Quebec to set quotas for French-language content on streaming platforms

QUÉBEC — The Quebec government has tabled a bill to force streaming giants such as Netflix and Spotify to boost access to French-language content.

The bill would allow the government to set quotas for francophone music, films and television series on streaming platforms. It would also require platforms to ensure francophone content is more prominent and easier for consumers to find.

Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe described the bill on Wednesday as an attempt to preserve a francophone culture that is increasingly threatened by the streaming giants.

“We can’t choose something that isn’t offered to us. We can’t like something we don’t know,” he told reporters at a press conference in Quebec City. “And access to our culture, to films, to TV series, to songs in French, it must be easy, it must be simple when we’re in Quebec.”

He said that of the 10,000 most-streamed songs in Quebec in 2023, only five per cent were French-language titles from the province.

The legislation, tabled Wednesday morning in the provincial legislature, would enshrine in the Quebec charter of human rights and freedoms the right to access French-language cultural content.

It would also allow the government to establish the “quantity or proportion” of original French-language content that must be offered on digital platforms. Lacombe said those quotas would be determined through regulations, and refused to say how much francophone content Quebec would like to see.

Companies would face fines if they fail to comply with the new rules.

The bill would also require digital platforms to register with the Quebec government and ensure their default interface is in French. However, it would not apply to digital platforms whose main purpose is to offer Indigenous content.

The legislation would permit the government to reach alternative agreements with digital platforms that are unable to meet the content requirements. Lacombe suggested streaming services could be asked to invest in local productions as a substitute measure.

He said he hopes the bill will encourage the digital giants to spend more in Quebec. “I would be very happy to see that,” he said. “There are two sources of supply for companies like Netflix, like Disney, like Amazon Prime: they can buy the rights to series that have already been produced … or they can order original material.”

The Quebec bill has a similar goal to the federal Online Streaming Act, which modernized Canada’s broadcasting law to require streaming platforms to promote Canadian content.

Federal regulations under the online streaming law, adopted in 2023, also require online giants to pay millions to support Canadian music, TV and film. Streaming platforms are currently challenging those regulations in court.

Lacombe said he has already met with some of the online platforms, and said they’ve shared “concerns” about the Quebec bill, as well as a “desire to collaborate.”

The minister announced last year that the Quebec government intended to table its own legislation to guarantee access to French-language content on streaming services.

That followed the publication of a report by an expert panel that concluded Quebec had the jurisdiction to take action to defend francophone culture.

– By Maura Forrest in Montreal

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.

The Canadian Press