Emailing buyers in Quebec: French rules for B2B outreach

Does Quebec's French language law apply to B2B emails?

It does. The Charter of the French language has covered business since 1977, and Bill 96 (An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, S.Q. 2022, c. 14) made the business-to-business rule explicit. Section 50.2 of the Charter now reads: "An enterprise that offers goods or services to consumers must respect their right to be informed and served in French. An enterprise that offers goods or services to a public other than consumers must inform and serve it in French."

Law firms read the second sentence the same way. Langlois wrote in June 2022 that the duty to "inform and serve" in French now covers "all customers." Dentons put it more plainly: "even when a business offers goods or services to non-consumers, namely to another business, it must do so in French." The regulator, the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), says in its business checklist that French service must be available on the same terms "whether your customer is an individual or another business" (our translation).

French does not have to stand alone. Section 89 says that where the Act does not require French only, "the official language and another language may be used together," and section 91 adds that the French version "must be displayed at least as prominently as every other language" and "must be understandable without having to refer to a version in another language."

What does the Charter require for each part of your outreach?

The Charter sets different rules for different kinds of text. Here is how they line up for a team selling to Quebec businesses, from the official consolidation of the Charter (up to date to August 12, 2026) and its commerce regulation (up to date to June 1, 2026):

Is a cold sales email commercial advertising?

Nobody has said, and the answer changes how much French you need. Neither the Charter nor its regulation defines "commercial advertising" or mentions email; we searched both texts on October 8, 2026. We also found no OQLF guidance, decision or law firm bulletin that deals with one-to-one sales emails. Three readings are possible:

The practical way through is to remove the question. An email written only in French meets all three readings. A bilingual email with French first meets the first two for certain, and the third only if the French clearly dominates. Whichever you choose, treat this as an open point of law and get advice if Quebec is a large part of your market.

Can you reply in English?

Yes, once the buyer has chosen English. The OQLF's guide for international businesses says that with customers in Quebec, "businesses may serve them in the language they choose. However, service in French must be available at all times" (our translation). Its social media guide applies the same idea to comments: a business may answer in the language a person wrote in, and "must reply in French" to someone who wrote in French.

So a sensible pattern is a French first touch, a line offering English, and a switch to English for anyone who replies in English. Keep the French route open for the rest of the conversation: the proposal, the order form and the support channel.

What changed on June 1, 2025?

The last group of Bill 96 changes, with the amended Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, took effect on June 1, 2025. They are mostly about products and storefronts, but one of them matters for advertising of any kind.

• Trademarks on products. A registered trademark may stay in another language, but "if a generic term or a description of the product is included in the trademark, it must appear in French on the product" (section 51.1). Products made before June 1, 2025 can still be sold until June 1, 2027 under conditions set in the regulation.
• Signs visible from outside. Where a non-French trademark or business name appears on outside signage, French must be markedly predominant (sections 58.1 and 68.1), usually by adding a French generic term, description or slogan.
• A number for "markedly predominant". French has "a much greater visual impact" when, in the same visual field, it gets a space "at least twice as large" as the other language and is equally legible (regulation sections 27.4 and 27.6). This applies to signs and to commercial advertising, which is why the question above matters.

For outbound teams, the direct effect is small. The indirect one is the twice-the-space test: any ad, sponsored post or promotional graphic aimed at Quebec now has a measurable bar.

Do your website, landing pages and attachments need French?

Yes, if they promote your business to Quebec. Section 52 covers "catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories, order forms and any other documents of the same nature that are available to the public" "regardless of the medium used." The OQLF says this "includes websites and social networks" and that the duty to publish in French falls on whoever makes the content public, even if a third party wrote it (our translations).

The courts agree. In 156158 Canada inc. v. Attorney General of Québec (2017 QCCA 2055), the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld fines against Montreal businesses whose websites were English only; BLG's summary notes the court "specifically confirmed that websites aimed at conducting or promoting business in the territory of Québec are subject to the French language requirement." In 2025, three of the six convictions on the OQLF's list were under section 52, for commercial publications "including on a website and on social media" (our translation).

"At least as favourable" has a practical meaning. The OQLF's social media guide says a reader must not have to make "an additional effort or an extra manipulation," such as changing settings, to reach the French version (our translation). For outreach, that means the case study, booking page or PDF you link to from a French email should open in French too.

Do your SaaS terms and order forms need to be in French?

If the buyer cannot negotiate them, yes, French comes first. Since June 1, 2023, section 55 says a contract of adhesion in another language binds the parties only "if, after its French version has been remitted to the adhering party, such is their express wish," and no one may charge for the French version. This covers business buyers as well as consumers. Gowling WLG lists website terms and conditions, terms of sale and subscription agreements among the contracts in scope, and warns that the old "language selection" clause "will no longer suffice."

