There are several advantages for American companies that have set their sights on expanding to do business in Canada. Canada is larger than the United States, yet it is also less competitive than the intense American market. If you have read our guide to doing business in Canada, you already know that Canada’s ten provinces and three territories all have their own laws and standards, much like the fifty United States of America.
Canada’s federal law is modeled on the English common law, just like in the United States. This can help ease the transition for many businesses operating in both countries. If you have read our Blog on the different governing laws in the world, you know how much this matters. Most Americans do not realize that there is actually an exception to the application of English common law in the United States: Louisiana has a different code of law than all of its 49 siblings. Similarly, today we are going to be focusing on one such exception in Canada: the wonderful land of Quebec.
Quebec is the largest province in all of Canada, holding nine million of the country’s thirty-eight million citizens. Quebec’s law is based on the Napoleonic civil law, modeled after French law and centering around codes. Of course, there is an interplay between the federal Canadian law and the Quebec provincial law. If you want to do business in all of Canada, you must make special provisions for working with their unique laws.
Since 1977, there has been a charter in Quebec requiring the use of the French language when doing business in the Province. You have options for using other languages, but you must have a French option. In Quebec, you cannot assume that everyone knows English like in the rest of Canada.
Businesses looking to do business in Quebec also have to apply the provincial law. You can operate in Canada with American-style contracts, but contracts are totally different when it comes to Quebec. If an American company wants to do business in Quebec, it has to do it the right way.
This applies to your website as well: if you are marketing your products or services in Quebec, you need to write your website and marketing materials in French. We recently had a client who wrote their Terms of Use in English only, based on the laws of Ontario. However, the company was based in Quebec. In the end, we had to make the Terms of Use based on Canadian federal law and create a French translation of the document (which takes a lot more work than just plugging it into Google Translate.)
If you are looking to take your business to Canada, the Law Office of S. Grynwajc, PLLC has the help you are looking for. Stephan Grynwajc is admitted in Quebec and understands all of their local requirements. He also speaks French! For help with any American/Canadian issues, contact the Law Office of S. Grynwajc, PLLC today! We believe in thinking globally and acting locally.