Bill 101 (The Charter of the French Language) is a law enacted in Quebec in 1977 to protect the French language and culture. Under the law, Quebec citizens have the right to be informed and served in French. It also sets out certain obligations for companies, such as providing documentation for commercial goods and services in French.

For more information, visit the Office québécois de la langue française and the ABCDs of language policy in Quebec.

Border crossing wait times depend on the date, time and other circumstances. For example, it is normal to expect longer wait times on holidays and during busy travel dates. Both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) provide up-to-the hour updates on average wait times during the operating hours of each border crossing office.

Visit http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/ for CBP updates and http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/bwt-taf/ for CBSA updates.

If you travel often, the trusted traveler program NEXUS is for you. Established in 2002 and enhanced as part of Beyond the Border in 2011, the NEXUS program has reserved lanes at several ports of entry as well as at Canadian and American airports. For more information on how to become a member of the trusted traveler program NEXUS, see CBP’s trusted traveler NEXUS program web page.

If you are crossing into Canada with goods to import, you can request an advanced ruling for tariff classification. The advanced ruling provides certainty to the importer, or his or her representative, as to how goods are to be classified. This facilitates the documentation requirements for clearing goods at the border and thereby helps expedite the process. For more information, visit the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) website.

For more information about importing to Canada, visit the CBSA’s webpages on registering a Business Number and on shipping requirements.

For up to date information regarding U.S.-tax policies and regulations, please refer to the IRS and the U.S. Treasury websites.

For information concerning Quebec taxes, please refer to Revenue Quebec. Quebec offers various fiscal incentives for businesses who wish to develop their enterprise in the province.

Several Quebec laws protect employees by providing minimum acceptable working conditions, and establishing regulations related to salaries, language, the length of the work week, holidays, termination, etc. Employers must respect these standards. For more information, the Quebec Labor Code and the Act respecting Labor standards (PDF) are accessible online.

In addition to provisions of the Quebec Civil Code relating to consumer sales, the Quebec government has also enacted the Consumer Protection Act, which governs contracts between merchants and consumers, establishes a basic warranty on all goods and services and specific protection for certain types of contracts.

For historical reasons, Quebec has two legal traditions operating simultaneously: a civil law tradition for civil matters, and the common law tradition common throughout the rest of Canada in matters of criminal and federal law. Quebec also collects its own income taxes and has shared jurisdiction with the federal government over immigration to Quebec. For more information, please visit Éducaloi, a non-profit organization founded by the Quebec government to provide information on the province’s legal system.