Is the French version of your website as complete as the English?
For websites that sell in Quebec: we review your key pages, templates, forms, PDFs and third-party listings to check that the French version is at least as complete as the English, and give you a fix plan.
- Bilingual team
- EN/FR
- Bilingual team
- What we review
- Pages, forms, PDFs
- What we review
- Typical turnaround
- 5 days
- Typical turnaround
What the Charter of the French language asks of a website selling in Quebec
According to the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), a website must be in French when a company established in Quebec uses it to market goods or services in Quebec, by promoting them or by offering them to the public. This covers advertising content and what makes online sales possible, such as online contracts and dialog boxes. Other languages are allowed when French is at least equivalent, which means the same information is offered in French. A bilingual home page is not required: an English home page can link to a separate French site, as long as that site is as complete (OQLF, Sites Web, in French).
Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, received assent on June 1, 2022. Its section 44 amended section 52 of the Charter, in force the same day. Regardless of the medium, catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories, order forms and similar documents available to the public must be drawn up in French, and no one may offer them in another language if the French version is not available on terms at least as favourable (Bill 96, 2022, chapter 14, Charter, section 52).
A company with no establishment in Quebec can also be covered, in whole or in part, when its website has a real and substantial link to Quebec, for example when Quebec locations are directly involved in the offer. Whether and how these rules apply to your organization is for your legal team to decide.
What we review
We look at what a customer in Quebec sees and check that each French version carries the same information as the English one.
- Key pages. Home page, product and service pages, pricing, contact and your most visited content, chosen with you at kickoff.
- Shared templates. Menus, footers, banners, buttons, error pages, the language switcher and text built into components.
- Forms and online ordering. Labels, help text, error and confirmation messages, the emails sent after a form, and online terms.
- PDFs and downloads. Brochures, catalogues, spec sheets and order forms.
- Third-party listings. Directory and marketplace listings and other profiles that describe your business.
You get a readiness report that lists each gap, where it appears and who can fix it, plus a fix plan ranked by effort and impact.
Fix the template once, fix every page that uses it
On a CMS website, much of the text a visitor reads comes from shared templates and settings, not from each page: menus, footers, form messages, date and currency formats, and what happens when a French page is missing. Fix a template or the multilingual setup once in Sitecore, Optimizely or Kentico and every page that uses it is fixed at the same time.
Other gaps sit in the content itself: pages never translated, PDFs only in English, French pages with less detail than the English. Your report separates the two, so your developers and your editors each get their own list.
Recent enforcement examples
These cases are examples only. They do not predict what would happen to your organization.
- On July 16, 2026, Natural Scents Incense & Oils, a Longueuil company, pleaded guilty under section 205 of the Charter for not following an OQLF order about commercial content available only in another language on its website. The Court of Québec fined it $3,000 (OQLF, September 4, 2026).
- In October 2026, a Montreal bakery received an OQLF letter with a November 5 deadline about a third-party directory website that described the business, which the bakery did not run. The OQLF closed the website issue after discussions with the owner (Montreal Gazette, October 16, 2026).
- In 2025, two Montreal companies were each fined $1,500 for commercial content on social media in another language without an equivalent French version (same article).
The OQLF received 11,125 complaints and reports between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, and 28% of the issues raised concerned websites and social media (OQLF statistics 2025-2026, in French). The OQLF says 95% of cases are resolved through cooperation with businesses.
What this review is, and what it is not
This is a review of your French content against your English content, with a readiness plan. It is not legal advice and it is not a certification: no one at Sengo can declare that your website meets the Charter. Your legal team decides how the rules apply to your organization and what to change. For questions about your obligations, ask your legal counsel or the OQLF.
Websites change every week. The report ends with checks to add to your publishing routine, so new pages and new files keep their French version.
Request a French-language website review
Send the form. We reply by email to agree on the pages and files to review.
Frequently asked questions
Does the review tell us whether our website meets the Charter?
No. It shows where your French versions are missing or carry less information than the English, and how to fix that. It is not legal advice. Your legal team decides whether and how the Charter applies to you and what to change.
Do we need a bilingual home page?
The OQLF says a bilingual home page is preferable to an English-only one but cannot be required under the law. An English home page with a link to a separate French site that is just as complete can be accepted (OQLF, in French).
We are not based in Quebec. Does this concern us?
It can. The OQLF says websites of companies with no establishment in Quebec can be covered, in whole or in part, when there is a real and substantial link to Quebec, for example when Quebec locations take part in the offer. Your legal team decides whether that is your case.
What about links to other websites and listings?
The OQLF says websites reached through a link are not covered unless a customer must use them to get your goods or services, or they offer products your company makes. The review lists the third-party pages that describe your business so your team can decide what to ask for.
How long does the review take?
Most sites take about 5 business days. Large multi-site platforms take longer, and we tell you at kickoff.
Do you change anything on our website during the review?
No. We review what is public, or use read-only access, and change nothing in your environments.
What happens after the report?
We walk you through it on a call. You can make the fixes in-house, with your current agency or with Sengo. It is your report.
