Bill 96 Branding Guide: Québec French-Language Rules for Trademarks, Signage, Packaging and Websites (2026)
Editorial Series | Québec & Bilingual Branding | Bill 96 and Your Brand
Description: What Bill 96 and Québec's Charter of the French Language mean for your brand in 2026: recognized trademarks, "markedly predominant" signage, packaging descriptors, websites, key dates, and how to design a compliant bilingual identity. Target keyword: Bill 96 branding Secondary keywords: French language law Quebec branding, Bill 96 trademarks, Quebec signage French markedly predominant, Charter of the French Language packaging, bilingual branding Quebec, OQLF trademark rules
Bill 96 and Your Brand: What Québec's French-Language Rules Mean for Branding
Bill 96 does not ask you to translate your brand name. It asks you to stop treating French as an afterthought. Since June 1, 2025, a non-French trademark can still appear on products and storefronts in Québec if it is a recognized trademark with no French version on the federal register, but the generic and descriptive words around it must appear in French on the product, and French must be markedly predominant on signage visible from outside your premises. The smartest response is not a sticker; it is a bilingual brand system designed from the start.
This is a brand strategist's guidance, not legal advice. Confirm your situation with a Québec lawyer or trademark agent before you print, register or install anything.
Picture it. The packaging arrives, late and still beautiful: a matte carton, a wordmark you agonized over, and underneath it two words you never thought about twice. Night Repair. Then a Montréal retailer emails, politely, to ask whether the French appears on the product itself or only on the shipper. The box is suddenly a question about how seriously you took the market you said you wanted.
I built my first business in Québec, alongside dentists across the province, for close to seven years. French was never a compliance layer there; it was the room itself, the language of my mother and my brother, the language of my plays, performed in Québec schools for about a decade. So I read Bill 96 not as a list of penalties, but as a design brief the province has written for you.
Still choosing who should build your brand? Start with our guide to the best branding firms in Canada. This piece is for founders who already want Québec, or already sell there, and need to know what the rules mean for the identity itself.
What Bill 96 changed, and when it took effect
Bill 96 is the shorthand for An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, which received assent on June 1, 2022, according to BLG. It amended the Charter of the French Language (chapter C-11), which the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) enforces, and its business provisions rolled out in waves:
June 1, 2022: most business provisions took effect, including obligations around serving and informing customers in French, commercial documents, product inscriptions and signage, as summarized by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
June 1, 2023: contracts of adhesion (standard-form contracts the customer cannot negotiate) and related documents must be offered in French first, per DLA Piper and CFIB.
June 26, 2024: the government published the final Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business (Décret 1000-2024) in the Gazette officielle du Québec, which sets the detailed rules for trademarks, descriptors and signage.
June 1, 2025: the trademark, packaging and signage rules came into force, and the francization threshold dropped so that enterprises with 25 or more employees in Québec must register with the OQLF, as summarized by Gowling WLG and Éducaloi.
June 1, 2027: the end of the grace period for non-compliant products manufactured before June 1, 2025 (more below).
The question in 2026 is no longer "what is coming?" but "does what we printed since hold up?"
The Bill 96 branding map: what each touchpoint requires
Law firms organize Bill 96 by section number. Founders experience it by touchpoint.
Brand touchpoint What the rules say now (summary) The branding decision it forces Brand name / trademark on products A recognized trademark may appear only in another language if no French version is on the federal register Do you register a French version, or deliberately not? Generic and descriptive words on packaging Must also appear in French, on the product or a medium permanently attached to it Build descriptor slots into the packaging grid from day one Exterior signage and storefronts Non-French trademark must be accompanied by French terms that are markedly predominant Design a French descriptor or tagline that can carry twice the visual weight Business (firm) name on exterior signage French must be markedly predominant where the name includes a non-French expression Choose a name, or a French descriptor, that survives this test Website and commercial publications Must be available in French, of comparable quality Write French copy natively, not as a translation pass Customer service and contracts Right to be informed and served in French; adhesion contracts offered in French first Your voice guide needs a Québec French register
Sources: the final regulation, DLA Piper, Gowling WLG, Éducaloi, Fasken and CFIB, linked below.
Bill 96 trademarks: the "recognized trademark" exception
The good news is better than many brands feared in 2022. Under the final regulation, a trademark can appear on a product, in commercial publications and on signage exclusively in a language other than French if it is a trademark "recognized" within the meaning of the federal Trademarks Act and no corresponding French version appears on the register.
Bill 96 as originally written pointed to registered trademarks. Several firms, including Lavery, DLA Piper and BLG, read the final regulation's "recognized" wording as extending the exception to unregistered (common-law) marks. Lavery still recommends registration, which is the advice I would underline: a registration is evidence; a common-law claim is an argument.
The quiet trap sits in the second half of the rule. If you have registered a French version of your mark, you are expected to use it. DLA Piper notes that the exception applies only where no French version is on the register, and BLG states plainly that French-language registered trademarks must be used even if an English version is also registered. A French registration filed years ago "just in case" can therefore become an obligation. Audit your register before your designer audits your type.
Packaging under the Charter of the French Language: the descriptor problem
This is where most English-first brands get caught. Since June 1, 2025, when a recognized trademark appears on a product together with a generic term or description in another language, that term must also appear in French, on the product or on a medium permanently attached to it. The final regulation defines a descriptif as one or more words describing a product's characteristics and a générique as words describing its nature, excluding the name of the enterprise and the name of the product as sold. Designations of origin and distinctive names of a cultural nature are also excluded (Gazette officielle du Québec).
In plain brand language: your name can stay English; the words that say what the thing is or does cannot stay English-only. "Coffee" and "pizza" are the examples BLG uses for generic terms; "fresh" and "premium" for descriptive ones. In beauty and wellness, think "serum", "cleanser", "hydrating", "sleep blend".
Two cautions. Lavery notes the regulation sets no size requirement, but reports the OQLF expects French at least equivalent in size and appearance. And secondary product names are a grey zone: BLG warns they "are not necessarily exempt from translation." If your hero product is called something like Night Repair, get a professional opinion, not a hunch.
The grace period is precise, so be precise with it. Under the transitional provision in the final regulation, a non-compliant product may continue to be distributed and sold until June 1, 2027, if it was manufactured before June 1, 2025 and no French version of its recognized trademark was on the register as of June 26, 2024. Anything manufactured since June 1, 2025 must comply now. Old stock has an expiry date; so, it turns out, does denial.
Quebec signage and "markedly predominant" French, in design terms
For signage, the standard changed from "sufficient presence" of French to "markedly predominant" French. Where a non-French trademark or firm name is displayed on signs visible from outside the premises, including storefronts inside shopping centres, it must be accompanied by French terms, such as a generic term, a description of the goods or services, or a slogan, and that French must be markedly predominant (Lavery; Gowling WLG).
The final regulation translates "markedly predominant" into geometry. French has a much greater visual impact than the other language when, in the same visual field, the space given to the French text is at least twice as large, and the French has at least equivalent legibility and permanent visibility. For dynamic or digital signage, French must be visible at least twice as long. A "visual field" means everything a person sees at once without moving. Lavery confirms there was no grace period for signage: compliance was required by June 1, 2025.
What this means for an identity system:
Your exterior sign is now a two-part composition. The English mark, and a French line that must be twice its size in surface area. Design that lock-up deliberately, or the sign-maker will improvise it at 11 p.m.
The French line should be brand language, not a label. "Soins de la peau" is compliant. A French signature line written with the same care as your English tagline is compliant and memorable.
Legibility is part of the rule. A backlit mark beside an unlit French line is a problem a lawyer will notice before a customer does.
If you are weighing whether your agency can handle this kind of bilingual craft, our spoke on what to look for in a bilingual branding firm in Montréal and Québec goes deeper, and the broader shortlist lives in our guide to Canada's top branding agencies.
Websites, social media and the right to be served in French
Bill 96 strengthened the consumer's right to be informed and served in French. Fasken summarizes the practical consequence directly: the website of a company doing business in Québec must be accessible in French. Éducaloi adds that you may offer English or another language "as long as a French version of comparable quality is available." CFIB lists websites and social posts among commercial documents that must be available in French; Lavery notes they are not expressly named in the regulation. The direction is clear; the edges are still being drawn.
One nuance matters a great deal to brands based in Toronto, Vancouver or the US who sell into Québec online. According to CFIB, for businesses without an establishment in Québec, the OQLF takes an incentive-based approach rather than requiring translation of websites and contracts, while customers must still be served in French. That is not a loophole to build a strategy on; open a Québec office and your obligations change shape.
The branding implication is simple and almost always ignored: "comparable quality" is a copywriting standard, not a legal one. A machine-translated French site next to a lovingly written English one is a brand statement, and the statement is "we did not mean it."
French language law Quebec branding: design the system, not the sticker
Every top result explains the law. Almost none explain what to do with your brand.
Name with French in the room. Test every candidate name aloud in Québec French before you fall in love. Does it carry an unfortunate meaning? Is it pronounceable without apology? Invented or proper names (think of the way Le Labo or Aesop work as names regardless of language) tend to travel; descriptive English names tend to invite a descriptor problem.
