Quebec’s National Assembly unanimously adopted Bill 109 on December 11, 2025, creating a framework for minimum French-language content requirements on digital platforms such as Netflix and Spotify. The legislation leaves specific thresholds to future regulations and does not impose an immediate quota.
Regulations specifying the quantity or proportion of French-language content required on platforms were expected within 18 months. No quota percentage had been announced at the time of adoption.
Quebec’s government says the law aims to improve access to French-language culture and its visibility online. Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe has argued that younger audiences have difficulty finding French-language works on major platforms.
Requirements cover streaming services and connected televisions
The legislation introduces a right to discover and access cultural content originally created in French into Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. The culture ministry says the framework covers platforms offering online music, other audio and audiovisual services.
The framework also covers manufacturers of televisions and devices intended to connect to televisions that provide access to online viewing services. The ministry says regulations can require manufacturers to make certain viewing platforms offering predominantly original French-language content available and prominent on those devices.
The legislation provides for fines of up to $15,000 per day for non-compliance. Companies unable to comply can negotiate alternative measures with the government and obtain exemptions from certain obligations. Lacombe said in May that those measures would achieve the law’s objectives in a different but equivalent way.
The culture ministry plans to establish a Bureau de la découvrabilité des contenus culturels to oversee compliance with the law and its regulations. The framework also requires a report every three years.
Music streaming association raises concerns
The Digital Media Association, which represents major music streaming services, said in a December 11 statement that regulatory uncertainty surrounding Bill 109 could affect choice, access and affordability. It called for those concerns to be addressed during the drafting of regulations.
DIMA cited a Léger survey it commissioned in which 66% of respondents said the government should not influence which music is available on streaming services, while 61% said French-language music was already easy to find. The survey used Léger’s online panel and covered 1,016 Quebec residents aged 18 and older on October 24–25, 2025.
Social media scope and constitutional questions
In a December analysis, Michael Geist said amendments to Bill 109 removed an explicit exemption for social media services. He argued that the change could bring services carrying user-generated audio and video within the scope of content quotas and discoverability requirements, with specific obligations to be set through regulations.
In his account of the committee proceedings, Geist wrote that Lacombe said he did not currently intend to regulate social media users but wanted to retain the ability to regulate services offering audio or video.
Geist also questioned the bill’s constitutionality in a June analysis. Citing federal jurisdiction over broadcasting, he argued that the legal treatment of internet streaming would be central to whether Quebec’s framework could coexist with federal regulation under the Online Streaming Act.
