Who does Bill 96 apply to?
Bill 96 applies to businesses operating in or actively marketing to Quebec. Most employment obligations ramp up at 5+ employees and again at 25+. If your company has any Quebec-based employees, customers, or advertising targeted at Quebec residents, you are in scope.
If you have zero Quebec operations and do not sell or advertise to Quebec — for example, an Ontario-based startup serving Anglophone Canada only — Bill 96 does not apply to you directly.
What it requires (high level)
- French in the workplace: employees have a right to work in French. Written communications addressed to a Quebec employee (offer letters, employment contracts, HR policies, training materials) must be available in French.
- Public-facing commercial materials: websites, product pages, advertising, and commercial brochures must be in French — French must be at least as prominent as any other language.
- Contracts of adhesion: standard-form employee contracts must be drafted in French. An employee may accept an English version only after they have reviewed the French version.
- Francization (25+ employees): businesses with 25 or more employees in Quebec must register with the OQLF and work toward generalized use of French in the workplace.
Enforcement
The OQLF investigates complaints; prosecutions under the Charter are conducted by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP). Under Charter ss. 205–206 (as amended by Bill 96 in 2022), fines for corporations on a first offence range from $3,000 to $30,000 per violation; second offences double to $6,000–$60,000, and subsequent offences triple to $9,000–$90,000. Officers and directors can be held personally liable for offences committed by the legal person. Enforcement has ramped up significantly since 2023. Verify the current schedule with the OQLF or qualified Quebec counsel before relying on these figures for compliance decisions.
What anglophone Canadian employers with Quebec workers should do
- Translate offer letters and employment contracts into French for Quebec-based hires. Use a qualified legal translator — this is a document that can be scrutinized.
- Make sure employee-facing HR policies (handbook, time-off policy, code of conduct) are available in French for Quebec employees.
- If you run Google, Meta, or LinkedIn ads to Quebec, ensure the landing page is available in French.
- If you cross 25 Quebec employees, register with the OQLF and begin the francization process. Consult counsel.
Where WalnutsHR stands today
WalnutsHR is bilingual EN/FR.
Each employee picks their preferred interface language independently — Anglophone team members see English, Francophone team members see French. The product is built for the mixed teams that most Canadian companies actually run. You should still review your Bill 96 obligations with counsel and have a qualified legal translator review employment contracts and other adhesion documents — those are statutory requirements that no software fully removes.