RCC and CFIB Open Letter: Protecting the French Language with Fairness and Respect

RCC and CFIB Open Letter: Protecting the French Language with Fairness and Respect

As June 1 approaches, tens of thousands of businesses in Quebec are preparing to comply with new language requirements under Bill 96. At first glance, who could oppose the idea of promoting the French language? This goal is not only legitimate – it is commendable. That’s why it is all the more unfortunate to see how the rushed implementation of this law risks undermining the very objective it aims to achieve.

When Bill 96 was tabled in 2022, it came with a clear commitment: businesses would have three years to adapt to the new requirements. However, the detailed rules – those clarifying how signage should be translated, which products are affected, and which procedures are mandatory – were only released in 2024. In reality, businesses have had just a few months to prepare, not three years. Let’s be realistic: a company cannot spend massive amounts – in some cases, millions – without knowing the concrete expectations.

And in that short time, businesses must not only redo their signage – which involves municipal approval, landlord consent, and validation by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) – but also deal with exceptional products that simply cannot be altered. Music, art, specialized games, limited-duration products, pet items, sporting and hunting goods, foreign literature – many industries are affected. These products, distributed globally in a single language, will not be customized for a local market, no matter how good the intentions.

Entire cultural sectors – including all music schools – find themselves weakened by unworkable obligations. Meanwhile, online platforms based outside Quebec can continue selling these same products without having to comply with any of these rules.

Our question is simple: is this really how we want to promote the French language?

The CFIB reminds us that the extension of these obligations to businesses with 25 to 49 employees – about 20,000 of them – should have come with a simplified process. Yet, despite a pilot project, nothing has changed: businesses still have to fill out an outdated Word form that can take up to 54 hours to complete. And 63% of certified companies didn’t even need to implement a francization program. Imposing such a burden, only to confirm compliance, is a missed opportunity.

For its part, the RCC recalls that the previous signage changes, completed in 2018, took a full three years to implement, even though they were less complex and involved fewer businesses. This time, retailers had only 11 months to implement far more significant changes, involving multiple layers of validation, making the process even more complex and burdensome.

We believe in French. We want to protect it, promote it, teach it, and cherish it. Quebec’s French character is of immeasurable value. But this can’t be done through coercion. It must come through conviction – through concrete, realistic, and collective efforts. It also requires predictability. A business cannot transform without knowing the rules of the game in advance.

We have publicly and directly asked the government to reconsider its approach – not to strip the law of its meaning, but to ensure its success. Because a beautiful idea poorly implemented becomes a setback, not a step forward.

French is not a barrier. It is a treasure. It should be a driver of growth, pride, and the future. To impose it in confusion or under threat of sanctions is to deprive it of its greatest strength: its unifying power.

As this major shift approaches, we appeal to a sense of responsibility. Let’s give Quebec a francization process that is ambitious but fair. Let’s make French a good news story – not a bad surprise.

That’s why we are calling on the Quebec government to grant businesses a reasonable extension and, above all, to show flexibility and cooperation. There is still time to support those who genuinely wish to comply but are facing real, uncontrollable barriers. To make French a collective success, we must turn it into a unifying project – not a burden.

Michel Rochette
President – Quebec
Retail Council of Canada (RCC)

François Vincent
Vice-President – Quebec
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)