Public Signage in Québec: the Office québécois de lalangue française to Start Investigations on its OwnInitiativeJune 8, 2012

The Office québécois de la langue française (the Office) announced on June 1, 2012, that starting this summer, it wouldconduct investigations on its own initiative to identify businesses that are non-compliant with the public signage provisionsof the Charter of the French Language (the Charter) and request that they make the necessary corrections.

It also indicated that “it was time for the Office to initiate other steps against businesses that refuse to post their trade namein compliance with the Charter.” The Office is referring to its recent campaign to convince businesses operating in Québecthat use of English-only trademarks on store-front signage must include a French generic word or expression thatdescribes the business. The Office’s justification is that while the Charter and its Regulation respecting the language ofcommerce and business provide that a recognized trademark may be exclusively in a language other than French, theCharter also requires that a business name be in French or, if its distinctive feature is in another language, it must beaccompanied by a French generic descriptor. It is the Office’s view that store-front signage displays a business name, andmust therefore be accompanied by a French generic descriptor if not already French.

In view of this announcement, businesses in Québec posting English-only trademarks on their store-front signage shouldanticipate more attention from the Office and the risk of a citation requiring changes, even if no complaint from consumershas been filed.

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