Packaging Compliance Services for the Quebec Marketplace

This is how we do it:

If you want to sell your product in Quebec, you need to follow federal Canadian package labeling law as well as the provincial laws specific to Quebec. These rules pertain to both the content (bilingual copy, metric units of measurement) and the design (relative size of and placement of text, badges and emblems). Scriptis can help your team manage both the translation and the package redesign. We offer full packaging compliance services for the Quebec marketplace. So, what does the packaging compliance workflow look like?

Working with what you already have

The first thing we need are the design files for your current English-language packaging. Usually these are Illustrator files, and they’ll include the images and fonts as well.  You can get them from your graphic design department or marketing team. Just make sure to specify you need the “working” files. We’ll extract the English text and translate it into Canadian French.

Next, our design department will follow the guidelines laid out by CFIA and Quebec and reformat the packaging to make sure that it is fully bilingual. We’ll re-do the list of ingredients and nutritional information and move text around to make sure everything fits.

• Pro tip: translation projects always go more smoothly when we can work directly with the native design files.

Approving the uncertified proof

At this point, you’ll be asked to review the proof. The biggest problem our clients face at this stage is a cluttered label. Everything in English is required to be translated into French, so you’ll have twice as much text. Plus, French requires more characters than English: it “expands.” In most cases, we can make the necessary adjustments to create attractive packaging, but if it’s really too much text, we may ask you if any non-necessary text can be removed or made smaller.

• Pro tip: incorporating negative space in the original design makes this process easier.  Brands who plan to distribute products worldwide should design packaging, user interfaces, and websites to this standard, a process called “globalization.”

Confirming compliance

Once you’ve approved the proof, we submit it to our compliance team to review. If changes are necessary, our graphic design team works with compliance to make edits. At this point, it’s rare that the client needs to provide us with any additional feedback. Once the label is finalized and deemed compliant, we will return the entire design package with the native files to you. With that, you can confidently distribute your product in the Quebec marketplace!

For more detailed information about the Canadian food packaging requirements, click here.