Ye Olde Orchard ordered to add French to its sign by Quebec language watchdog

Ye Olde Orchard pub has been ordered by Quebec’s French language watchdog to add French to its sign.

L’Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) says they received a complaint regarding lack of French signage at Ye Olde Orchard pub’s Monkland location in NDG – giving the business until May 16 to add French to its outdoor sign to describe its business activity.

Ye Olde Orchard says it received a letter a few months ago, and several follow-ups since then.

“We were surprised because if you go to any pub around the world, including France and other places in Quebec, you’ll see these pub signs,” said Joe Pilotte, the co-owner of Ye Olde Orchard Pub group. “It’s decorative stuff that makes a pub, a pub, and our name has been our name since 1996. So we were definitely shocked, almost 30 years in to hear that our name wasn’t compliant.

“We don’t want to lose our identity. We’re a proud Quebec pub group. We’ve been around since 1996, but at the same time we’re not looking to create a contentious issue with the community.”

There are no English descriptors on the signage outside the pub – only the name of the establishment – Ye Olde Orchard.

Pilotte says when he called the OQLF for clarity, he was told when new French language laws – under Bill 96 – come into effect in June 2025, they will need to change their name all together to something like “Le Vieux Verger.”

“The letter was saying how we’re non-compliant as far as a few signs in the pub, like… the Guinness signs, which we feel are decorative,” he told CityNews. “They felt that it was publicity and our sign out front, they made a point to mention that it’s all in English and that it’s not compliant with the laws.

“They’d like us to take down the signs for Guinness, a few other signs throughout the pub that for us are just pub décor, as well as our pub sign up front. They’d like us to add a descriptor for now, and then from what I’ve been told from the agent that’s on our file, in 2025 we would have to change it again.”

(Hayder Mahdy/CityNews Image)

In a statement, Chantal Bouchard, a spokesperson for the OQLF, says at no time, including as of June 1, 2025, will the OQLF oblige businesses to translate their business names to French.

However Bouchard says as of June 1, 2025, French will have to be “clearly predominant” on outdoor signs. She says rules are coming to determine what exactly “clearly predominant” means.

“When I was speaking with the agent who’s on our file, there was a lot of back and forth about our name, things we can do to fix it, how we can comply immediately and in the future,” said Pilotte. “And from that agent’s point of view, they felt that our name is non-compliant come 2025.”

Pilotte would like to get clarifications on what is to come, saying signage is very expensive and he does not want to pay now to make changes only to have to pay once again in two years – when the new rules come into effect.

“We plan to work with them as much as we can,” Pilotte said of the OQLF. “We don’t want to make this a contentious issue. We want to understand where they’re coming from and try to make it work for both sides without losing our identity as Ye Olde Orchard Pub. We have signs that we have taken down, but the ones that we feel are our brand have stayed up.”

Pilotte says the pub group expects fines to follow if they don’t comply.

“What’s next is a little bit of a wait and see game. We’re hoping to have a more concrete answer as far as to what to expect in 2025 when the laws are supposed to be firmer – and we’re here to work with them,” said Pilotte.