Established through the Charter of the French Language, French is the official language of the Province of Québec. The Charter applies to businesses located in Québec and to other businesses providing services and selling goods in this province, making the use of French mandatory in connection with these business activities.
Historically, the Charter has provided for a “recognized trademark” exception to this French language requirement for registered and known (but unregistered) trademarks in Canada. In these cases, the “recognized trademark” may appear on goods, advertising, signage and commercial publications in a language other than French (unless the French version of the mark has been registered, in which case use of this French version remains mandatory). In addition, where the “recognized trademark” exception applies to use on signage or on the face of a building, it must also feature indications on the same visual plane that informs consumers and passersby of the nature of the business in the French language. This is referred to as the “sufficient presence of French” requirement. Read more