Bill 96 Social Media Rules for Quebec Businesses (2026)

Picture a home décor shop in Vaudreuil-Dorion that posts a Black Friday sale graphic on Instagram, price and call-to-action written only in English, no French version anywhere on the account. That's a hypothetical, not a real business, but it's exactly the kind of post that now sits inside Bill 96's reach — and according to the Quebec government's own numbers, complaints about precisely this kind of content have been climbing fast.

This guide covers what Bill 96 and the Charter of the French Language actually require for social media posts, ads, and other online commercial content; what changed specifically in 2025; why complaints to the province's language watchdog have jumped; and what a practical compliance routine looks like for a small business running Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads in Quebec. It is general information, not legal advice — a business with a specific compliance question should confirm the current rules with a lawyer or the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) directly, since some figures and interpretations vary across sources, as noted below.

Key Takeaways

• The OQLF received a record 11,125 complaints for the year ending March 31, 2026, up 7% from 10,371 the year before. Complaints specifically about social media content nearly doubled over that same year, from 4% to 9% of the total (Gouvernement du Québec, June 18, 2026).
• Complaints about marketing materials overall (ads, flyers, websites, social posts) rose to 33% of the total, up from 24% the year before; website-specific complaints rose from 14% to 19% in the same period (same source).
• Since June 1, 2025, the "recognized trademark" exception for public signage and commercial advertising narrowed to registered trademarks only, and the old "sufficient presence" standard for French was replaced by a "markedly predominant" standard (McCarthy Tétrault, January 2024, on the regulation that took effect in stages through June 2025).
• Section 52 of the Charter requires "commercial publications" to be available in French on terms at least as favourable as any other language version — a category several law firms interpret as extending to websites and to social media content used to market or sell to Quebec consumers, not just printed catalogues and brochures.
• Exact penalty amounts for violations vary across sources we reviewed and appear to have changed with Bill 96's 2022 amendments; rather than cite a specific dollar figure we can't fully verify, we're pointing you to the OQLF and a lawyer for current numbers, consistent with our policy of not repeating a statistic we can't confirm.

What Bill 96 Actually Changed for Online Commercial Content

Bill 96, formally An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, was adopted in June 2022 and amends the Charter of the French Language. Its provisions didn't all take effect at once; most phased in over three years, from June 2022 through June 2025, which is part of why the rules can feel like a moving target for a business trying to keep up.

The relevant section for marketing is Section 52 of the Charter, which requires "commercial publications" to be drawn up in French. Before Bill 96, that category covered things like catalogues, brochures, folders, and commercial directories. Bill 96 widened the wording and added order forms and similar documents to the list; a 2024 regulation published in the Gazette officielle du Québec further simplified the language, replacing the old itemized list with the general term "documents." Several law firms that track this closely — including analyses published by Smart & Biggar and Miller Thomson — read this category as extending to websites and social media content a business uses to sell goods or services to Quebec consumers, alongside the more obvious printed material. Where a business publishes both a French and a non-French version of the same content, the rule is that the French version has to be available on terms at least as favourable as the other language version — not buried in a harder-to-find link, not published later, not formatted as an afterthought.

That's a meaningfully different bar than "we post in English and French both exist somewhere on our page."

The "Markedly Predominant" Rule and What It Means for Branding on Social Media

The second major shift, and the one most directly relevant to how a business's logo, trademark, or English brand name shows up in photos, graphics, and video on social media, took effect June 1, 2025. Before that date, a business could often rely on what was called a "sufficient presence" of French alongside a non-French trademark or brand name in advertising and on signage. As of June 1, 2025, that standard was replaced with a requirement that French be "markedly predominant" — meaning it needs to carry noticeably more visual weight, not just be present somewhere in the frame.

At the same time, the "recognized trademark" exception, which previously let an unregistered trademark or brand name appear without a French translation under certain conditions, narrowed to cover registered trademarks only. A brand name or logo that was never formally registered as a trademark lost that exception entirely, which matters for any small business whose name or wordmark was never through that registration process.

Exactly how much bigger "markedly predominant" has to be — legal commentary we reviewed points toward roughly double the visual space or impact of the other language, though interpretations differ somewhat on the precise threshold and the applicable regulation has been revised more than once since the 2024 draft — isn't something we're going to state as a fixed number here, since the sources we checked don't agree closely enough on the exact figure to repeat it as settled fact. What's consistent across every source is the direction: French needs to be clearly, visibly dominant, not merely included, in advertising and public-facing branded content, including the graphics, reels, and story covers a business posts on its own social accounts.

Why Complaints About Online Content Are Climbing So Fast

The OQLF publishes its complaint figures annually, and the trend over the most recent reporting year is sharp. According to the Government of Quebec's release dated June 18, 2026, the OQLF logged 11,125 complaints for the year running April 2025 through March 2026 — a record, and up 7% from 10,371 complaints the year before. The release also breaks the complaints down by category, and the shift inside those categories is the part most relevant to a business running social media: complaints about marketing materials as a whole rose from 24% to 33% of the total, website-specific complaints rose from 14% to 19%, and complaints specifically naming social media content rose from 4% to 9% — nearly doubling in a single year.

Language of service remained the single largest complaint category at 35%, even though its share fell slightly from the year before. The government's own explanation points to growing public attention to language rights generally rather than to any single enforcement campaign. Whatever the cause, the practical signal for a business is the same: online commercial content, not just storefront signage, is now where a meaningful and fast-growing share of complaints originate.

