{"id":517249,"date":"2026-03-06T02:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T02:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517249\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T02:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T02:59:10","slug":"is-it-necessary-montreal-realtors-english-facebook-posts-flagged-by-language-watchdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517249\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Is it necessary?’: Montreal realtor’s English Facebook posts flagged by language watchdog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another Montreal business owner has spoken out after being contacted by Quebec\u2019s language watchdog over social media posts that were not written entirely in French, arguing the rules are colliding with how companies communicate online.<\/p>\n

Mario Conte, a real estate broker since 1998, said he was surprised when a letter from the Office qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois de la langue fran\u00e7aise came about three weeks ago. It said a complaint had been filed about the commercial content on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Conte said he tried to contact the agency to clarify the rules but never received a response.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting bounced from one desk to another desk to another desk,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ll never get a call back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Last month, the watchdog contacted a family-run bakery in Montreal\u2019s Villeray neighbourhood<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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 Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2019s government in Bill 96. This expanded the powers of the OQLF to enforce the Charter of the French Language.<\/p>\n

In 2025, two Montreal companies were each fined $1,500 for publishing commercial content online in another language without providing an equivalent French version.<\/p>\n

Scrutiny is also extending beyond online. Earlier this week, The Gazette reported that Quebec is preparing to send undercover observers into thousands of stores<\/a> to monitor what languages retail workers use to greet customers.<\/p>\n

Under Legault\u2019s Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec, the OQLF\u2019s budget has risen to $49 million for 2024-25. That\u2019s more than double its funding in 2017-18.<\/p>\n

Embattled by a swath of political issues weighing on voters\u2019 minds, Legault\u2019s ruling party\u00a0is polling at about 14 per cent. It won more than 40 per cent of the vote in the 2022 provincial election.<\/p>\n

For Conte, he said he was \u201cvery upset\u201d upon being contacted by the OQLF.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to follow the rules,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s seen the business environment change significantly since he entered real estate nearly three decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started, the internet didn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

He questions whether the language rules reflect the reality of running his business.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the privilege of dealing with maybe 30 different nationalities over the years,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m perfectly trilingual, so I try my best to serve clients in languages they understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

And not all potential buyers understand French, he said. Social media platforms also allow users to translate posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re going to start policing the internet \u2026 policing Instagram and whatever \u2026 I mean, we\u2019re 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. \u2026 I\u2019m just wondering, is it necessary?<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it, if I put an ad in a local borough strictly in one language. \u2026 But you\u2019re looking at a platform which is worldwide \u2026 where do we draw the line?\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, the OQLF confirmed it had contacted the company. It said: \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

The watchdog added that businesses may operate separate language versions of social media accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case,\u201d it said, \u201cthe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think about Bill 96? Write to Harry at hnorth@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another Montreal business owner has spoken out after being contacted by Quebec\u2019s language watchdog over social media posts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[45,49,48,204570,204569,204571,2096,204567,2338,10843,906,204568,110762],"class_list":{"0":"post-517249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-commercial-content","12":"tag-commercial-posts","13":"tag-dave-sidaway","14":"tag-facebook","15":"tag-mario-conte","16":"tag-montreal","17":"tag-oqlf","18":"tag-quebec","19":"tag-real-estate-broker","20":"tag-social-media-posts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}