GI-2026-29-reg1: Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Regulations

About 386 federally regulated private businesses — covering roughly 1,580 worksites and 73,329 employees — are affected, concentrated in banking, road transportation, telecommunications, and air transportation. If you operate in Quebec with 25 or more employees, or anywhere in the designated regions outside Quebec (including all of New Brunswick, parts of Nova Scotia, Ontario, Winnipeg, and Edmonton) with 100 or more employees Canada-wide, you'll need to register with the federal government, actively offer French-language service to customers, and ensure employees can work in French. Your biggest upfront costs will be language training (estimated $125.2 million present value across all affected businesses), document translation ($55.7 million), and for larger businesses with 100+ Quebec employees or 500+ Canada-wide employees in RSFPs, establishing a formal committee for the fostering of French. Total compliance costs over 10 years are estimated at $243 million (present value), averaging about $34.6 million per year, with costs front-loaded in the first few years before benefits materialize. Businesses already holding Quebec francization certificates are largely treated as compliant and can simply opt to remain under the provincial regime.