Build a descriptor architecture. Separate the trademark (the part that can stay in any language) from the descriptor layer (the part that must be French). Give the descriptor layer a defined slot on packaging, signage and digital, with a type style that can carry French gracefully.
Write French natively, and budget the length. Québec French has its own vocabulary and register, and French copy often runs longer than English. A voice guide that covers only English is half a guide; a layout that only works at English length is not bilingual.
Make the French line beautiful. If the law makes your French twice as large on the storefront, treat it as the larger stage. Byredo is not interesting for its name alone, but because every word around the name is chosen.
For the women building brands that cross into Québec
The founders B0LD is built for are often women building in categories where the Québec rules bite hardest: skincare, supplements, wellness, boutique hospitality, apparel. These are categories built on descriptors: "cleanser", "restorative", "glow". Your language is your product's promise, which means Bill 96 is not peripheral to your brand; it sits right on your hero shelf.
Women founders are often told to "just get it out there" and fix things later. In Québec, later is expensive: reprinted cartons, remade signage, rewritten sites. The poised move is slower at the start: one strategy session, one legal review, one bilingual system, then launch. Being thorough is not timidity. It is what precision looks like when it is wearing silk.
If French is not your language, you simply need someone at the table for whom it is.
Enforcement and fines: the honest risk picture
Fear sells badly and ages worse, so plainly: the OQLF typically handles matters through complaints and a formal process. CFIB describes a sequence of formal notice, then an order to comply, with penal consequences if an order is violated. BLG notes that complaints can now be made anonymously and may trigger investigations if found receivable.
The fines are real. Per BLG and Éducaloi, fines for companies range from $3,000 to $30,000 for a first offence, doubled for a second and tripled for subsequent offences. Directors can also be personally exposed, according to Fasken and CFIB.
The bigger cost is rarely the fine. It is the reprint, the re-install, and the customer who reads your English-only label as a message about who you think your customer is.
A pre-launch Bill 96 branding checklist
Take this to your designer, trademark agent and lawyer, together if you can:
Search the federal register: is there a French version of any of your marks?
List every generic and descriptive word on every SKU, and draft its French equivalent.
Flag secondary product names that may be read as descriptions, and get an opinion.
Mock up exterior signage with French at twice the space, equal legibility, same visual field (and twice the screen time on digital).
Audit your website and checkout for a French version of comparable quality.
Confirm your Québec headcount against the 25-employee francization threshold.
Date-stamp your inventory: anything manufactured before June 1, 2025 has until June 1, 2027, under conditions; anything since must comply now.
If Québec is one stop on a bigger journey, our playbook on taking a Canadian brand to the US and Mexico applies the same thinking across borders.
Where B0LD fits: one conversation before you print
B0LD is a bilingual boutique brand-positioning agency with Canadian roots, working across Canada, the US and Mexico in English, Spanish and French. We are not your lawyers, and we will tell you when you need one. We translate the rules into brand decisions: naming that survives French, descriptor architecture, signage lock-ups and a Québec French voice.
Start with a 1:1 Consultation ($800). Bring your packaging, signage plan and site; we map each touchpoint, flag what needs legal review, and hand you a bilingual brand plan.
If the identity itself needs rethinking, the Strategic Positioning Audit ($3,500) goes deeper into name, architecture and market positioning.
Explore the agency at b0ld.ca, and join founders working through the same questions in the B0LD Skool community.
Again: this is strategic guidance, not legal advice. For your specific products, signage and contracts, consult a Québec lawyer or registered trademark agent.
FAQ
Does Bill 96 require me to translate my brand name into French? Generally, no. A trademark recognized under the federal Trademarks Act can appear in another language only if no French version of it is on the federal register. But generic and descriptive words that accompany it on products must also appear in French, and exterior signage needs markedly predominant French terms.
What does "markedly predominant" French mean on a sign? Under the final regulation, French text must have a much greater visual impact than the other language: in the same visual field, at least twice the space, with at least equivalent legibility and permanent visibility. On dynamic signage, French must be shown at least twice as long.
When did the Bill 96 trademark and packaging rules take effect? June 1, 2025. Non-compliant products manufactured before that date may be sold until June 1, 2027, if no French version of the trademark was registered as of June 26, 2024. Signage had no grace period.
Does my website need to be in French if I sell to Québec customers? Businesses operating in Québec must make their websites available in French, of comparable quality to any other version. For businesses with no establishment in Québec, CFIB reports that the OQLF takes an incentive-based approach, but customers must still be served in French. Get advice for your specific situation.
Is a branding agency enough, or do I need a lawyer for Bill 96? You need both, for different jobs. A lawyer or trademark agent confirms what the law requires of your marks, products and contracts. A bilingual branding firm designs a name, packaging system, signage and voice that meet those requirements and still look and sound like you.
