Selling in Canada: Do Your Listing Images Need French and English Labels?

The answer depends on the product. For prepackaged non-food consumer products, the Competition Bureau's guide names three mandatory statements: product identity, net quantity, and the dealer's name and principal place of business. Identity and net quantity must be in English and French and appear on the principal display panel. The dealer's name and address may be in either English or French, anywhere on the outside of the package except the bottom.

Food and cosmetics have their own regulators. The CFIA says mandatory information on consumer prepackaged food must be in both official languages, but the name and principal place of business may be in either. Health Canada says cosmetic label information must be in English and French, except the ingredient list, which uses INCI names.

Not on its own. The Competition Bureau's guide says net quantity on non-food products should generally be in metric units, and an additional non-metric declaration is permitted as long as it is not false or misleading. The CFIA says the net quantity on consumer prepackaged food must be declared on the principal display panel in metric units, and that US units may also appear if an accurate metric quantity is declared too.

So a pack that shows only ounces does not meet either rule. A pack that shows grams or milliliters alongside ounces can. The Competition Bureau also notes that a net quantity written only with numbers and metric symbols, such as 500 g, counts as bilingual.

The Competition Bureau and the CFIA both note that Quebec has additional French-language requirements for products marketed there. The OQLF says all information on a product, its packaging or a document that comes with it must be in French. Other languages may appear, but not more prominently than the French.

Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, received assent on 1 June 2022 and amended the Charter. New rules on trademarks on products took effect on 1 June 2025. The OQLF says a trademark recognized under the federal Trademarks Act may appear only in another language, but if a French version is registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, it must appear. Generic or descriptive terms in a trademark must also appear in French on the product or on something permanently attached to it, with a transition period to 1 June 2027 for some products.

Walmart Canada's product content policy, updated 15 October 2026, says items must meet "applicable documentation, labelling and packaging language requirements." It tells sellers to align product page copy with on-pack labeling to avoid contradictions, and it prohibits non-Canadian language-only titles when bilingual presentation is required. Amazon.ca's seller help pages were not publicly readable, so check its language requirements in Seller Central.

None of these sources requires French text on a main listing image. Our working recommendation for the gallery is below, not a marketplace rule.

Picmato can generate lifestyle scenes around your product from your packaging photos. The analysis reads the text printed on your pack and shows you what it read, but Picmato does not check bilingual labeling and does not verify a translation. AI renderers can alter small text, so the English and French on your label should come from your real packaging photographs, and you should compare every export with the physical pack before you list it.