All business signs in the province of Quebec must be in French. If the business operator wishes to have English on the sign, the French must be at least twice as large as the English is. There are no laws governing the usage of other languages on signs. -Bill 101 (Passed 1976)

Comment from Keith Conroy
Time April 16, 2011 at 10:07 pm

Again, I fail to see how this stupid. It’s about the survival of a relatively small French culture in a sea of Canadian & North American English culture. Maybe when you are part of the majority culture, it’s difficult to see this.

Comment from Karla
Time May 28, 2011 at 1:55 am

It IS stupid, not to mention a violation of our basic rights. Apparently, freedom of choice does not exist in Quebec. The truth is, I have no problem with Quebec wanting to preserve the French language. By all means, go ahead and preserve it. But here’s an idea… How about THEY (the French people in Quebec) preserve their OWN language…by speaking french in their house and running THEIR business in french. Why must I, an English person, be forced to preserve it for them? It’s ridiculous. If I’m opening a business with MY money, and running it with MY money, I should be able to have English only signs if I darn well want to.

Comment from Bec
Time June 14, 2011 at 5:26 am

Nothing stupid about this law.

Comment from Tasha
Time June 15, 2011 at 5:54 am

What makes this law .. funny if not stupid.. is you go to chinatown in montreal and there is no english signage, no french signage.. but plenty o chinese signage

Comment from Cody
Time June 29, 2011 at 6:56 pm

This law is indeed very stupid.

Comment from Jenna
Time July 19, 2011 at 4:45 am

I find this law not stupid. Mostly because it was most likely pasted to stop the French in Canada from rooting and revolting. Because that almost happened. They kidnapped some people in office ( one is dead) and had mailbox explosives. I learned about this in my Canadian History class, which we take, here in Canada.

Comment from tom
Time July 26, 2011 at 4:14 am

i’m a half english- half-quebecois young adult, and though this law DOES make sense in some ways, its stupid in others, for example: it makes sense to try to preserve the language, im all for it, im perfectly bilingual, how ever, it’s stupid to have language police, its a waste of taxpayer money.

Comment from Brittany
Time July 26, 2011 at 1:47 pm

This law actually doesn’t exist anymore, they tried to do it but then there was a huge fuss about it and the federal government killed it. Signs in Quebec do have to be in both English and French but it was a law for a short period of time.

Comment from tom
Time July 26, 2011 at 10:30 pm

it’s still a law, enforced by the OLF( officiers de la langue francaise) however, parts of it were called unconstitutional. this is just one small part of bill 101

Comment from Mike
Time August 4, 2011 at 12:10 am

I go to Parc safari and not one english sign. Didnt know what half the animals were.

Comment from To Mike
Time August 31, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Quick note Mike, if it’s tall and has a long neck, I would say Giraffe, It’s really hard to tell an animal when thre aren’t any signs

Comment from j
Time September 21, 2011 at 9:05 am

As an english Canadian who lives and does business exclusively in Quebec, I do not like this law. It is simple discrimination. Its a hidden tax on people that want to do business in their language of choice. Many areas in Montreal are almost exclusively English and businesses in these areas should have the right to target their customers.
You think that Spanish is dying in Miami because people put up English signs? Of course not! Did New Yorkers start speaking Mandarin because many restaurants in China Town don’t have english translations? If Quebecois culture isn’t strong enough to endure in the face of English culture, then let it die. I’ve been to a dozen countries where english signs are everywhere yet the people haven’t stopped speaking their native language. A few signs won’t kill french, if Quebecois even is french.
Paranoia about language has turned the Quebecois into a bunch of racist fascists. You think I appreciate having my rights infringed upon to protect another’s? We are supposed to live in a bilingual country with equal rights for all. Why the hell should french people have more rights than me?

Comment from Donna
Time October 1, 2011 at 11:26 am

yes it is a stupid law, as a matter of fact IT IS NOT!!! A LAW it was voided in 1988, only the province thinks it can still push it through by having these language police…guess what, this will now be brought the attention of the Government of Canada…i damn near was in 3 accidents in the province of Quebec 2 weeks ago…why? because all of the damn construction signs were in French.

And Keith Connroy, English speaking Canada is now the minority…because there are very few College and University programs that will except you if you do not have French on your credits…keep dreaming

Comment from Chris
Time October 17, 2011 at 6:30 am

I 100% agree with Karla and I am fully bilingual, raised in French.

The Minister of Education does incredibly stupid things that actually directly threaten the quality of French spoken and learned in schools.

If they concentrated on that instead of stupidities like font size on signs or if your website is translated in French even if you don’t do any business in Quebec or if you have more than 25 employees in your building, they need to use French operating systems/software… and the list of idiocies goes on….

And Donna, unfortunately it is still law in Quebec; we even have a growing division dedicated to the language police because those morons don’t understand where the problem lies and French as a language and culture is still dying despite all their efforts to squash those evil small businesses that dare to have English words noticeable on their buildings…

The more bureaucratic the place, the more ‘slow’ it gets and Quebec is king where bureaucracy is concerned. Short bus anyone?

Comment from Jim
Time October 17, 2011 at 7:33 am

Chris,

It’s nice to see evidence that there are rational Québécois. Unfortunately, I suspect you’re in the same situation we are in the US; strongly outnumbered and losing to the politically correct and simply stupid.

Comment from Jim
Time January 24, 2012 at 7:18 pm

Its not the law that’s stupid…it’s the québécois that are..what do you expect from a nation of inbred handicaps…we should put stupid on their for head and twice as big in French. Maybe then they will understand …talk about inferior human beings…a disgrace to man kind.

Comment from Jim
Time January 24, 2012 at 7:22 pm

Too bad they fail to remember where in CANADA!!!!!!!! Oooohhh that they forget…..there brains are clogged with pouting cheese and gravy … I hope the rest of them choke and die on one… Maybe then we can do something productive with the land and the air that they waste by breathing it!!!!