Quebec first introduced a language law (Bill 101) in 1977. However, it has long been felt by many politicians that the law did not go far enough. As a consequence, Bill 96 gained Royal Asset on 1st June 2022, but will not be fully effective until 1st June 2025.
For employers, this means a complete revolution in the way the business may be run – to the extent that businesses with a primary language policy other than French should be making plans now to leave the Province over the next three years or face severe penalties. Already it is a requirement that all employment-related documents are in French and job adverts include the full text in French. In fact, the law states that it is actually unlawful to require that any employee be proficient in any other language than French. By June 2023, all contracts and collective agreements must be drawn up in French and only after a request by the signing parties translated to another language. Then in June 2025 will come the Francization programme. All employers with 25+ employees must be signed up to the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) that will have new draconian powers. All internal and external communications in companies must be in French and after 3 months the OQLF will visit to inspect if this rule is being followed. Then a new certificate of compliance must be obtained every 3 years. Companies with 100+ employees must also form a francization committee that will meet at least every 6 months. The irony in this law, of course, is that québécois differs in numerous respects from modern French, especially in pronunciation. It will be interesting to learn, therefore, if true French (as spoken in France) will actually be tolerated.