The draft regulation entitled “Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business” (the Draft Regulation), published in the Gazette officielle du Québec on January 10, is part of the reform of the Charter of the French Language in Québec (the Charter) following the adoption of Bill 96 entitled An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (Bill 96) whose main provisions relevant to the insurance industry came into force in June 2023.

In its current form, the Draft Regulation proposes certain amendments and clarifications to the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business currently in effect, notably with regard to the public display of trademarks and French language labelling of products. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide information on the main changes proposed by the Minister of the French Language through the Draft Regulation with respect to the insurance sector.

Social media and websites

If adopted as it stands, all social media and websites available to the Québec public will be considered commercial publications. Consequently, social media and websites containing information intended for use by Québec consumers will have to be accessible in French, in accordance with Section 52 of the Charter.

Attachment to an adhesion contract

The Draft Regulation introduces a new section impacting the insurance industry, Section 27.6. The purpose of this provision is to give examples of what the legislator means by a “document related to a contract of adhesion,” which, in the case of such contracts, may include an insurance certificate, an insurance contract termination or resolution form, or any other attachment or document constituting an ancillary document to the contract of adhesion. Thus, the first paragraph of Section 27.6 clarifies the interpretation of Section 55 of the Charter without making any substantial changes.

Issuance of insurance contract in French

The second paragraph of Section 27.6 provides interesting clarifications and, to a certain extent, facilitates the application of Section 55 of the Charter by illustrating different scenarios where the physical delivery of a French version of the contract of adhesion is not possible. This new provision applies to all adhesion contracts, not just insurance contracts qualified as such. The clarifications concern cases where the insurance contract is entered into by telephone or technological means or where the contract takes effect immediately, and the policyholder does not have the technological means to access the standard clauses of the contract.

• In cases where the insurance contract is underwritten by telephone or other technological means, the minister proposes to ease the requirement to “remit” the French version of the adhesion contract to the adherent. As it stands, it will be allowed to conclude the contract of adhesion in a language other than French, provided that the standard clauses drafted in French are available and can be consulted online by the adherent prior to the conclusion of the contract.
• In cases where the adherent does not have the technological means to familiarize himself/herself with the standard clauses of the contract drawn up in French at the time of subscription to the contract, and provided that the contract must take effect immediately, the expression of the adherent's explicit consent to enter into the contract in a language other than French would be  deemed sufficient.

It is important to remember that the regulation applies to all contracts of adhesion and is not specific to the insurance field. Moreover, these provisions appear to affect mainly personal-lines insurance, as well as insurance products covered by the exceptional regime set out in Sections 408 et seq. of the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (ARDFPS), i.e., insurance products distributed by distributors (the distribution without representatives regime).

If adopted as they stand, these new rules will ease certain requirements laid down in the Charter, notably with regard to how these products are distributed, both with regard to alternative distribution networks and sales scripts, which may be modified accordingly.

Other changes

Among the provisions of the Draft Regulation pertaining to public advertising and relevant to the insurance industry, we note that the Draft Regulation calls for repealing paragraph 4 of section 25 of the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business currently in effect. This Section allowed a “recognized trademark” within the meaning of the Trade Marks Act to appear exclusively in a language other than French on signs, posters and commercial advertising unless a French version was registered.

As of June 1, 2025, the exception that previously allowed “recognized trademarks” to appear exclusively in a language other than French on signs, posters and commercial advertising will be restricted. This exception will only apply to trademarks registered in Canada (provided no corresponding French version is registered), in accordance with the provisions of Section 58.1 of the Charter. As a result, this regulatory change will have the effect of requiring registration in Canada to qualify for the exception applying to the public display of trademarks.

In short, the Draft Regulation provides certain clarifications that, in a way, soften certain rules already provided for in the Charter without bringing about the changes or application guidelines expected by the insurance industry. As a result, it seems clear that the Minister of the French Language has no intention of easing up on the main requirements arising from the amendments made by Bill 96, which came into force in June 2023, with regard to the obligation under Section 55 of the Charter to provide the insured with a French version of insurance contracts which are deemed to be adhesion contracts first, an issue which has been the subject of debate, divergent interpretations and contested practices in the Québec insurance industry since Bill 96 was adopted.

For more information on this topic, please reach out to the authors, Nathalie Durocher and Jade Lemieux.

The bulletin does not constitute a legal opinion and should not be relied upon as such.