How to Make Your Shopify Store Bill 96 Compliant

What Is Bill 96?

Bill 96 — formally known as An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec — is a significant update to Quebec's Charter of the French Language. Passed in 2022, it strengthens French language requirements across a wide range of contexts, including commercial activities and online businesses serving Quebec consumers.

For Shopify store owners, Bill 96 is relevant if you sell to customers in Quebec. This post provides a general overview of what it means for your store. Please note: Content Mosaic is not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Always consult qualified legal counsel for guidance specific to your situation.

What Bill 96 Means for Shopify Stores

At a high level, Bill 96 reinforces the requirement that businesses serving Quebec consumers make their services available in French. For e-commerce stores, this generally means your online store interface, checkout, product information, and customer communications should be available in French.

Key areas of focus for Shopify stores include: your storefront and product pages, your checkout flow, transactional emails (order confirmation, shipping updates, etc.), customer service communications, and your returns and privacy policy pages.

The Most Common Compliance Gaps on Shopify Stores

Based on typical Shopify store setups, the most common gaps we see in stores that have attempted French localization include: machine-translated content that is technically French but misleading or unclear, English-only checkout flows despite a French storefront, transactional emails still sending in English, and policy pages (returns, privacy, shipping) that haven't been translated.

A complete French localization — not just a partial translation — is the foundation of a Bill 96-ready Shopify store.

What to Prioritize First

If your store currently has no French version, the highest priority is getting a properly localized French storefront live via Shopify Markets. This means translating your storefront templates, product descriptions, checkout, and key policy pages into natural Quebec French.

If you already have a French storefront but it was built on machine translation, a French QA audit is a smart first step — identify where the translation is misleading or incomplete, and fix the highest-risk areas first.

A Note on Legal Review

The requirements of Bill 96 are specific and evolving. This post is a general overview for informational purposes only. Before making compliance decisions, consult a Quebec-based lawyer or legal advisor who specializes in language law and commercial compliance.

Getting Your Store Quebec-Ready

Content Mosaic helps beauty and wellness brands build properly localized French Shopify storefronts for Quebec. The Signature Package covers the full localization stack — storefront, checkout, transactional emails, policy pages, and French SEO. Get in touch to learn more.