New bilingual labelling regulations come into effect on June 1, 2025
What they mean for your branding and package design.
On June 1, 2025 new provincial regulations governing bilingual brand names, logos and trademarks come into effect in Quebec.
After several revisions and a variety of combinations and permutations the final regulations have landed. Here's the top line:
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Registered and unregistered Canadian trademarks are exempt from translation unless an existing French language trademark exists.
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Generic terms and descriptions must be translated even if they are part of a registered or unregistered Canadian trademark.
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The operating name of an enterprise is exempt from translation.
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Foreign trademarks are not exempt from translation.
Bill 96 - bilingual product labelling and packaging
From a labelling and packaging standpoint Bill 96 requires that any generic term or product description included within a trademark must be translated into French and be displayed permanently and prominently on the product or its packaging.
The over-arching purpose of Bill 96 is to protect, promote, and strengthen the use of the French language in Quebec, ensuring it remains the province's primary language in public, commercial, and legal contexts.
Trademarks
Under the new regulations registered and unregistered Canadian trademarks can continue to appear in their original language without translation, provided that no French language trademark exists in the Canadian trademark database. Generic terms and descriptions that are part of a trademark are not exempt from translation.
Generic terms & product descriptions that require translation
Generic Term: describes the type or nature of the product (cookie, chip, milk...)
Product Description: describes features or qualities of a product (sweet, avocado, gluten-free...)
Any generic terms (e.g., "cookies," "juice") or product descriptions (e.g., "organic," "gluten-free") that is not part of the name of the enterprise must be translated into French, even if they are part of a trademark.
There are of course some exceptions.
Exemptions to the requirement to translating generic terms and product descriptions
The following do not require translation:
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The name of a company or enterprise even if it contains generic terms or descriptions
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Designations of origin: Names tied to specific regions, like “Champagne” or “Parmesan.”
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Cultural or traditional product names: Terms like “Sushi”, “Chorizo”, or “Poutine”.
Examples
If the trademark is Happy Snacks Organic Chips and the company name is Happy Snacks, "Organic Chips" must be translated.
If the trademark is Happy Snacks Organic Chips and the company name is Happy Snacks Organic, only "Chips" must be translated.
If the trademark is Happy Snacks Organic Parmesan Chips and the company name is Happy Snacks, only "Organic Chips" must be translated.
Timeline
The packaging and labelling requirements of Bill 96 comes into full effect on June 1, 2025. There is a two year grace period for products manufactured on or before June 1, 2025, and no French language trademark was registered prior to June 1, 2026.
Next steps
In spite of some initial concern there is no need to run out and change your brand name or translate all your trademarks into French. You do need to take a look at your labels and determine if anything has to change.
Two things you can do right away? Register your trademarks and call Brand Natural.
At Brand Natural we make Canadian food labelling compliance easy. We believe in the right hands food labelling regulations can a competitive advantage.