• Online, the regulation says the rule is met by giving the buyer "the applicable standard clauses in French" (section 27.3).
• The stakes are civil. A buyer who seeks to annul a contract that breaks section 55 "is not required to prove that the contravention causes him injury" (section 204.21), and a clause in another language is deemed "incomprehensible" unless the buyer asked for that language (section 204.26).
• Contracts "used in relations with persons outside Québec" are exempt from the French-first step, though they still need the parties' express wish to use another language.
• Negotiated contracts with real back and forth sit under a softer rule: French, or another language at the parties' express wish.

Does the Charter apply if your company is outside Quebec?

Probably, if you are actively selling into Quebec, but this is unsettled. The Charter applies to "all enterprises doing business in Québec" (section 2), and the OQLF's FAQ says it applies to any business "that carries on its activities in Quebec, even temporarily" (our translation). Norton Rose Fulbright reads the online rules more narrowly, as binding businesses that "have an establishment in Quebec" and sell there, and Dentons noted in 2022 that the OQLF had generally acted only against websites of companies established in Quebec.

Complaints do reach outside firms: 6% of the complaints the OQLF received in each of the last two years were about businesses outside Quebec. The cautious reading is the simple one. If your list includes Quebec businesses, write to them in French.

How is the Charter enforced, and what are the penalties?

Enforcement starts with a complaint and aims at a fix. The OQLF received 11,125 complaints and reports between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, up from 10,371 the year before. It checks each one, including "online checks" for websites and social media, agrees a correction schedule with the business, and can then order compliance (section 177). The order binds for two years and can be contested at the Administrative Tribunal of Québec within 30 days.

Fines come later, and only through the courts. The OQLF says plainly that it "does not give fines" (our translation); if an order is ignored, it can send the file to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions. Under section 205, disobeying an order carries a fine of $700 to $7,000 for an individual and $3,000 to $30,000 for a company. Fines double for a second offence and triple after that (section 207), each day counts as a separate offence (section 208.0.1), and directors are presumed liable unless they show due diligence (section 208.4.2). The OQLF's 2025 list shows six convictions, from $700 to $3,000.

There is also a contract risk. Provisions that break the Charter and cause harm can be annulled (section 204.18), and the section 55 rule on contracts of adhesion lets a buyer seek annulment without proving harm.

How do the French rules fit with CASL?

They are two separate layers, and a cold email to Quebec has to pass both. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation decides whether you may send at all and what every message must contain. The Charter decides the language. We searched the consolidated text of CASL (current to September 21, 2026) and it sets no language requirement.

Translating an email does not create consent, and consent does not excuse an English-only message. In a French email, write the sender details and the unsubscribe line in French too: section 91 asks for a French version that stands on its own. For the consent side, see our guide to what CASL allows for cold email.

A checklist for emailing Quebec prospects

1. Give every lead a province column and route Quebec leads to their own version of the sequence.
2. Confirm a CASL consent basis for each lead before anything else.
3. Write the Quebec version in French, and have a fluent speaker review it. French only is the cleanest choice; if you add English, put French first and make it complete.
4. Translate everything the reader sees: subject line, body, signature, sender details and the unsubscribe line.
5. Link to French pages: landing page, case study, booking page and any PDF.
6. Offer English in one line, and switch when the buyer replies in English.
7. Send the French version of your terms or order form first, then record the buyer's express choice if they want English.
8. For Quebec public bodies, plan on French only.
9. Keep your French website and social posts at least as complete and as easy to reach as the English ones.

What is still unclear?

• Whether a one-to-one cold email is commercial advertising (twice the space for French) or only "informing" a business customer (French at least as prominent).
• Whether a single email counts as a document "available to the public" under section 52.
• How far the Charter reaches a seller with no establishment in Quebec. The OQLF's wording is broad and some law firms read it more narrowly.
• How the rules apply to LinkedIn messages and texts sent to Quebec prospects. We found no guidance.
• Whether the OQLF has ever acted on a sales email. Its published convictions do not say.

This post is general information about Quebec and Canadian law as of October 8, 2026, and it is not legal advice. For your own program, speak to a Quebec lawyer.

Where Duckrow fits

Duckrow does not decide what the Charter requires, and it does not detect a lead's province or language for you. It can carry the French version once you have written it:

• A condition step reads any column of the lead's row at send time, so leads whose province column equals Quebec can take a French path and everyone else the Otherwise path.
• Any column works as a variable, and a message with an empty variable is never sent; the lead pauses instead.
• Every email carries a one-click unsubscribe header and a footer link, and an unsubscribe suppresses that address across the workspace.

Whatever tool you use, check the footer and unsubscribe wording it adds. Those lines are part of the email too.