On May 21, 2025, Québec’s Minister of Culture and Communications presented Bill 109, An Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec and to enact the Act respecting the discoverability of French-language content in the digital environment to the National Assembly. Dentons’ overview of Bill 109 is available here. Bill 109 targets digital platforms such as streaming services, audio book and podcast services, and television and device manufacturers. It would establish the right to the “discoverability of and access to original French-language content,” requiring platforms to provide French-language user interfaces by default, and include French-language discoverability and prominence features. It would also potentially impose minimum French-language content requirements for services such as streaming, audio books and podcasts. Most of the crucial definitions and regulatory framework would be set out in regulations to be made after the Bill is enacted.
The Québec National Assembly adjourned in June 2025, less than two weeks after Bill 109 was introduced, and will resume on September 30, 2025. The Bill is expected to be referred for committee consultations, and is subject to amendment as it proceeds through its review.
The precursors to Bill 109
Québec Bill 96 – strengthening French in commerce and business
In May 2022, the National Assembly of Québec adopted Bill 96 – An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec, to strengthen the use of French in commerce and business. An overview of the main impacts of Québec’s Bill 96 on companies is available here. Changes to the Charter of the French language, the Civil Code of Quebec, the Consumer Protection Act and the Charter of human rights and freedoms did not specifically target media and cultural content.
Federal Bill C-11 – discoverability of English and French on streaming and on-demand services
In April 2023, Parliament enacted the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11), a package of amendments to the Broadcasting Act primarily intended to mandate the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to regulate online streaming and on-demand services as “broadcasting undertakings.” Various provisions of the Act are aimed at ensuring that Canadian content, including French-language content, is “discoverable,” meaning that the content is prominent and promoted to Canadian audiences. In April 2022, Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament (and Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage) Martin Champoux sponsored an amendment to Bill C-11 requiring online services to “clearly promote and recommend Canadian programming” in English and in French.
The immediate lead-up to Bill 109
In January 2024, a report on Québec’s cultural sovereignty in the digital age was published (the Discoverability Report). Commissioned by Québec’s Minister of Culture and Communications, the Discoverability report set out 32 recommendations, notably including (#19) that the Québec government negotiate a bilateral agreement with the federal government to coordinate action regarding language and cultural expression, including the regulatory framework flowing from the implementation of the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11). As proposed, the bilateral negotiation between Québec and the federal government would confirm Québec’s role as the “best judge” on the state and future of its language and culture.
In May 2024, the Québec Ministry of Culture and Communications launched a public consultation on a legislative framework to guarantee the discoverability of francophone cultural content. 43 submissions were made from stakeholders and organizations representing non-Canadian, Canadian and Québec media companies, content creators and public interest groups, with opposing views around policy, legal and constitutional questions.
The introduction of Bill 109 and early response
The tabling of Bill 109 on May 21, 2025 generated significant industry and media attention, and a number of questions about how the new law would work. At a press briefing that day, Minister Mathieu Lacombe noted that while digital platforms had expressed concerns to the government about the potential impact of legislation, they had appeared willing to “collaborate.” The Minister noted that as presented, the Bill would allow platforms to negotiate substitute measures to meet the objectives of the law, where their business model could not accommodate the measures specifically prescribed under the Act. The Minister stated that the Government would make regulations within 18 months with respect to the proportion of French-language content expected on platforms.
The 5th Conference of Ministers of Culture of the Francophonie was held in Québec City beginning the day after Bill 109 was tabled in the Québec National Assembly. The conference theme was the discoverability of francophone cultural content, and the digital transformation of the cultural sector. The conference concluded with the adoption of a declaration, calling for multinational cooperation with respect to the discoverability of francophone content and the advancement of a coordinated position in international forums, notably at UNESCO.
Moving forward – The broader context and unresolved questions
The implementation of the Online Streaming Act
As part of its Regulatory Plan to implement the Online Streaming Act, the CRTC has held public consultations in recent months on issues that include the discoverability of Canadian content in English and French. Those consultations considered the audiovisual sector (television and streaming services), the audio sector (radio and music streaming) and the overall market dynamics for broadcasting in Canada. Under a Cabinet Direction issued in November 2023, the CRTC is to consider established and emerging means to make Canadian programming discoverable, and where it chooses to regulate, to prioritize “outcome-based regulations.” The Direction gave the CRTC two years to make any regulatory framework changes in that regard.
The jurisdictional question
The January 2024 Discoverability Report discussed constitutional issues, noting various instances in which on one hand, Québec has exercised its powers to legislate with respect to cultural matters (e.g. French in local commerce, Québec status of the artist), and with respect to individual human rights. It also noted, on the other hand, the federal jurisdiction over interprovincial communications, including broadcasting. The Report’s recommendations included the general elements or objectives of a bill that would make access to original French-language cultural content a fundamental Québec right. But it also called for the negotiation of a bilateral agreement with the federal government that would give Québec a role in the development of the new regulatory framework flowing from the federal Online Streaming Act. The May 2025 Québec Bill 109 is a stand-alone assertion of provincial jurisdiction.
The CRTC’s ongoing review of discoverability and access to Canadian content in both English and French under the federal Broadcasting Act, and the legal uncertainty over Québec’s bid to regulate digital platforms that operate across Canada an internationally, will raise evolving legal, constitutional and policy issues to watch for the months to come.
For more information on this topic, please reach out to Margot Patterson.
