The Quebec government has introduced new rules that will require at least two-thirds of storefront and outdoor commercial signs to be written in French, the Canadian Press reported.

According to the news service, stores like Canadian Tire, Best Buy and Second Cup will have to include generic terms or descriptions in French that take up twice as much space as the English brand name in their storefront signs.

The government has published the new regulations and they will take effect in June 2025. The new rules are part of Bill-96, a forthcoming law designed to protect the French language in the province.

“In Quebec, when Quebecers and tourists stroll through the streets, it must be clear: Quebec is a French-speaking nation,” Jean-Francois Roberge, Quebec’s minister of the French language, said in a statement, CP reported. “We must also ensure that companies respect the right of consumers to be informed and served in French.”

Under the current rules, CP reported, Quebec storefronts must display a “sufficient presence” of French, even in cases where the trademark name is in English or another language. But under the new regulations, French must have “a much greater visual impact than the text in the other language.”

The space containing French text must be at least twice as large as the space allotted to other languages, CP reported.

Several business groups have warned that companies may struggle to implement the new rules by next June, according to CP.

Michel Rochette, Quebec president of the Retail Council of Canada, told CP that many municipalities have their own sign bylaws, and businesses only have 11 months left to navigate the various rules.

“The signs are not something that is super easy to change, knowing that cities and landowners have their own rules regarding signage,” said Rochette. “So it might be complicated for some merchants to change their signs within that short amount of time.”

The Office quebecoise de la langue francaise, which will enforce the new rules, has pledged to help businesses comply.

Guillaume Talbot-Lachance, a Montreal-based lawyer who specializes in regulatory matters, wants the government to provide more guidance for small businesses as they attempt abide by the new regulations.

“Very often people want to comply with the law,” he told CP. “The problem is when they don’t understand the law.”

Photo: Canadian Tire