Another Montreal business owner has spoken out after being contacted by Quebec’s language watchdog over social media posts that were not written entirely in French, arguing the rules are colliding with how companies communicate online.
Mario Conte, a real estate broker since 1998, said he was surprised when a letter from the Office québécois de la langue française came about three weeks ago. It said a complaint had been filed about the commercial content on his Facebook page.
Conte explained his social media accounts, which have thousands of followers across Facebook and Instagram, mix business with his personal life, which he believes helps clients connect with him.
Scroll through it and a condo listing, often in both French and English, may appear just before a birthday message or a photograph of his family, typically written in English.
But in a letter to Conte, the OQLF said an inspection had found that some of his commercial posts were not written entirely in French.
Conte said he tried to contact the agency to clarify the rules but never received a response.
“You’re getting bounced from one desk to another desk to another desk,” he said. “You’ll never get a call back.”
In recent weeks, a growing number of businesses, particularly small family-run ones, have begun speaking out, saying they have been unfairly targeted by the language watchdog.
Last month, the watchdog contacted a family-run bakery in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood and alleged that several of its TikTok posts were not accessible in French under equivalent conditions. The family went public and went viral on Instagram.
Businesses in Quebec must make commercial publications available in French, including online communications intended for the provincial market, under strengthened language rules adopted by Premier François Legault’s government in Bill 96. This expanded the powers of the OQLF to enforce the Charter of the French Language.
In 2025, two Montreal companies were each fined $1,500 for publishing commercial content online in another language without providing an equivalent French version.
Scrutiny is also extending beyond online. Earlier this week, The Gazette reported that Quebec is preparing to send undercover observers into thousands of stores to monitor what languages retail workers use to greet customers.
Under Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec, the OQLF’s budget has risen to $49 million for 2024-25. That’s more than double its funding in 2017-18.
Embattled by a swath of political issues weighing on voters’ minds, Legault’s ruling party is polling at about 14 per cent. It won more than 40 per cent of the vote in the 2022 provincial election.
For Conte, he said he was “very upset” upon being contacted by the OQLF.
“I want to follow the rules,” he said.
He said he’s seen the business environment change significantly since he entered real estate nearly three decades ago.
“When I started, the internet didn’t exist.”
He questions whether the language rules reflect the reality of running his business.
Some people who see his posts are local families looking to buy homes, he explained. Others are investors abroad purchasing residential or commercial property in Quebec.
“I’ve had the privilege of dealing with maybe 30 different nationalities over the years,” he said. “I’m perfectly trilingual, so I try my best to serve clients in languages they understand.”
And not all potential buyers understand French, he said. Social media platforms also allow users to translate posts.
“If they’re going to start policing the internet … policing Instagram and whatever … I mean, we’re only shy of 18,000 real estate brokers here in the province. I believe 75 or 80 per cent of the accounts are going to be attacked by them. … I’m just wondering, is it necessary?
“I get it, if I put an ad in a local borough strictly in one language. … But you’re looking at a platform which is worldwide … where do we draw the line?”
In a statement, the OQLF confirmed it had contacted the company. It said: “The office contacted the company concerned after receiving a complaint and is available to assist it in ensuring that its customers have access to information in French.
“The office relies on the co-operation of businesses and implements a support process to help them make the necessary adjustments to comply with the act. In 93.8 per cent of cases, issues are resolved in collaboration with the business and the necessary corrections are made,” the statement read.
The watchdog added that businesses may operate separate language versions of social media accounts.
“In this case,” it said, “the company must ensure that any content published for the Quebec market in the English version of its account is published simultaneously in French in the French version of the account.”
What do you think about Bill 96? Write to Harry at hnorth@postmedia.com
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