The CAQ reform of Law 101, adopted Tuesday in the National Assembly, modifies around twenty laws and regulations. Here are the impacts it will have on “day one”, then in the years to come.
Cegeps. Three additional courses “in” French (or “in” French for English-speaking rights holders who wish) will be compulsory from the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Places in English-speaking establishments will also be capped at 30,834 that same year.
Immigrant services. As of May 2023, immigrants who have been in Quebec for more than six months will receive state communications exclusively in French.
Display in French. French must appear “clearly predominant” in public display by May 2025 at the latest.
Workplaces. In 2025, companies with 25 or more employees will have to communicate in French with any worker who requests it. They will also have the obligation to demonstrate to the Quebec Office of the French language (OQLF) that the language of Molière is used there in a “generalized” way.
administration of justice. The Minister of Justice will now be able to prohibit the Court of Québec and the municipal courts from imposing fluency in French and English on their judges.
Bilingual municipalities. Cities that no longer meet the statistical definition of a bilingual municipality — which do not have a majority of residents having English as their mother tongue, therefore — will have to pass a resolution to maintain their bilingual status, otherwise it will be withdrawn from them by the OQLF.
Government institutions. The Francisation Québec organization and the French Language Commission will be established as soon as the law is amended. The Ministry of the French Language will replace the Secretariat for the Promotion and Enhancement of the French Language.
Canadian Constitution. The specificity of Quebec will be enshrined in the Constitution of Canada as soon as the law is sanctioned by the Lieutenant-Governor.
Bill 96 will be assented to — and therefore become law — in the coming days.