Q&A: French language minister defends new regulations for Quebec storefronts

Quebec is cracking down on businesses with new French-language rules for commercial signs.

It's all part of the CAQ government's update to the French-language charter. The goal is to close existing loopholes, and businesses have until June 1, 2025 to comply.

Quebec's minister of the French language, Jean-François Roberge, joined CTV News Montreal anchor Maya Johnson to explain the new regulations and to respond to concerns about the cost associated with these new requirements being passed onto businesses in the province.

This article has been edited for clarity and length. Watch the video above for the full interview.

CTV: These new regulations came out Friday. They can be pretty confusing — you've even had to put out pictograms — but yet you say this is simplifying the rules. How is this simplifying things?

ROBERGE: It is simplifying because right now, we have regulations for trademarks, different regulations for names and now we changed all that and came up with only one principle, one regulation saying that, overall, French should clearly predominate commercial signage outside the store, so French should occupy at least two-thirds of commercial signage.

Quebec's French language minister Jean-François Roberge, speaks during an interview with CTV News Montreal on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (CTV News)

CTV: For big names, like Walmart, for example, they can keep English names and logos, but a French description has to be added, and that has to take up two-thirds of the signs. Is that correct?

ROBERGE: Yes. They can change what they already have on the building, but it will cost more money. It will be easier for them to add some description. For example, Costless. You can keep this name, but by adding "Chaussures" or "Chaussures pour toute la famille" or "Les meilleurs chaussures en ville" or something like that, the owner will decide the way they can achieve and do the adjustment needed if they have to do some adjustments.

CTV: So a place like Second Cup, for example, would have to say, "Le Café Second Cup." Is it really necessary to have to specify that it's a coffee shop because people associate the brand so much with what they sell. Is adding a description really necessary?

ROBERGE: The point is not to have a description to inform people. Most Quebecers are able to read both in French and in English. It's important that when you walk through a city, you see that here you are in Quebec, you are in the only North American francophone state. French is the only official and common language here in Quebec. It has to be shown, it has to be reflected on the stores and everything that we have in our environment.

CTV: So, you seem to say it's really on principle, this idea of the visual impact. But is that really protecting the French language? Because, ultimately, that's what this is all about. Does this really make a difference?

ROBERGE: It's part of a solution, of course. If we only do that, there will be some problems. But as you said, we took some action on colleges, CEGEPS.

CTV: And that has been very controversial and people see that as an attack on the English community.

ROBERGE: I just want to explain that we are taking action on different matters. For example, L'exemplarité de l'État, signage outside of stores, colleges, universities, and all those solutions, one-by-one, they won't change anything. Overall, I think they will stop the decline of the French language here in Quebec.

CTV: So, then it's the cumulative effect, but the cumulative effect for many English-speaking Quebecers, it feels like an attack. So, how do you respond to that?

ROBERGE: It's not an attack, and we will protect the rights of the English-speaking Quebecers. Of course, they keep their schools, they keep their colleges, they can keep their universities, they keep their health systems. But I think that Quebecers are in love with the French language and they want to be sure that in a decade or in a century, Quebec will still be a francophone state.

CTV: Just to return to the signs and these new regulations, you estimate this will cost Quebec businesses about $7 million to $15 million to comply. Just today, the mayor of Montreal launched another plan to revitalize the downtown core because the city is facing economic challenges, retailers are struggling — that's the context. So, there are concerns these new requirements are just creating more expensive paperwork for businesses. How do you respond to that?

ROBERGE: We voted for the law (Bill 96) in 2021. It will apply in June 2025. So I think business owners have a lot of time to adapt. They will still have 18 months to do so. But to show the francophone personality of Montreal and in Quebec, it brings money. Tourists, when they come here, they don't go to Boston, they don't go to Toronto, they want to go somewhere else. We are unique in the Americas and this is important to keep. This brings us some money, this brings us some tourists.