websites and social media, contracts and security, and interactions with the civil administration. The Act also adds requirements related to the francization of businesses and relations with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)

Here is a summary of the main impacts that the new Act will have on the daily life of companies doing business in Quebec and that will be discussed in depth by our speakers during the training:

1. Administrative obligations, francization and the new powers of the OQLF

   Once a company has 25 or more employees in Quebec, it is required to register with the OQLF. The Government of Quebec and other organizations associated with the Quebec civil administration will no longer be able to contract with companies that do not have a registration certificate issued by the OQLF and that have not provided an analysis of their linguistic situation.

2. Language of work

   The Act lists several documents that must be written and/or accessible in French: offers of transfer, written individual employment contracts, communications to individual workers or to an association of workers, and communications following the end of the employment relationship. Application forms, documents on working conditions and training documents produced for employees must be available in French. A new evaluation chart will need be used before requiring knowledge of a language other than French for a job.

3. Contracts, security and impact on transactions

   Parties to contracts of accession or of a similar nature and contracts of consumption must receive the French version of the text before entering into a contract in a language other than French. Otherwise, the consent or acceptance of the contract will not be valid. Security interests (such as mortgages) must be registered and executed in French.

4. Trademarks and public posting

   Currently, French must be “clearly predominant” in public signage and commercial advertising. It will no longer be enough for a trademark to be registered in English only or for French to be sufficiently present in public signage.

5. Advertising, websites and social media

Catalogues, brochures, pamphlets, business directories, purchase orders and any other documents or publications of a commercial nature that are accessible to the public will have to be written in French. If the content is available in languages other than French, the French version must be at least as accessible and prominent as the version in another language. This obligation will also apply to commercial content available on websites and on social media.

Agenda

• 8:30 am - 10:00 am ET / 5:30 am - 7:00 pm PT     Webinar and Q&A

Cost

This webinar is complimentary

Materials and Webinar Recording: If you are unable to attend the webinar but wish to receive the materials and webinar recording after, please click the "Materials and Webinar Recording" option at bottom of this page.