Compliance
23 October 2026
Canada is the market where packaging artwork gets rejected most often, and almost always for the same reason: the English-only proof came back from the printer looking perfect, and then the retail buyer asked where the French is.
Two separate rules are in play. Federal packaging law requires specific fields in both official languages on prepackaged consumer products. Quebec's language charter goes further and requires French to be markedly predominant in commercial advertising aimed at Quebec consumers. A single Canadian SKU has to satisfy both.
"Markedly predominant" is deliberately vague. In practice, Quebec's language office has accepted French at roughly twice the visual space of the other language, with equal or better legibility. A French line in 8 pt under an English line in 11 pt is the kind of thing that draws a complaint.
| Field | French required? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Product identity ("Slim Case", "Rugged Case") | Yes | Translate the descriptor, not the brand |
| Net quantity ("1 case" / "2-pack") | Yes | Metric or count; both languages |
| Dealer name and principal place of business | Yes, if shown | Your Canadian entity or your name and city |
| Brand name and trade mark | No | Brands are not translated |
| Model number and "iPhone 17 Pro" | No | Model designations stay as they are |
| Country of origin | Acceptable in either | "Made in China" is fine |
| Safety warnings | Both | Same wording as the EU magnetic warning, if you use one |
The trap is the product descriptor. "Shockproof Armour Case" cannot appear only in English if it is the name that identifies the product on the shelf. "XRF Armour Series" can, because that is a trade mark.
French runs 15 to 20 per cent longer than English for the same sentence, and the regulatory panel is the panel with the least room. On a 105 × 180 mm sleeve you typically need to give up between 8 and 12 mm of height to fit both languages legibly. Design the dieline with the bilingual panel reserved from the first proof, not retrofitted after the print plates are cut — re-cutting plates is where the money goes.
The Canada Consumer Product Safety Act is the general safety statute, and phone cases are ordinary consumer products under it. There is no pre-market approval and no CE-style mark. What it creates is a duty not to supply products that pose an unreasonable danger, plus an obligation to report incidents and recalls to Health Canada within two days of becoming aware.
In practice this means two things for a case supplier: no accessible small parts that could detach from a children's novelty case, and a documented material declaration. Neck lanyards and phone charms attached to cases fall closer to the edge than the case itself.
The most common root cause of a bilingual rejection is not translation. It is that the US and Canadian SKUs share one artwork file and the printer runs whichever proof is open. Separate files, separate names, separate approval.
If you are building the Canadian line from scratch, the CARM and importer-of-record article covers the customs side, which is a different set of paperwork from the label.
The federal requirement covers prepackaged consumer products, so a retail-packaged case normally needs product identity and net quantity in both languages. A plain polybag sold B2B without retail packaging is a different, narrower case.
The charter asks for French to be markedly predominant; roughly twice the visual space is the working interpretation retailers apply. Keep the two languages at equal legibility at minimum.
It can, but sticker-applied bilingual panels are widely treated as a sign of a non-compliant pack and some retailers refuse them outright. Print the panel.