U.S. trade officials among those concerned about Quebec's new French-language sign rules

The Quebec provincial government «grossly underestimated» how much it will cost for businesses to adhere to new French-language law requirements for storefront signage, according to a Montreal legal expert.

The new regulations have even caught the attention of the U.S. government.

«Anecdotally, I know that these kinds of changes run in the tens of thousands of dollars per location, depending on the significance of the sign,» said Alexandre Fallon, a lawyer who specializes in business compliance with Quebec's Charter of the French Language.

Quebec predicts it will cost businesses provincewide a mere $7 million to $15 million, but there is a long list of big box storefronts with dozens of locations that appear to be non-compliant and in need of either retrofitting or all new signs by the June 1, 2025 deadline.

«When you think about a large location, a big store for example, you will have the trademark at several places on the building. It's not one sign, it's potentially multiple signs,» said Fallon.

Fallon isn't the only one concerned.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative, which is under the president's authority, issued a news release Wednesday saying senior advisor Cara Morrow met with Canada's deputy minister for international trade, Rob Stewart, to discuss, among other things, «concerns about trademark provisions of Quebec's Bill 96 and their potential implications for U.S. businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.»

The new draft regulation, published in Quebec's Official Gazette on Jan. 10 requires non-French signs to be accompanied by French descriptions that are twice the size.

For example, if Canadian Tire has lettering that is three metres tall and 20 metres long, it would need a French