On Tuesday, the Quebec government propositioned an alteration to the province’s sign rules that would require businesses to add French to their outdoor signage.
“Thanks to this change, every person, whether driving on a highway, on a sidewalk, in an industrial area or in a commercial parking lot, will know they are in Quebec, because they will see French on the signs,” said Hélène David, acting minister for the protection and promotion of the French Language, who made this week’s announcement.
Under the proposed guidelines, businesses with a non-French trademark name would be required to add a French word, description or slogan to their outdoor signage. However, this modification would not apply to trademarks that are names, such as Tim Hortons.
According to the province, these changes would also require that the added French words be well lit at night. Moreover, the French words would not have to be bigger than the non-French trademark name. The overarching goal of this motion is to have a “sufficient French presence” at every business in Quebec.
For the next 45 days, the government will be accepting public feedback on this proposition. Subsequently, any necessary adjustments to the sign rules will be made and cabinet will make its decision.
This proposal follows 2014’s court battle between major retailers like Walmart, Costco and Best Buy and The Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF), who wanted these companies to change their signs to generic French names or add French slogans. However, the judge ruled in favour of the retailers, ultimately deciding that businesses that have Non-French trademark names on their storefront signs do not violate the Charter of the French Language. This decision was later upheld by the Quebec Court of Appeal.
