Insurance policies and legislative reform of the French language

The National Assembly of Québec adopted the “Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec,” to introduce a reform targeting the provincial French language legislation.

Summary of the reform

As we had previously highlighted in our insight Québec brings major changes to its French language laws: What is the impact for damage insurers?, one of the legislative changes worthy of note for insurance companies was the amendment of Article 55 of the Charter of the French Language (the “Charter”), which brings forth new linguistic requirements for contracts of adhesion since June 1, 2023. As per these requirements, an adhesion contract—such as an insurance policy, in most cases—can be drawn up in a language other than French only if the adhering party (the insured) receives a French version of the contract beforehand (or simultaneously) and if they explicitly express their desire to receive it in another language (Article 55, par. 1 of the amended Charter).

In addition, no party may make another adhere to an adhesion contract drawn up in a language other than French nor can they submit to them a related document written in another language, unless the aforementioned requirements are met (Article 55, par. 2 of the amended Charter).

However, the Act now includes two important exceptions: one, for “contracts used in relations with persons outside Québec”; two, for “insurance policies that do not have French equivalents in Québec and that come from outside of Québec or whose use is not widespread in Québec.” In these two cases, the parties can actually agree to draw up the adhesion contract in their language of choice, without having to provide the adhering party with a French version beforehand (Article 55, par. 4(2) and (3) of the amended Charter).
 

New interpretations presented by the OQLF

Since the Act’s implementation, the business community lamented the absence of guidelines pertaining to the interpretation of notions such “contracts used in relations with persons outside Québec” and “insurance policies that do not have French equivalents in Québec and that come from outside of Québec or whose use is not widespread in Québec.” Moreover, it was not clear whether the amended provisions of the Charter apply only to the signing of a new adhesion contract or whether they also apply to renewals.

The Québec Board of the French Language (OQLF) recently updated their website to offer an additional interpretation of the new Charter provisions. ^[1]

Per the OQLF, the requirement to provide a French version applies not only to the initial contract, but also to renewals.

Furthermore, the OQLF defined the notion of a “contract used in relations with persons outside Québec” as a “contract concluded—wherever it is concluded—with a natural person who does not reside in Québec or a legal person who is not based in the province or the operator of a company whose office or headquarters are located outside of Québec.”

According to this interpretation, an insurance contract that is signed between a Québec insured and an insurer who is not located or based in the province, could qualify as a “contract used in relations with persons outside Québec.” Therefore, the provision of a French version beforehand would not be required in such as case.
 

Useful definitions

Additionally, the OQLF presents the definitions below with regard to the “insurance policies that do not have French equivalents in Québec” and provides examples of those “whose use is not widespread in Québec”:

• Insurance policy that does not have French equivalents in Québec: Policy which does not exist in French in Québec for a specific coverage area.

• Insurance policy that comes from outside of Québec: Policy that was contracted with an insurer who was not granted the authorization to do business in Québec by the Autorité des marchés financiers.

• Insurance policy whose use is not widespread in Québec: Policy that covers risk related to a “niche” [sic] area of expertise (aviation insurance, marine insurance, etc.).
   

Case law to come

It is important to note that, to this day, the new Charter provisions introduced by this Act have not yet been interpreted by tribunals. In that sense, the interpretation showcased by the OQLF is not final nor restrictive. Nevertheless, it is an appreciated clarification which will without a doubt prove to be useful for insurers in the assessment of their work in relation to the regulatory compliance requirements.