On May 13, 2021, Quebec's Minister Responsible for the
French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, tabled Bill 96 – An Act respecting French,
the official and common language of Québec
(Bill 96) before the National Assembly. Bill 96 would
amend Quebec's Charter of the French language
(Charter), commonly known as Bill 101, as well as several
other statutes in Quebec's legislative corpus, with the purpose
of strengthening the use and presence of French within
Quebec.
This bulletin provides a summary of Bill 96, which, if passed
and assented to, would set out new obligations for businesses
operating in Quebec.
LANGUAGE OF WORK
Bill 96 amends the Charter with respect to the language of work within businesses.
Francization Obligations for Businesses of 25 Employees
The Charter currently provides that businesses with 50 or
more employees are subject to francization obligations, which
consist of achieving and maintaining the generalized use of French
at all levels. Bill 96 proposes to lower the threshold for the
required number of employees from 50 to 25.
Bill 96 makes no substantial change to the francization
process and maintains the principle that a business with
100 or more employees must establish a francization committee.
However, under Bill 96, the Office québécois de
la langue française (OQLF) would have the power to order a
business with fewer than 100 employees to create a
francization committee. Bill 96 also provides for mechanisms
ensuring that francization committee members play an active role in
obtaining and maintaining a business's francization
certificate. Furthermore, it imposes a duty on the committee to
inform the business's management and the OQLF of its work. For
example, Bill 96 proposes that the francization
committee's work be documented by way of the committee's
meeting minutes, to be signed by each committee member and
forwarded to the business's management and the OQLF.
French Language Learning Services for certain Businesses of Five Employees
Under Bill 96, the OQLF would have the authority to select businesses with five to 24 employees to offer French language learning services. An offer made by the OQLF in this regard will be subject to a deadline by which the business must accept the terms thereof and the services to be provided. The business will then be required to provide these learning services to its employees who are unable to communicate in French. A business that rejects an offer made by the OQLF will be prohibited from entering into any contract with, or receiving any subsidies from, the Quebec Government, its departments, various government agencies, as well as municipal and school bodies.
Work-Related Documents
Employers are already required to publish job postings,
including with respect to transfers and promotions, in French.
However, Bill 96 provides that if such postings are to be
published in another language, they must also be published
simultaneously in French, using transmission means of the same
nature and reaching a target public of a proportionally comparable
size as that of the posting in the other language.
While many employers already draft various employment-related
documents in French, Bill 96 sets out to amend the Charter by
specifying an employer's obligations in this regard and
provides for the following, among other things:
- An individual contract of employment that constitutes a contract of adhesion (e.g., a contract drawn up by the employer in respect of which an employee cannot negotiate the essential terms and conditions) or contains standard clauses may be drawn up in a language other than French at the express wish of the parties and only after the candidate has examined the French version of the document. If an individual contract of employment does not constitute a contract of adhesion or contain standard clauses, then the contract may be drawn up exclusively in a language other than French at the express wish of the parties.
- Employers must use French in their written communications to all or part of their staff, a specific worker or an association of workers.
- Employment application forms, documents relating to employment conditions (e.g., employee manuals, psychological harassment policies or any other employer policy) and training documents for staff must be in French. If these documents are available in English, they must also be made available in French on terms that are at least as favourable as those for the documents in English.
Finally, where participants in a group covered by a group insurance or group annuity contract are all workers having an employment relationship with one or more employers, the insurer will be required, among other things, to issue a copy of the policy drawn up in French to the participant; the same applies to insurance certificates to be distributed to these workers.
Language Requirements
The Charter currently prohibits employers from making the
knowledge of a language other than French a specific condition for
employment, unless such knowledge is required to carry out the
duties of that employment. Bill 96 imposes an additional
burden on employers in that they must first take all reasonable
means to avoid requiring the knowledge, or a specific level of
knowledge, of a language other than French for a person to keep or
obtain a position, including through recruitment, hiring, transfer
or promotion.
Bill 96 sets out that an employer will be deemed to have taken
all reasonable means to avoid requiring knowledge or a specific
level of knowledge of a language other than French if the following
three conditions are met:
- The employer has assessed the actual language needs associated with the duties to be performed
- The employer has made sure that the language knowledge already required from other staff members was insufficient for the performance of those duties
- The employer has restricted as much as possible the number of positions involving duties whose performance requires knowledge or a specific level of knowledge of a language other than French
Protection against Discrimination relating to Language of Work
Other than protections afforded by the Charter of human
rights and freedoms against language-based discrimination,
Bill 96 provides that every employee is entitled to a work
environment free of discrimination or harassment where the employee
has no or little command of a language other than French, claims
the possibility to express himself in French, or had demanded that
a right arising from obligations pertaining to language of work be
respected. Employers must therefore take reasonable means to
prevent such discrimination or harassment and, if such conduct is
brought to their attention, make it cease.
