New regulations published Wednesday say French has to be "markedly predominant" on public signs and commercial advertising, even where the business name is in English. In practice, that means stores like
"In
The new rules, which take effect on
On Wednesday, several business groups warned that companies may struggle to implement the new rules by next June. Michel Rochette,
"The signs are not something that is super easy to change, knowing that cities and landowners have their own rules regarding signage," Rochette said. "So it might be complicated for some merchants to change their signs within that short amount of time."
Under the current rules,
That could mean including a generic term like "clothing" on the storefront of a clothing store with an English name, perhaps alongside a slogan written in French.
The Office québécoise de la langue française, which is tasked with enforcing
"Obviously we would have liked it to be earlier, but at least we now can start the work to comply with the requirements arising from the regulations," said
However, the business community is pleased that the new regulations do not include a requirement to translate inscriptions on appliances and other products, such as the "wash" or "rinse" labels on a washing machine. That proposal was included in draft regulations published in January, but industry groups complained that it wouldn't be feasible for many companies.
"I am satisfied to see that our demands have borne fruit and clearly demonstrated to the government that it was on the wrong track," said
A spokesperson for Roberge said the government has not backed down on the issue, and it will be addressed in a future regulation after more consultation with industry. There is no timeline on that process.
The regulation also imposes new language rules on product packaging. Currently, English trademarks don't have to be translated into French, but the government has argued that companies sometimes include descriptions of their products in their trademark — "lavender and shea butter" hand soap, for example — to get around translation requirements. Under the new rules, that descriptive language will have to be translated into French.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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