Marketing to Quebec in 2026: Bill 96, Bilingual Websites and the French-Language SEO Opportunity
Quebec is nearly a quarter of Canada's population and one of its least competitive online markets for well-executed French content. Here is what Bill 96 requires of your website and advertising, and how to turn compliance into a growth channel.
Two reasons to care about French
Most Canadian businesses think about French for one reason: compliance. That is fair; Quebec's language law has real teeth and, since 2025, wider reach. But there is a second reason that is easy to miss: French is one of the least competitive digital markets in the country. Roughly 8.5 million people live in Quebec, another quarter million francophones live in New Brunswick and more across Ontario and the West, and the great majority of Canadian businesses either ignore them or serve them with machine translation. That gap is an opportunity.
This guide covers both sides: what the law requires of your website and marketing, and how to turn the requirement into a channel.
What Bill 96 actually changed
Bill 96, passed in 2022, amended Quebec's Charter of the French Language (the law most people still call Bill 101). (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF) It reinforced French as the common language of commerce and public life and strengthened enforcement by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF). Key provisions phased in through 2025.
Websites and digital marketing
Quebec treats your website, social media accounts and digital advertising as commercial publications. Commercial publications aimed at the Quebec market must be available in French. (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF) Important details:
- Your site does not have to be French only. It must offer French on terms at least as favourable as any other language: the French version must be as complete, as current and as easy to reach (a visible language toggle, not a buried link). (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF)
- This applies to businesses outside Quebec that market to Quebec customers, including e-commerce stores shipping to Quebec addresses.
- Product descriptions, checkout flows, confirmation emails, chatbots and customer support content are included.
- Social media pages targeting Quebec should have French content; French-only or bilingual posts are both acceptable, English-only is not.
Advertising and signage
Advertising in Quebec must be in French or bilingual with French markedly predominant on public signage. Since June 2025, trademark exceptions have tightened: a recognized trademark in another language can appear, but French descriptive text must appear alongside it on signage and must be markedly predominant. (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF)
Customer service and contracts
Customers have the right to be served in French. Standard-form contracts and related documents must be presented in French first; the customer may then expressly choose another language. (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF)
OQLF registration and francization
Since June 1, 2025, the threshold for mandatory OQLF registration and francization fell from 50 to 25 employees in Quebec for six months. (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF) Registered businesses must analyse and, where needed, generalize the use of French in their operations, and may need to form a francization committee at 100 employees.
Enforcement
The OQLF investigates complaints from the public and conducts its own inspections. Fines for businesses run CAD $3,000 to $30,000 per offence, doubled on a second offence and tripled thereafter, and each day can count as a separate offence. (Office québécois de la langue française OQLF) The OQLF may also order corrections and publish a list of non-compliant businesses. Directors can be personally liable in some circumstances.
The compliance checklist for your website
- A complete French version of every page, including legal pages, blog content that is marketed to Quebec, and downloadable material.
- A visible language switcher on every page; French should be the default for visitors in Quebec or when the browser language is French.
- Proper hreflang tags (fr-CA and en-CA) so Google serves the right version to the right searcher and does not treat the two as duplicate content.
- French versions of forms, error messages, confirmation pages and automated emails.
- French customer support options and a French privacy policy.
- Ads and social content targeting Quebec written in French by a professional, not machine translated. Google and Meta targeting by language and province makes this straightforward.
- If you have 25 or more employees in Quebec, OQLF registration and a francization plan.
Why machine translation fails you twice
Running your English site through an automatic translator technically produces French pages. It fails on both fronts. Legally, poorly translated content with English-first structure can be judged as not "as favourable" as the English version. Commercially, Quebecers notice immediately and trust drops; a Toronto retailer selling "chandails" with Parisian idioms reads as a foreign company that could not be bothered. Quebec French has its own vocabulary, tone and search behaviour.
The SEO and advertising opportunity
Here is where compliance becomes growth.
French keyword competition is low. For most services, the number of businesses ranking well for French search terms is a fraction of the English equivalent. A properly built French service page for "agence SEO Laval" or "réparation de toiture Québec" frequently reaches page one in weeks rather than months.
French clicks cost less. In Google Ads, well-targeted French campaigns commonly run 20 to 40 percent below English CPCs for equivalent services because fewer advertisers bid competently on them.
AI assistants answer in the user's language. A francophone asking ChatGPT or Gemini for a recommendation gets sources with French content. English-only businesses are invisible in those conversations.
Trust converts. A Quebec customer who finds natural, complete French content from a company that clearly understands the market converts at a higher rate and refers more.
The businesses that treat French as a market rather than a checkbox are collecting customers their competitors do not know exist.
How to do it properly
- Have French content written or adapted by a professional Quebec French writer, then reviewed by a francophone with knowledge of your industry.
- Do French keyword research separately. Direct translations of English keywords often miss how Quebecers actually search.
- Build French location pages for Quebec cities: Montréal, Québec, Laval, Gatineau, Longueuil, Sherbrooke, Lévis, Trois-Rivières, Saguenay.
- Localize proof: Quebec client testimonials, Quebec case studies, Quebec certifications and associations.
- Set up Google Business Profile in both languages and collect French reviews.
- Track French and English performance separately in Analytics and Search Console.
Beyond Quebec
New Brunswick is officially bilingual and Moncton, Dieppe and the Acadian Peninsula have large francophone markets. Ottawa, Eastern and Northern Ontario, St. Boniface in Winnipeg and pockets of Alberta and BC add more. A bilingual site built for Quebec serves them all.
Where to start
If you sell to Quebec today and your site is English only, prioritize a compliant French version of your commercial pages first, then ads, then content. If you are considering expanding into Quebec, start with French service pages and a small French Google Ads test; the cost-per-lead data usually makes the case for the rest.
Better Businesses builds bilingual websites, French SEO programs and French ad campaigns for clients across Canada, with Quebec French writers on every project. We do not provide legal advice; for complex compliance questions, consult a Quebec lawyer or the OQLF directly. For everything else, talk to us about your Quebec strategy or explore our work for businesses in Quebec.
Sources
- Loi sur la langue officielle et commune du Québec, le français — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
- Médias sociaux, sites Web et documents publicitaires — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
- Charte de la langue française - Changements législatifs (FAQ: sites Web et médias sociaux) — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
- Entreprises : affichage des marques de commerce et des noms d'entreprises — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
- Entreprises : contrats d'adhésion — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
- Démarche de francisation : Les entreprises employant de 25 à 49 personnes sont invitées à s'inscrire à l'Offic — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
- Vivre en français - Entreprises - Infractions et peines — Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)
Sources checked September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
- Does my website need to be in French to sell in Quebec?
- If your website markets to customers in Quebec, the Charter of the French Language requires a French version that is at least as complete and as easy to access as any other language version. This applies to businesses outside Quebec that target Quebec customers, not only to companies based in the province.
- Who has to register with the OQLF?
- Since June 1, 2025, any business with 25 or more employees in Quebec for six months must register with the Office québécois de la langue française and go through francization. The previous threshold was 50 employees.
- What are the penalties under Bill 96?
- Fines for businesses start at CAD $3,000 to $30,000 per offence, double for a second offence and triple after that, and each day of non-compliance can count as a separate offence. The OQLF can also require corrective measures and publish non-compliant businesses.
- Is French SEO less competitive than English SEO in Canada?
- Generally yes. Far fewer businesses invest in high-quality French content and campaigns, so well-written French pages and ads often rank faster and cost less per click than their English equivalents, particularly outside Montreal.
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