Two reports released Wednesday by the French language commisioner (le Commissaire à la langue française) show that the measures adopted by the Quebec government do not enable it to meet the objectives set by the legislature regarding the implementation of the Charter of the French Language.
“It is as if the Charter of the French Language were not having the effects it should. No structural changes have been observed,” concludes Deputy Commissioner Éric Poirier, after closely analyzing practices at the seven largest public agencies providing direct services to the public: Revenu Québec, Hydro-Québec, the Régie de l’assurance maladie, the Société de l’assurance automobile, Retraite Québec, Services Québec, and the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail.
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“This is not a review of the entire administration; it is a first step. We selected the seven largest and most visible organizations—those whose exemplary practices will truly have a ripple effect for French as the official and common language, as stated in the Charter of the French Language,” Poirier emphasizes.
Since June 1, 2023, the Charter has required these organizations to use French exclusively, except in the exceptional cases it expressly provides for.
However, “the main public bodies evaluated generally continue to offer direct services to the public in French and English, at the client’s choice, without any real verification or oversight,” the Commissioner noted.
The majority of the indicators examined revealed “major issues.”
Regarding “language codes,” which determine the language of communication between public bodies and the public, those associated with English are on the rise in most of the organizations examined.
For immigrant reception services, the vast majority of organizations have no measures in place to ensure a return to French-language services after having exceptionally provided services in English.
As for websites, they are generally bilingual in French and English, with a button that allows users to switch from one language to the other.
The same observations apply to the secure areas of websites, which remain fully bilingual for almost all of the organizations analyzed.
In the hope of improving the situation, the French Language Commissioner makes four recommendations to the Ministry of the French Language in his report titled “The State’s Exemplary Role: The Obligation to Succeed.”
First, “when choosing to provide services in English or another language, organizations must identify the provisions allowing them to do so in order to determine which exceptional circumstance provided for in the Charter applies, if any,” the roughly 30-page document states.
Regarding services for welcoming immigrants, the report states that “a mechanism must be put in place to ensure services are provided exclusively in French at the end of the six-month period, after which the discretion no longer applies.”
As for the websites of public bodies, information must be written in French only, “unless it concerns solely a situation covered by an exception and is not otherwise relevant.”
The report also suggests that music played on hold on public bodies’ telephone lines be in French, preferably from Quebec, and that advertising on digital platforms be exclusively in French.
Furthermore, in the other report, which focuses on the francization process for companies with 25 or more employees, the Commissioner recommends that the Office québécois de la langue française change its approach so that companies subject to the francization process commit, when hiring employees who do not know French, to achieving “specific and measurable objectives” within set timeframes.
When francization is not possible, particularly due to excessively high turnover, “the Office must require proficiency in French as a hiring criterion.”
After submitting his annual report for 2026–2027 to the government, the French Language Commissioner will follow up with the Ministry of the French Language to determine whether his recommendations have been implemented.
However, he does not have “enforcement powers.” “Our mission is to evaluate the administration’s practices and make structural recommendations for the future of French and the protection of the French Language Charter. Once this is out in the public debate, our mandate is solely to publicly state whether the recommendations have been followed,” explains Poirier.
The Quebec public and parapublic workers’ union (SFPQ) responded to this report by thanking the Commissioner for “this deception” and for proposing “appropriate corrective measures.”
“This is in complete contradiction to what this government had previously announced regarding the State’s role as a model and the exclusive use of French, barring exceptions. Major advances for French were announced, but due to a lack of political will to concretely implement the state’s duty to set an example in the use of French, it is instead the use of English that is on the rise. The SFPQ had sounded the alarm, but was not listened to,” laments SFPQ Vice President Patrick Audy in a press release.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