What This Looks Like for a Local Business's Day-to-Day Social Accounts

Most of what Bill 96 covers for social media isn't exotic — it maps onto things a business is already posting every week:

• Organic captions and posts aimed at Quebec followers or customers, especially anything promotional (a sale, a new service, a seasonal offer)
• Paid ad creative run on Meta, Google, or TikTok and targeted to Quebec audiences or postal codes
• Graphics, story covers, and reel text overlays that show a brand name, logo, or promotional copy
• Link-in-bio pages and landing pages that the social profile sends traffic to
• Review responses on a Google Business Profile, which several firms treat under the same general principle of matching the customer's language rather than defaulting to one language — see our Google Maps ranking guide for how review responses factor into local search as well

None of this means every single post needs to be dual-published line by line. It means the French version, where one exists, needs to be genuinely equivalent in prominence and availability — not a smaller caption underneath, not a link that takes three extra clicks to find, not published a week later once someone notices it's missing.

If a Complaint Is Filed: What the Process Generally Looks Like

The OQLF's process typically starts with a complaint, which can come from a member of the public, not a government inspector actively monitoring every account. From there, the office generally investigates, and if it finds a violation, it usually sends a formal notice asking the business to correct the issue within a set period before escalating further. The office has broad investigation powers, including the ability to examine a business's public-facing material directly.

We're deliberately not citing a specific fine amount here. The figures that show up across different legal commentary and news coverage range fairly widely, appear to have shifted with Bill 96's 2022 amendments, and several of the sources we checked are either dated to the original 2021 bill text or don't fully agree with one another on the current numbers. What is consistent across sources is that penalties escalate for repeat violations and that a corporation's directors can, in some circumstances, be held personally liable alongside the business. For the actual current fine schedule, the OQLF's own materials or a lawyer familiar with Quebec language law are the right place to check — not a blog post summarizing secondary sources.

It's also worth knowing that OQLF enforcement isn't always a straight line. In August 2025, the office asked a Montreal pub to change signage referencing the English word "pub," then withdrew that specific demand within days, calling its own request premature. That doesn't mean the underlying rules are optional — it means enforcement involves judgment calls, and a notice isn't automatically the final word.

A Practical Compliance Checklist for Quebec Social Media Accounts

• Write the French version first, or at minimum as a genuine equal, rather than treating it as a translation tacked onto an English draft after the fact — our social media guide for Quebec small businesses covers why French-first content also tends to perform better with local audiences
• Check that French text in graphics and story covers is visually equal or more prominent, not smaller, thinner, or tucked into a corner, particularly for anything showing a brand name or trademark
• Audit link-in-bio and landing pages the same way you'd audit a post, since a French post that sends traffic to an English-only page defeats the purpose
• Confirm your business trademark's registration status, since the exception for unregistered marks narrowed significantly as of June 2025
• Match the language of a review or comment when responding, on Google Business Profile and on social platforms alike
• Treat this guide as a starting point, not a final answer, and confirm specifics with a lawyer or the OQLF before making a decision that carries real compliance risk

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Bill 96 apply to my business's Instagram or Facebook posts?

Several law firms that track Quebec language law read the Charter's "commercial publications" requirement as extending to social media content used to market or sell to Quebec consumers, alongside more obvious material like websites and ads. This guide summarizes that interpretation; a lawyer can confirm how it applies to your specific content.

What's the difference between "sufficient presence" and "markedly predominant"?

"Sufficient presence" was the older, lower bar that let French simply be present alongside another language in advertising and signage. As of June 1, 2025, it was replaced by a "markedly predominant" standard, requiring French to carry noticeably greater visual weight, not just appear somewhere in the content.

Can I still use my business's English name or logo on social media?

The exception that previously protected many unregistered trademarks and brand names narrowed to registered trademarks only as of June 1, 2025. If your name or logo was never formally registered as a trademark, it's worth confirming its status with a lawyer given that change.

What happens if someone files an OQLF complaint about my social media content?

Generally, the OQLF investigates and, if it finds a violation, sends a formal notice asking for correction within a set period before escalating further. Exact penalty amounts vary across the sources we reviewed, so we're not citing a specific figure here; the OQLF or a lawyer can confirm current numbers.

Where can I get a definitive answer for my specific business?

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a specific compliance question, the OQLF's own published guidance and a lawyer familiar with Quebec language law are the right sources, not a marketing blog summarizing secondary commentary.

Conclusion

The direction of travel is clear even where some of the fine print isn't settled across every source: French-language requirements for online commercial content have tightened since 2022, complaints specifically about social media and websites are rising faster than complaints overall, and the visual standard for how French appears alongside another language got measurably stricter in June 2025. A business that treats French as a genuine equal across captions, ad creative, graphics, and linked pages, rather than an afterthought translated once someone asks, is in a meaningfully better position than one that isn't — both for compliance and, as covered in our broader Quebec social media guide, for how local audiences actually respond to the content.

Group PV Media writes and produces bilingual, French-first social content and ad creative for small businesses across Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the West Island, Saint-Lazare, Montreal, and Laval. If you want a second set of eyes on how your accounts currently handle French and English content, contact us — and for a compliance determination specific to your business, a Quebec-licensed lawyer remains the right call.

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About the author

Pranshu Verma is the founder of Group PV Media, a social media marketing and content production company serving small businesses across Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the West Island, Saint-Lazare, Montreal, and Laval, Quebec.