October is Financial Planning Month, which makes it the perfect time for organisations to look at compliance not only as a legal requirement but as a financial safeguard. Today, we want to focus on Bill 96, an Act that carries very real costs — from fines and reputational damage to lost tenders — but it also presents an opportunity to invest in processes that protect long-term profitability and operational efficiency.
Bill 96 — officially An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec — makes French the clear default in business and public life. The latest updates bring tougher enforcement, new documentation rules, and operational changes that organisations with 25 or more employees now need firmly in place to stay compliant in Canada’s largest province.
For many, the most surprising aspect is how widely it applies. You don’t need a registered office in Montréal or Québec City to fall within its scope. If you employ staff in Québec, sell to Québec consumers, or partner with Québec-based businesses, these rules are likely to apply — whether your headquarters are in Toronto, Vancouver, London, New York, or elsewhere.
At Interprefy, we see Bill 96 not as a legal hurdle, but as an opportunity for organisations to strengthen inclusivity, enhance client relationships, and maintain operational flow in a French-first environment. In this guide, we’ll explore what Bill 96 requires, who must comply, why the financial cost of non-compliance is higher than many realise, and how integrating French-first communication — in real time — is key to staying both compliant and competitive.
At its core, Bill 96 is about ensuring that French is the predominant language across Québec’s workplaces, consumer interactions, and public communications. It is not enough to offer French as an alternative; the law requires that French be offered first, be visibly predominant, and be accessible at every point of engagement.
A central change is the lowered threshold for Francisation requirements. Any organisation with 25 or more employees in Québec must now register with the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF), submit a Francisation plan, and undergo regular audits. This brings thousands of smaller businesses into the compliance framework, from manufacturing companies to tech start-ups.
These obligations extend into day-to-day operations. Internal HR policies, onboarding guides, safety manuals, and staff communications must be in French. Job offers must be published in French; if also published in another language, they must use similar channels and reach a proportionally comparable audience. Training documents and required materials must be available in French (and not on less favourable terms than any other language).
On the customer side, French must be clearly dominant on websites, packaging, brochures, advertising, and instructions. Contracts with consumers and employees must be provided in French first, and the French version will prevail in any dispute. Even trademarks and signage are subject to French predominance rules unless exempt under the Canadian Trademarks Act.
Bill 96’s scope extends well beyond the province’s borders. We’ve worked with companies headquartered in London, Zurich, and Singapore that discovered they were subject to OQLF compliance because of a single Québec-based employee or a cluster of customers in Montréal.
For instance, a London-based SaaS provider with active clients in Québec must adapt its customer support channels, contract templates, and onboarding processes to meet Bill 96 compliance rules. A New York e-commerce company delivering to Québec addresses must ensure packaging and user manuals follow French predominance requirements. Even an events company in Vancouver hosting a hybrid conference with Québec attendees is expected to provide French-language access.
This global reach means that compliance is not just a local legal matter; it’s a strategic — and financial — consideration for multinational and multi-market businesses.
The OQLF’s enforcement powers are not symbolic — they are actively exercised. Fines for businesses range from $3,000 to $30,000 per infraction, with penalties for individuals between $700 and $7,000. Repeat offences result in doubled or tripled fines.
However, the reputational impact can be even more damaging. The OQLF publishes lists of non-compliant companies, and public exposure can erode trust in both local and international markets. In regulated industries or those relying on government contracts, non-compliance can lead to disqualification from tenders, closing off significant revenue opportunities.
Operationally, a reactive approach to Bill 96 often results in delays, duplicated work, and strained internal resources. Without systems in place for French-first communication, businesses risk missing deadlines, delaying launches, and creating internal friction — especially across distributed teams.
The most successful organisations treat Bill 96 as a long-term operational condition, not a one-off translation project. They start with a full review of internal and external materials to identify gaps in French availability or prominence. They then embed French-first workflows into their hiring, onboarding, and training processes, ensuring that compliance is natural rather than bolted on.
Technology is central to this shift. Organisations that rely solely on static translations quickly encounter bottlenecks, especially for live, interactive communication. That’s why integrating tools that deliver French-first communication in real time is a strategic advantage. Staff training is equally important, ensuring everyone understands the practical application of Québec business law and the Charter of the French Language.
Maintaining detailed records of French-language access — whether written or spoken — positions organisations to demonstrate compliance confidently during OQLF audits and avoid unnecessary financial exposure.
This is where Interprefy’s role becomes clear. Bill 96 doesn’t just demand that written content be compliant; it also applies to live, spoken interactions — from team meetings to client presentations.
Interprefy enables organisations to meet Bill 96 compliance requirements without disrupting established workflows. Whether your meeting is in English, Spanish, or another language, Interprefy can provide a simultaneous French audio channel for Québec-based participants. This ensures that French is available from the outset, meeting legal requirements and fostering inclusivity.
In client-facing scenarios, such as sales calls or onboarding sessions, French interpretation can be embedded directly into the experience, so customers in Québec receive information in their official language in real time. For hybrid events, Interprefy bridges the language gap seamlessly, keeping engagement high and avoiding costly duplication of content.
An additional advantage is audit-readiness. Interprefy’s platforms can track and document interpretation usage, creating a verifiable record that can be presented to the OQLF if required. This turns compliance into a finance-smart investment: proactive, traceable, and cost-efficient.
A professional services firm based in Toronto with twelve consultants in Montréal faced the full scope of Francisation requirements. Internal meetings, client presentations, and onboarding sessions all needed to be accessible in French from the outset. Without a scalable solution, the administrative burden threatened to slow operations.
By integrating Interprefy, the firm continued running its weekly cross-office meetings in English while offering live French interpretation to its Montréal team. Virtual client pitches included a French-first audio channel, meeting Charter of the French Language requirements without the need for separate sessions.
The result was a compliance strategy that maintained business continuity, safeguarded client relationships, and removed the financial risk of costly last-minute translation delays.
Bill 96 is more than a compliance checklist. It’s a framework that shapes how businesses interact with one of Canada’s most economically vibrant regions. For those operating across borders, it’s also a reminder that language accessibility is a competitive — and financial — advantage.
With Interprefy, compliance is not an interruption to global business — it’s an integrated part of it. Our platform allows organisations to honour Québec French language law requirements while continuing to operate at the speed and scale demanded by today’s markets. The result is not just avoiding fines, but building stronger connections with customers, employees, and partners in Québec — and reinforcing your reputation as a globally minded, inclusive brand.