The Quebec government's signage requirements will soon be increased under a draft regulation to be enacted by law regarding the official and common language of Quebec, French. In particular, businesses need to adapt their storefronts.
Published in Official Gazette Earlier this week, the draft regulation, which will be approved later this winter, changes the assessment of the visual impact of commercial signs, which is already regulated by the Charter of the French language, also known as Law 101.
Therefore, registered trademarks that fall under another language (such as Costco, Walmart, Best Buy or Canadian Tire) will now be taken into account in this evaluation, which is not currently the case.
For this reason, many companies have to modify their storefronts so that they respect the charter, which should already have a visual influence of French in commercial signs. Twice as long as written in another language
.
For example, those wishing to place their trademarks in English should not only state that it is a hardware store or restaurant, but also ensure that this description (and/or an accompanying slogan) is included. ) appears twice the company name.
French should obviously be predominant
What we are saying is that when we look at the global visual field, we must consider everything in front of us, [y compris] The name of the business, which may be in another language
French language minister Jean-Francois Roberge summed it up in an interview.
We look at the sheet, the window, the front, all at once, and say to ourselves: on the whole, the French must clearly predominate; It should occupy at least two-thirds of the space; [et] What is in French must be clear, distinct and permanent.
The draft regulation also plans to counter the practice of some companies to highlight languages other than French on the packaging of their products by registering the entire labeling as a federal trademark.
So it will be specifiedA product consists of its container or packaging
and that'The general or description of the product included in the trademark written in another language must not prevail over that written in French
.
In addition, the draft regulation requires companies to ensure that information published on their websites and social media is written in French or at least as easily accessible in French as in English. , until now this obligation only applied to physical media.
These new rules will come into effect from June 1, 2025. However, some exceptions are planned for the next two years.
According to government estimates, affected businesses will have to pay between $7 and $15 million to comply. The minister accepted that Some shops
have to do Adjustments
But he insisted on it A large majority
Among them are already committed.
A long overdue action plan
The draft regulation published this week will result from the passage of Bill 96 in 2022.
Since then, the Legault government has taken several steps to promote and protect French in Quebec, particularly in terms of immigration and higher education, Minister Roberge insisted Friday.
Mr. Roberge, however, declined to reveal the final publication date of the action group's plan on the future of the French language set up last winter, saying he plans to make it public by the end of 2023. Several measures included in this plan have already been announced.
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