SEO and digital marketing in Montreal: French first by law, Law 25 on your tracking, and how to hire for both languages
What a Montreal business should ask an SEO company or digital marketing agency, built on what the OQLF, Quebec's privacy commission, Google and Canada's anti spam law say, read on 22 October 2026.
Published by AI Knows Us · Updated 22 October 2026
Hiring an SEO company or a digital marketing agency in Montreal starts with two Quebec rules that most outside agencies treat as an afterthought. First, the Charter of the French Language: the OQLF says commercial documentation, including websites and social media pages, must be at least in French, and any other language version must not be easier to reach than the French one. Second, Quebec's private sector privacy law as amended by Law 25: tracking and profiling functions cannot be switched on by default, and your website must name the person responsible for personal information. Choose a shop that builds French as the first version of the site, the ads and the posts, and that can set up your analytics to meet Law 25. Then judge the search and ad work itself.
What the French language rules mean for a website and ads
The Office quebecois de la langue francaise (OQLF) publishes a business memo, Faire des affaires en francais au Quebec, read on 22 October 2026. In its section on commercial documentation it lists invoices, catalogues, brochures, websites and social media pages. It says the law now confirms that commercial documentation must be written at least in French, whatever the medium, and that this includes websites and social networks. Another language may be used only if the French is at least equivalent and the French version is available on terms at least as favourable. It also says the duty applies to content produced by a third party: whoever makes the information available to the public is responsible for it being in French.
For SEO and web work, that turns into four practical checks:
- French is not a toggle hidden in the footer. If the English version is the default and French takes extra clicks, the French version is not on equally favourable terms. Build the French pages first, or in parallel, and link the two versions properly.
- Every page has its pair. Google's guide to localized versions of your pages explains how to declare language versions with hreflang. Use fr-CA and en-CA consistently so French searchers get the French page.
- Agency-written content is still your content. Blog posts, landing pages and product feeds supplied by an agency fall under the same rule, because the business publishing them is responsible.
- Write French for Quebec. A Quebec French writer, not a machine translation and not a writer from France, for anything a customer reads.
The memo also covers signs and products. Since 1 June 2025, French must be markedly predominant on outdoor signs that show a trademark or business name in another language, and where a registered trademark on a product includes a generic or descriptive term in another language, that term must also appear in French on the product.
Social media in Montreal: the OQLF's 2025 guide
The OQLF's 2025 guide on social media says every commercial publication a business puts out about products or services for the Quebec market must be in French, and it names videos, text inside images, and both permanent and temporary content such as stories. If you post in English too, the French version must be at least equivalent and reachable without the user changing account or device settings. A business may run separate English and French accounts, but the guide says anything posted on the English account must be posted at the same time in French on the French account.
Customers may comment in any language, and you may answer a comment in the language it was written in. You must answer in French when a person writes to you in French. The guide lists a few exceptions, such as a post aimed only at members of one ethnic group, and it says it is information, not a legal interpretation of the Charter. For anything close to the line, ask your lawyer.
Law 25 and your tracking set-up
The Commission d'acces a l'information du Quebec (CAI) summarises the changes on its page on the main changes made by Law 25, read on 22 October 2026. Four of them land directly on a marketing stack:
- Tracking and profiling functions. When a business collects personal information using technology that can identify, locate or profile a person, it must tell the person beforehand and tell them how to switch those functions on. The CAI puts it plainly: these technologies cannot be activated by default. Ad pixels, session recording and audience building are the tools to review with your agency.
- A named privacy officer. The person with the highest authority in the business is responsible for protecting personal information and may delegate that role in writing. The title and contact details must be published on the business's website.
- Information outside Quebec. Since September 2023, before personal information is communicated outside Quebec, an organisation must carry out a privacy impact assessment. Many analytics, CRM and email tools store data outside the province, so ask where each one keeps it.
- Incidents. Organisations must notify the CAI and the people concerned of a confidentiality incident that presents a risk of serious injury, and keep a register of incidents.
An agency that sets up Google Analytics, Meta and a CRM for you in one afternoon, with everything on by default, has not read this page.
The search and ad work itself
With those foundations right, Montreal SEO is good work done twice. One Business Profile per real location, with French categories and descriptions, and reviews answered in the language they were written in. Google says local results are mainly based on "relevance, distance, and popularity", so a profile in Laval does not compete with one in the Plateau. A service page for each service in each language. And links from Quebec sources: associations, local media and partners who publish in French.
For paid search, Google's help page on language targeting says that from September 2026 the campaign-level language setting is removed for Search campaigns, and Search ads match on the language of the ad. So a French searcher is reached by a French ad leading to a French page. Run French and English as separate ad groups or campaigns, with their own budgets and their own reports.
Email outreach and newsletters fall under CASL, the federal anti spam law, which requires consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe that takes effect within 10 business days. That applies to the link building email an SEO company sends on your behalf as much as to your newsletter.
How to choose between Montreal SEO companies and agencies
| Question | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Who writes the French? | A named Quebec French writer, with samples you can have reviewed |
| Which version is built first? | French, or both together, with hreflang pairs from day one |
| How will tracking meet Law 25? | A consent set-up where identifying and profiling functions stay off until the person turns them on |
| Where does our data go? | A list of every tool, where it stores data, and who does the impact assessment |
| How is the work priced? | A monthly retainer, a project fee or a percentage of ad spend, with French and English listed as separate lines |
| What do we keep if we leave? | Every account, every page, every translation and the consent records |
Send the same one page brief to three firms of different sizes and compare the quotes on hours, named people, line items and exclusions. If you are also buying brand or campaign creative, our guide to creative agencies in Montreal covers that market. For a programme that covers several provinces, see buying SEO in Canada.
Montreal SEO and digital marketing questions
Can our Montreal website be English first?
The OQLF says commercial documentation, websites included, must be at least in French, and another language version must not be on better terms than the French one. In practice that means French is never the harder version to reach.
Do we need separate French and English social accounts?
No. One account with equivalent French content works. If you run two, the OQLF guide says English posts must go up at the same time in French on the French account.
Is a cookie banner enough for Law 25?
A banner is only the start. The CAI says identifying, locating and profiling functions cannot be on by default, and the person must be told how to switch them on. Check what your pixels and analytics do before the person chooses.
Should we hire a Montreal agency or one in Toronto?
Hire whoever shows strong Quebec French work and a Law 25 consent set-up. A Montreal address helps with shoots and meetings, not rankings.
When can we judge whether the work is paying off?
Track French and English separately: impressions and clicks per language in Search Console, calls and direction requests in the Business Profile performance report, and cost per enquiry for each language in the ad account. The outcome depends on competition, your offer and your budget.
The French answer and the English answer are different lists
A buyer in Rosemont who asks ChatGPT in French for an accountant and a buyer downtown who asks the same thing in English can get different names, because the answers draw on different pages, directories and press. A business with a thin French site can be strong in one answer and missing from the other. AI Knows Us belongs to that newer category: it puts a Montreal buyer's question to the main assistants in French and in English and reports which businesses each answer names and what it relied on.