Quebec fines Gatineau artisan for failing to add French to her business website
Tashi Farmilo
A Gatineau artisan has been fined for failing to bring her business website into compliance with Quebec's French-language requirements, the Office québécois de la langue française announced on June 5.
Marcela Martinez, who operates a sole proprietorship called Akiani Handmade Jewelry, was found guilty on May 1 of an offence under section 205 of the Charter of the French Language. The Court of Québec imposed a fine of $700, the minimum penalty an individual can face under the legislation. The business is located at 49 rue du Chinook in Gatineau.
According to the language office, the case began with a complaint that commercial content on the company's website, akianihandmadejewelry.com, was available only in a language other than French. The office said it documented the violation on September 16, 2024, and that the conviction stemmed from the proprietor's failure to comply with an order the office had issued.
The Charter, adopted in 1977 and commonly known as Bill 101, makes French the official language of Quebec and is enforced by the language office. Section 52 requires that commercial publications be written in French. Although websites are not named explicitly in the law, the office and Quebec courts have long treated them as commercial publications, meaning businesses that market goods or services to Quebec consumers must offer a French version of their sites, including substantive content along with elements such as terms and conditions and return policies.
The enforcement process generally unfolds in stages. The office investigates a complaint, and if it finds a breach it can issue an order under section 177 directing the party to comply or stop the violation within a set period. A business has 30 days to challenge such an order before the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec. If the order is neither contested successfully nor obeyed, the failure to comply becomes a separate offence under section 205, which is what led to Martinez's conviction.
Penalties under the Charter were toughened in 2022 through Bill 96, which overhauled the law for the first time in decades. Fines for individuals now range from $700 to $7,000 per violation, with amounts doubled for a second offence and tripled for any further ones. Higher penalties apply to corporations.
A Gatineau jewellery maker operating as Akiani Handmade Jewelry has been fined $700 after the Court of Québec found she ignored an order from the province's language office to make her business website available in French, as required under the Charter of the French Language. Photo: Courtesy of Akiani Handmade Jewelry Facebook page
