February 20, 2026
As of June 1, 2025, Québec’s Bill 96 reforms (the modernization of the Charter of the French language) moved from “prepare now” to fully live operational reality for packaged consumer products. For brands selling THC beverages and inhaled extracts (vape cartridges, disposables, pods), the change is more than a simple bilingual layout refresh.
Québec now expects French to be markedly predominant in many commercial contexts—and the province’s regulator (the Office québécois de la langue française, or OQLF) has also clarified how it will treat trademarks on products, including the often-overlooked issue of generic/descriptive words embedded inside a brand mark.
For the regulated THC market, the stakes are higher because:
This article is informational only and not legal advice. For complex trademark calls, consult Québec counsel.
All legal THC products in Canada must comply with the Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations packaging and labelling requirements, including mandatory standardized elements like the symbol, health warning messages, THC/CBD quantity declarations, and other class-specific requirements.
Health Canada’s reference guidance is here: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/cannabis-regulations-licensed-producers/packaging-labelling-guide-cannabis-products.html
For beverages and inhaled extracts, pay special attention to:
Québec’s Bill 96 implementation includes changes that took effect on June 1, 2025, reflected in amendments and interpretation under the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business.
Official consolidated regulation text (LegisQuébec): https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/rc/c-11,%20r.%209/20250601?langCont=en
While federal rules already force bilingual elements in many situations, Québec’s regime is different in two ways that routinely surprise out-of-province brand teams:
Québec’s “markedly predominant” concept is best known in signage/advertising discussions, but it affects how compliance teams should think about label architecture, secondary packaging, and even web product pages.
A practical misconception is believing that if your package is bilingual, you are automatically safe. The direction since June 2025 is that French should not be treated as an equal sibling tucked beside English—French should be the lead language for Québec-facing materials.
Industry summaries and Québec-focused law firm guidance frequently cite that “markedly predominant” is commonly operationalized as French having at least twice the visual impact in the contexts where the standard applies (for example, exterior signage and certain advertising scenarios). For background and common misconceptions, see: https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/consumer-markets-perspectives/french-language-requirements-bill-96-and-june-1-2025-common-misconceptions
For THC beverages and vape products, the practical takeaway is:
Many brand teams operate with a simple rule of thumb:
That was already incomplete, but it became more dangerous after the June 2025 change.
OQLF guidance and legal analyses emphasize a key shift: even where a non-French mark may appear, generic or descriptive terms included in the trademark may have to be translated into French and appear on the product (or a medium permanently attached to it).
A helpful practitioner summary is Smart & Biggar’s discussion of OQLF guidelines and how they treat generic/descriptive terms embedded in trademarks: https://www.smartbiggar.ca/insights/publication/the-oqlf-s-new-guidelines-practical-resources-for-trademarks-on-products
This is where THC beverage and vape branding often gets exposed, because product naming conventions frequently include words like:
If those words appear inside the trademark presentation (logo lockups, word marks, dominant front-of-pack brand elements), you can wind up in a scenario where:
This is exactly the “translation trap” that can derail a packaging refresh late in the process.
Québec’s framework distinguishes between the type of trademark protection you can rely on:
For a clear explanation of how the “recognized trademark” exemption works post‑June 2025 (and how the final regulation evolved), see Cassels’ discussion: https://cassels.com/insights/trademarks-in-quebec-new-regulations-offer-clarity-to-brand-owners/
Some companies register both English and French variants for brand strategy reasons. Under Québec’s approach, having a French version on the Canadian trademarks register can increase the expectation that the French version is used in Québec.
That means your IP team’s historical filing strategy can unexpectedly become your packaging team’s operational constraint.
Québec’s final regulation introduced a phase-out window for certain non-compliant products, often summarized as allowing sale/distribution until June 1, 2027 if the product was manufactured before June 1, 2025 and certain trademark register conditions were met by mid‑June 2024.
You will see this described in both industry-facing supplier guidance and legal commentary, for example:
For THC beverage/vape operators, two cautions:
Even though the OQLF is the language regulator, many brands experience the “first audit” through a commercial gatekeeper.
SQDC’s supplier ecosystem includes structured submission processes and documentation expectations (product calls, portals, bar code standards, release orders, etc.). SQDC publishes supplier-facing materials, including:
Those documents are not language-law manuals, but they signal something operationally important:
Based on how Québec compliance tends to play out in controlled distribution environments, expect reviewers to scrutinize whether:
Your research notes mention SAQ/SQDC audits. While SAQ is not the THC retailer, its supplier governance and Bill 96 readiness work has produced some of the clearest “operational compliance” language available in a public supplier document.
In particular, SAQ’s Bill 96 labelling FAQ emphasizes the recognized trademark concept and the June 2025 shift, and it includes transitional logic through 2027 for certain legacy inventory: https://marketing.saq-b2b.com/SAQ_B2B/Gestion_Qualite/FAQ_Etiquettage_Loi96_an.pdf
For THC beverage/vape brands, that FAQ is useful as a model for how a Québec-controlled retailer may evaluate:
Create a master inventory of all consumer-facing and trade-facing text, including:
The point is to avoid “hidden English” that becomes a compliance issue during onboarding or an OQLF inquiry.
Translation is necessary but not sufficient. Your design team should validate:
This is where beverage cans and slim vape packaging are hardest—space is limited, and federal warnings consume prime real estate.
Do a trademark-by-trademark review:
If you find embedded descriptors, you usually have three practical options:
The “right” option depends on your IP posture and packaging constraints.
THC beverages (and other ingestibles) bring a heavier content load. Ensure:
Health Canada’s packaging and labelling guide (above) is the best starting point for federal content obligations.
Bill 96 is not limited to physical packaging. Québec-facing:
should be French-first where required and should never leave French missing or “coming soon.”
If you distribute through controlled retailers, remember that retailer portals often store your product description text and may surface it directly to consumers.
Treat your Québec launch like a regulated audit event. Maintain an internal file containing:
If OQLF inquiries arise, speed and documentation quality matter.
The practical enforcement pathway often looks like this:
Even without formal penalties, the business impact for THC beverages/vapes is brutal: missed product call windows can mean months of lost opportunity.
If you sell THC drinks or vapes across multiple provinces, Québec can’t be an afterthought. The winning approach is a repeatable workflow: label inventory, trademark review, French-first design checks, documentation control, and submission readiness aligned to retailer timelines.
For practical cannabis compliance support—packaging/label checklists, jurisdiction tracking, and licensing/regulatory monitoring—use https://cannabisregulations.ai/ to reduce rework and stay ahead of Québec and federal updates.
