A Montreal bakery specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine has come under scrutiny from Quebec’s language regulator over the use of English on a third-party website and in social media content. Lahmajoune Villeray, a family-operated business in the Villeray district, received two letters from the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) on Wednesday, with one addressing language issues on a website connected to the bakery and the other concerning the language used in its TikTok videos.
Charbel Hannan, whose family runs Lahmajoune Villeray, said in an interview Thursday that the business does not have its own website. He explained that the website in question is linked to the bakery’s Google listing and is managed by a Toronto-based company called Localoria, which operates as an online directory for places and travel experiences. The family has been attempting to remove or correct the listing for nearly two years, as it carries inaccurate information, including an erroneous claim that the bakery is closed on Mondays when it is usually open.
The OQLF confirmed receiving two complaints about the bakery’s commercial advertising materials but indicated that the issue surrounding the website had been resolved following discussions with the owner. The office stated that Lahmajoune Villeray agreed to publish social media content in French moving forward.
This is the second time the bakery has confronted language compliance issues this year. In February, the OQLF raised concerns that the bakery’s TikTok videos were insufficiently accessible in French. Hannan responded by posting the letter on Instagram, which attracted significant attention—with over 350,000 views—and generated both support and criticism. The family subsequently modified their social media posts to meet the regulatory standards, and they believed the matter was settled.
However, Hannan said an OQLF representative recently informed him that English speech within the TikTok videos must be translated directly in the videos themselves, rather than relying on French captions or supplementary text. This directive differed from the initial instructions given earlier in the year. “We corrected everything that we thought would be necessary to be corrected. But then they ended up finding something else,” he said.
Under Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, businesses directed at the Quebec market must produce commercial publications in French, with any other language content accompanied by a French version that is at least equivalent and equally accessible. These rules apply to websites and social media accounts alike. The regulator's authority was reinforced by Bill 96, passed in 2022 during the tenure of former premier François Legault, which increased the OQLF’s enforcement capabilities and established stricter requirements.
The OQLF maintains that its primary objective is to assist companies in achieving compliance rather than to impose penalties. The office reports that approximately 95 percent of cases are resolved through cooperation.
Lahmajoune Villeray is a longstanding family business employing about ten members of the Hannan family. Charbel Hannan recounted that his father arrived from Syria over 40 years ago and worked at the bakery, then known as Chez Apo, for $2 an hour before the family rebuilt the business following a fire.