A new regulation has been introduced by Quebec to combat the erosion of French. It will come into effect in June 2025. But don’t worry, the Grafico team has looked into the matter for you! Here’s everything you need to know to prepare for it.
A clear predominance of French
The main intention of this new regulation is straightforward: Quebec is a French-speaking territory, and this should be evident when walking down the street or shopping. It mandates that French must prominently dominate storefronts. Specifically, French must occupy twice as much space as any other language on the storefront.
The name of the business can still be in a foreign language, provided that it indicates in French what type of business it is, and overall, French occupies twice the area on the storefront compared to other languages.
Enhanced monitoring
In case of non-compliance with this new regulation, penalties ranging from $700 to $30,000 will be imposed, depending on the nature of the offense. The government has also announced increased monitoring and plans to recruit new agents within the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF).
“Yes, we accept businesses from everywhere, and yes, we are open to the global economy, but at some point, we need to present ourselves clearly and confidently. We are Francophones, and that needs to be evident. […] We are not in New York, we are not in Los Angeles.” — Jean-François Roberge, Minister of French Language.
Steps to prepare for the new regulation
1. Audit
Our brand strategy team can assist you in analyzing your storefronts to determine whether they already comply or if adjustments are needed.
2. Design
If the audit indicates that your storefront needs redesigning to comply with the new regulations, we move to the design phase. Depending on your needs and resources, we find the appropriate solution to make your storefront compliant, whether it involves a complete redesign or rebalancing the language mix by adding, removing, and/or modifying elements.
3. Implementation
We engage the best suppliers and artisans to bring the approved concept for your new storefront to life. And it’s done.
You’re all set, now it’s time to take action! Contact us to schedule an appointment.
