Guides
Bilingual food label rules for packaged specialty foods sold in Canada
Bilingual label rules for packaged foods sold in Canada: which panel fields need French and English under SFCR section 206, the importer and lot code lines, Quebec Charter rules, and a label sign-off routine for batches and co-packers.
A jar, bottle or pouch that leaves a batching room for a Canadian store shelf is a consumer prepackaged food, and its mandatory label text has to be in English and French. The sections below follow that rule the way a small producer meets it: panel by panel, then market by market, then run by run with a co-packer.
Section 206 and the one-language exceptions
The bilingual duty sits in section 206(1) of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Required information on consumer prepackaged food goes in both languages, unless subsections B.01.012(2) to (10) of the Food and Drug Regulations allow a single language. Other prepackaged food needs at least one (section 205).
That is why a pail of base sauce sold to a bakery can carry English only, while the same sauce in a retail jar cannot. The specialty food row below covers ceremonial and uncommon imported foods, not artisan goods, so a chutney cooked in Ontario does not qualify. Confirm any exception with the CFIA before printing.
| Case | What may stay in one language | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer identity | Name and principal place of business of the person the food was made or packaged for | Either English or French |
| Local food | All mandatory information | Sold only in the local government unit where it was made or packaged, or an adjacent one; one official language is the mother tongue of fewer than 10% of residents, and the label uses the other |
| Specialty food | All mandatory information | Food with special religious significance used in ceremonies, or an imported food that is not widely used in Canada and has no accepted Canadian-made substitute |
| Test market food | All mandatory information | A new food, on notice to the CFIA at least six weeks ahead; the status ends 12 months after first sale |
| Shipping container | Mandatory information | Sold to a business or institution and not resold to consumers at retail |
Panel by panel: what goes in both languages
The principal display panel, the face a shopper sees first, carries the common name and net quantity. The name needs both languages, for example "Roasted red pepper spread / Tartinade de poivrons rouges grillés". A net quantity written with metric symbols, such as 250 mL, already counts as bilingual; written-out units need both languages.
The information panel holds the rest of the paired text:
- the ingredient list in descending order of proportion, with the French list in the same order;
- the "Contains / Contient" statement for priority allergens and gluten sources, where used;
- the Nutrition Facts table in a bilingual format headed "Nutrition Facts / Valeur nutritive", with no third language inside it;
- storage instructions, where the food needs more than room temperature.
Dates follow section B.01.007 of the Food and Drug Regulations. A date is required when durable life is 90 days or less, introduced by "best before" and "meilleur avant". The month appears in both languages or as a prescribed two-letter symbol, such as JA for January or DE for December. Longer-life products may carry one voluntarily.
The name and principal place of business of the person the food was made for may stay in one language, and under SFCR section 218 it cannot sit only on the bottom of the container. Section 92(2) adds a lot code for consumer prepackaged food not packaged at retail. Neither line is optional on a batch.
Imported finished goods add one more line. Under SFCR section 223, a consumer prepackaged food made wholly abroad shows the Canadian importer's name and address after "Imported by / Importé par", unless the label states the geographic origin instead. A US batcher shipping finished jars north should agree with its importer on which details print.
Front-of-package symbol
Since January 1, 2026, most prepackaged foods at or above set daily-value levels of saturated fat, sugars or sodium need Health Canada's bilingual front-of-package symbol. It runs off the Nutrition Facts values, so more sugar in a preserve can trigger it. Check Health Canada's exemption list, and compare nutrition labeling and allergen rules for US packaged foods.
Quebec: the Charter of the French Language on the package
Section 51 of Quebec's Charter of the French Language requires inscriptions on a product, its container and its wrapping to be in French. Another language may sit beside the French, but not more prominently and not on more favorable terms. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) enforces it, on top of the CFIA's federal check.
Since June 1, 2025, section 51.1 also reaches trademarks. A registered mark in another language may stay, but generic or descriptive words in it, such as a flavor or product type, need a French version on the product. Products made before that date can generally be sold until June 1, 2027; confirm with the OQLF.
The figure compares an illustrative jam jar set for Ontario and for Quebec, where French leads. One bilingual label can serve both provinces if French is never less prominent. Either way, have a fluent reviewer check the French before plates are made, because the OQLF looks at prominence, not only presence.
Ontario vs Quebec jar label
Ontario version
- Product name
- English and French equal
- Net quantity
- 250 g once
- Ingredients
- English then French
- Allergen line
- May contain: almonds
Quebec version
- Product name
- French larger font
- Net quantity
- 250 g once
- Ingredients
- French more prominent
- Allergen line
- Peut contenir : amandes
Signing off labels across batches and co-packers
A co-packer may buy, print and apply the film, but the brand owner usually approves the artwork and answers for its content under the supply agreement. A sign-off routine for a SKU that runs many batches, weekly or twice a year, keeps each print run tied to the recipe it describes:
- Lock the formulation and supplier specifications, then build the bilingual ingredient and allergen text from them.
- Calculate or lab-test the nutrition values and check the front-of-package thresholds.
- Have a fluent French editor, and a Quebec reviewer if needed, check the French.
- Send the co-packer a numbered artwork version and approve a printed proof before the run.
- Log which artwork version each lot code was packed under, and restart at step 1 when a supplier, recipe or market changes.
Each artwork version's file should hold five documents: approved artwork per market with version and date, the translator's sign-off, supplier allergen and specification sheets, the nutrition calculation or lab report, and the recall plan with the latest mock recall, next to your recall insurance coverage and exclusions.
Label records to keep
- Finished label in both languages
- Translation records
- Supplier allergen documentation
- Nutrition facts table
- OQLF correspondence
Tying artwork versions to lot codes makes a narrow recall possible. If one run went out with a wrong French allergen line, the lot log shows which cases to pull. The discipline matches FDA HACCP principles: write the step down, sign it and date it, then keep the record with the batch.
At the first co-packer meeting, settle who owns the plates and who checks the proof; how co-packing compares in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland lists more points. Out-of-province sales raise the licensing issues in interprovincial specialty food trade in Canada, and a US plant should read selling packaged foods between the US and Canada.
Enforcement and fines
The CFIA can detain or seize product, require relabeling, issue a notice of violation, and refer cases for prosecution. Under section 39(1) of the Safe Food for Canadians Act, a first summary conviction can bring a fine of up to $250,000. In Quebec the OQLF can act on complaints and pursue fines set in the Charter.
