CQLR c C-11; Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (SQ 2022, c 14)
For businesses selling in Quebec working out what Bill 96 changed for labels, websites, signage and commercial documents. This page covers what you need to know and ways to avoid running into issues.
What we've seen reported
Bill 96, the Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, amended Quebec's Charter of the French Language, including its rules on French on products, signs, websites and commercial documents.1,2
Last updated October 2026 · General information only, not legal advice. Sources.
What the rules cover
These are the kinds of commercial content the Charter of the French Language describes, as amended by Bill 96 and the 2024 regulation, and where each requirement is described as applying.1,3
| Requirement | Where it applies |
|---|---|
| Product inscriptions, packaging and instructions | In French; another language may appear alongside, without greater prominence. |
| Recognized trademarks on products | Since June 1, 2025, may stay in another language only if no French version is registered. |
| Generic or descriptive terms within a trademark | Since June 1, 2025, those terms also appear in French on the product. |
| Public signs and posters | French markedly predominant where a trademark in another language is visible from outside. |
| Websites, catalogs and brochures | Commercial advertising, including on websites, in French, with other languages allowed alongside. |
| Contracts of adhesion | The French version offered first, before a version in another language is signed. |
| Invoices, receipts and other commercial documents | Drawn up in French, with other languages allowed alongside. |
Where it goes wrong
One approved set of product information ends up in many channels, markets and languages. Along the way it gets shortened, translated and reworded, and some versions end up without the warnings or details these rules require.
Aria 8 product information, label and instructions in French
How Arbitr helps
Manually review everything? Or do what modern teams do and use AI to check that what you publish matches what you approved.
FAQ
Well beyond the pack. The Charter of the French Language describes French on products, signs, catalogs, websites and commercial documents,1 and we usually find gaps in:
Treat each French version as approved content with its own record, not a translation done once. When the English master changes, every French version needs to change with it, and reprinted guides and agency files are where old versions tend to survive. Our content localization page shows how teams track this.
More than legal and marketing. Packaging, e-commerce, retail, customer service and finance (for invoices and contracts) all publish what the Charter describes, and so do distributors. Related rules are on our language requirements hub, including the Toubon law for teams also selling in France.
Keep one record per product: the approved French text, any trademark in another language and whether a French version is registered, the generic terms translated, and every label, page and sign it appears on. When a question comes in, you can trace each version quickly.
How it applies to a specific label is a question for your legal adviser. Where that label appears across your markets and languages is a question Arbitr answers.
Most companies do, and it works for the file it reviews, in the language it reviews, before a campaign ships. It doesn't cover what's published afterwards: the market versions, the agency reworks, the sales deck built from the campaign six months later. That's a volume problem, not a failure of your legal team.