Employees may file a complaint with the CNESST or their union
regarding any breach of this obligation within a two-year period
following the most recent occurrence of the conduct in question.
Complaints may be heard by the Administrative Labour Tribunal,
Quebec's Human Rights Tribunal (if applicable), or a grievance
arbitrator if the workplace is unionized.
Remedy Against Prohibited Practices
While the Charter already provides for a remedy against linguistic requirements that are considered unjustified, Bill 96 sets out a prohibited practice with respect to employment, in order to protect employees against reprisals for exercising a right under the Charter. Bill 96 prohibits employers from dismissing, laying off, demoting, or transferring an employee, and from taking reprisals against or imposing any other penalty on an employee, for the sole reason that the employee is exclusively French-speaking or does not have sufficient knowledge of a given language other than French, or for any of the following reasons:
- The employee has demanded that a right arising from the Charter provisions pertaining to the language of work be respected
- To deter the employee from exercising such a right
- Because the employee does not have knowledge or a specific level of knowledge of a language other than French, where the performance of the duty does not require it
Employees may file a complaint regarding any such prohibited practice with the CNESST or, in a unionized workplace, with their union. A complaint must be filed within 45 days of the occurrence of the event in question and will be heard by the Administrative Labour Tribunal, or a grievance arbitrator if the workplace is unionized.
LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS
Requirements pertaining to contracts of adhesion and contracts containing standard clauses
Among other things, Bill 96 amends the rule according to
which parties may enter into a contract of adhesion (standard
contract) in a language other than French, if that is their express
wish. The amendments set out in Bill 96 provide that, prior to
consenting to and being bound by a contract of adhesion drafted in
a language other than French, and before consenting to receive
related documents in that other language, the adhering party must
examine the French version of the contract.
Under Bill 96, a contracting party would be expressly
prohibited from requiring from the adhering party any sum for the
preparation of a French version of a contract of adhesion or its
related documents.
Bill 96 also proposes to allow the adhering party to invoke
the nullity of a contract of adhesion if the employer failed in its
obligation to bring the French version of the contract to the
attention of the adhering party. Furthermore, it provides for the
presumption that a failure of this obligation is prejudicial to the
adhering party, and that the adhering party may invoke this injury
in its action for nullity.
Employers in Quebec who employ independent contractors and
consultants through service contracts should pay close attention to
this amendment, as service contracts may, in some cases, be
considered as contracts of adhesion or contracts with standard
clauses, and therefore be subject to this new rule.
Trademarks on public signs
Bill 96 proposes a notable change to the rules pertaining to trademarks on outdoor public signs. The standard for assessing whether a trademark in a language other than French on an outdoor public sign is compliant with the Charter would go from the French content on display being "sufficiently present" to being "clearly predominant". Should the proposed change be adopted, many businesses may have to reassess their outdoor public signs to determine whether they comply with these new rules.
LEGAL PUBLICITY OF ENTERPRISES
Bill 96 sets out amendments to various other statutes, including the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, to impose a new requirement for the disclosure of ongoing information that would enable the OQLF to identify businesses in need of French language learning services. Therefore, a declaration of registration filed by a business that has between five and 24 employees would have to disclose, in addition to the number of employees whose workplace is located in Quebec, the proportion of those employees who are unable to communicate in French.
PENALTIES
Bill 96 proposes a significant increase in the penalties
faced by businesses that contravene the Charter, as well as those
that apply to directors and officers of contravening
businesses.
More specifically, Bill 96 provides that if an offence
continues for more than one day, it will constitute a separate
offence for each subsequent day. In practice, this means that when
a business commits an offence under the Charter, it becomes liable
to a fine varying from C$3,000 to C$30,000 per day, and its
directors and officers are also liable to fines to be determined
according to the number of days during which the offence in
question was committed. Fines for directors and officers may range
from C$1,400 to C$14,000 per day.
Furthermore, fines are doubled for a second offence and tripled for
all subsequent offences. Bill 96 also limits the application
of this rule to a specific period (namely a five-year or two-year
period following a conviction for the prior offence according to
the fine imposed by the court for the prior offence) and delineates
the circumstances of its application.
For permission to reprint articles, please contact the bulletin@blakes.com Marketing Department.
© 2025 Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
