Quebec adopts Bill 109, law to set quotas on French-language content on streaming platforms

Quebec will now be able to impose minimum French-language content thresholds on major platforms such as Netflix and Spotify.

On Thursday, elected officials unanimously adopted Bill 109, “affirming Quebec’s cultural sovereignty and enacting the Act respecting the discoverability of French-language cultural content.”

When he tabled the bill in May, Minister of Culture Mathieu Lacombe said he had noticed that “the more digital technology advances, the more our culture recedes.”

According to him, 92 per cent of young people have difficulty finding French-language cultural content available on platforms.

Furthermore, of the 10,000 most listened to songs in Quebec in 2023, only 8.5 per cent were French-language titles.

The new law first introduces into the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms the right to discoverability and the right to access French-language cultural content.

The discoverability of content refers to its availability online and its ability to be found among a vast array of other content.

The government will be able to establish by regulation within 18 months the quantity or proportion of French-language content that would be required on digital platforms.

Fines of up to $15,000 per day are provided for in the event of non-compliance.

For example, the European Union requires certain platforms to broadcast 30 per cent European content, but Lacombe has not yet set a quota for Quebec.

If a company is unable to comply, it may reach an agreement with the government to determine “alternative measures” that will allow it to be exempt from certain obligations.

These alternative measures will “achieve the objectives of the law in a different but equivalent way,” Lacombe explained in May.

“This is not an open door to evasion,” he assured.

In short, Lacombe said he was presenting a “flexible” framework that will be able to “adapt over time” and “keep pace with technological developments.”

The law passed on Thursday also provides for the creation of a Discoverability Office within the Ministry of Culture to ensure oversight and compliance with the law, regulations, and agreements.

A report must be published every three years.

Bill 109 followed a report by an advisory committee entitled “Quebec’s Cultural Sovereignty in the Digital Age,” which was tabled in January 2024.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews