Starting out in Quebec, in French first
In Quebec, you start in French, often with the help of your own region. Here’s the landscape, the resources that really exist, and how to get your website and email without fuss.
This page was written in French first: lire en français.
Quebec’s entrepreneurial landscape
Quebec means Montréal and Québec City, but also hundreds of municipalities where a person’s first business is often a local service: renovations, landscaping and snow removal, mechanics, beauty care, child care, bookkeeping. Self-employed workers are everywhere, in every trade.
Each region has its own flavour: agri-tourism and maple products, vineyards and cheese makers, outfitters and the outdoors, fishing in the Gaspé and on the North Shore, and summer and winter tourism in the Laurentians, Charlevoix and beyond. Many ventures follow the seasons, from sugar shacks in spring to Christmas markets.
A co-operative culture and regional mutual aid are part of Quebec’s DNA: co-ops, the social economy and local coaching networks are everywhere. And French is the language of business — an advantage when you want to speak to customers the way they speak.
Real help for new entrepreneurs
The resources to know when starting in Quebec (most in French):
- Registraire des entreprises (Québec) — Quebec’s enterprise register: when and how to register, and your Quebec enterprise number (NEQ). Your Quebec enterprise number (NEQ) comes from registration.
- Québec.ca: start an enterprise — The Government of Quebec’s step-by-step pages for starting out.
- Réseau accès PME — Quebec’s entry point for entrepreneurs, delivered by each regional county municipality (MRC), in French. Start with your regional county municipality (MRC): it points you in the right direction.
- SADC and CAE network — Community Futures Development Corporations of Quebec: local financing and coaching outside the big centres (in French).
- Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) — The federal regional development agency for Quebec, with business offices across the regions.
- Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec — The network of Quebec’s local chambers of commerce (in French).
- Futurpreneur — Start-up financing paired with a volunteer business mentor, for entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39.
- BDC — The Business Development Bank of Canada: financing, plus free guides and templates for people starting out.
Your first steps in Quebec
- Register your enterprise with the Registraire des entreprises, which gives you your NEQ. Most businesses must; Québec.ca explains the exceptions, such as operating under your own name.
- Understand GST and QST. In Quebec you charge the 5 % GST and the 9.975 % QST, both administered by Revenu Québec. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable sales pass CA$30,000 over four consecutive quarters.
- Have a French website. The Charter of the French Language governs the language of commerce: the website of a business established in Quebec must be available in French. You can add English alongside it.
- Get found and look professional. A free Google Business Profile and an email like hello@yourbusiness.ca beat a free webmail address.
Canada Revenue Agency: get a business number · CRA: GST/HST rates by province
How WebNewBee helps
WebNewBee writes your site in French first, then adds English in one click if you want it. Pick one of 30 designs, answer a few questions, and your site is built in about a minute — with support in French, in Eastern or Atlantic time.
One simple price
CA$6.99/month · plus applicable taxes
- Website with up to 6 pages, written by our AI from your facts
- Up to 3 email addresses on your own domain
- Your own domain from CA$24.99/year, or a free yourname.webnewbee.page address
- Secure (https), fast, mobile-friendly
- English, French or both
- Cancel anytime — no contract
Questions
Does my website have to be in French in Quebec?
Yes, if your business is established in Quebec its website must be available in French. WebNewBee writes it in French first; English is optional.
Does CA$6.99 include tax?
No, it’s CA$6.99 a month plus applicable taxes, which means GST and QST for a business in Quebec. Your own domain, if you want one, is billed yearly.