Bilingual packaging in Canada: what has to be in English and French, and what can stay in one
The direct answer
For non food consumer products sold in Canada, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations require three statements on a prepackaged product: the product's identity, by its common or generic name or its function; the net quantity, in metric units; and the dealer's name and principal place of business. The product identity and net quantity must be shown in both English and French, while the dealer's name and address may be shown in either language. Minimum type height is 1.6 millimetres, with net quantity numerals in bold. For imported goods, a Canadian dealer's name must be preceded by imported by or imported for unless the label states the product's geographic origin. The Competition Bureau's guide confirms that other text, such as directions and promotional claims, falls outside the federal bilingual requirement. Narrow exemptions exist for local products, test market products for up to twelve months, and specialty products. Quebec applies its own French language rules on top.
Five conclusions
The argument, compressed.
- Three mandatory statements: product identity, net quantity, dealer name and principal place of business.
- Product identity and net quantity appear in English and French; the dealer's name and address may be in one language.
- Brand names, taglines, directions and promotional copy fall outside the federal bilingual rule.
- Minimum type height is 1.6 mm; imported goods need imported by or imported for before a Canadian dealer's name, unless origin is stated.
- Quebec's French language rules apply separately and go further.
Working framework · 4 decisions
The pack panel check
Four checks for a packaging file before it goes to print. This covers federal rules for non food consumer products; food, cosmetics and health products add their own.
Decision 01 / 04
Identity
State what the product is, by common name or function, in English and French on the principal display panel.
The three mandatory statements
The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act requires a prepackaged product to declare its net quantity and, under the Regulations, the identity and principal place of business of the dealer and the identity of the product in terms of its common or generic name or its function. The Competition Bureau's guide calls these the three mandatory statements.
Section 6(2) of the Regulations sets the language rule: mandatory information shall be shown in both official languages, except that the identity and principal place of business of the person by or for whom the product was manufactured may be shown in one. In practice the product name line and the net quantity appear twice, and the company name and address once.
What surprises founders
Federal law makes two lines bilingual. The rest of the pack is a brand decision.
Type size, quantity and imported goods
Mandatory information must be at least 1.6 millimetres high, with a smaller minimum of 0.8 millimetres on very small packages. Net quantity numerals are shown in bold and scale with the size of the principal display surface. Quantities use metric units, and the Bureau's guide notes that numerals with metric symbols count as bilingual.
For goods made outside Canada, section 31 requires a Canadian dealer's name to be preceded by imported by or imported for, with the French equivalents, unless the geographic origin of the product is stated on the label.
The narrow exemptions
The Regulations exempt a local product or a test market product from the bilingual rule where it is sold in an area in which one official language is the mother tongue of fewer than 10% of residents. A test market exemption needs a notice of intention filed six weeks ahead and ends after 12 cumulative months. Specialty products, meaning imported goods with limited use and no Canadian substitute, have their own exemption, as do items such as greeting cards, books and language dependent games.
A panel may also carry one language where another surface of equal size and prominence carries the other.
Designing a bilingual pack that still looks like a brand
The federal rule leaves the brand name, tagline and marketing claims alone, which gives a designer more freedom than most founders expect. The strongest packs treat the two bilingual lines as part of the system from the first sketch: a product descriptor short enough to sit comfortably in two languages, and a quantity line placed where it reads once.
Brands selling in Quebec should plan further. Quebec's Charter of the French Language applies its own requirements to product inscriptions and to trademarks containing descriptive terms, covered in the Quebec guide on this site. A pack designed for Quebec from the start avoids a second print run later.
Before you use it
Questions that can change the recommendation.
Does everything on a Canadian product label have to be in English and French?
Under federal rules for non food consumer products, the product identity and net quantity must be in both languages. The dealer's name and address may be in one, and the Competition Bureau confirms other text such as directions and promotional claims falls outside the bilingual requirement. Quebec applies additional rules.
What are the three mandatory statements on Canadian packaging?
Product identity, net quantity, and the dealer's name and principal place of business, under the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations.
Do imported products need imported by on the label in Canada?
When a Canadian dealer's name appears on goods made abroad, it must be preceded by imported by or imported for, with the French equivalents, unless the label states the product's geographic origin.
What is the minimum text size on Canadian packaging?
Mandatory information must be at least 1.6 millimetres high, or 0.8 millimetres where the principal display surface is 10 square centimetres or less, with larger bold numerals required for net quantity as the panel grows.
Research record
What this guide draws from.
Each source note describes what the reference supports. Platform guidance, research findings and Branding Tatva's practical suggestions have different scopes.
- Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act
Justice Laws Website
- Guide to the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations
Competition Bureau Canada
Modified February 2026.
