Lennoxville business gets visit from the language police

By Matthew McCully

Crystal-Marie Desindes, owner of Beauté & Encre tattoo shop in Lennoxville, was recently notified by l’Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) that a complaint had been made about the language of her signage and advertising.

In the letter, the OQLF explained that following an investigation, it was determined that Desindes’ signage did not comply with provincial language laws.

She told The Record in an interview on Tuesday, March 31, that she has until the end of July to make the necessary changes or face fines ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 per infraction.

“It is real. I called, I talked to them last week,” Desindes said.

“In the letter, it said I had until April 1 to contact them to figure out how to rectify all the articles I’m in violation of. I’m in violation of like 10 articles,” the business owner said, surprised, because when she opened in 2018, her signage needed to be approved by the City of Sherbrooke. Desindes was under the impression her application was being vetted for possible language issues at the same time.
“You have to pass through the town of Sherbrooke, and then they pass you through the office de la langue française to be able to have stuff outside. And everything passed back then,” or so she thought.

Desindes remembered detailed conversations and going through multiple options for a name for her business (Beauté & Encre was not her first choice). She also remembered some back and forth about the word tattoo. “The town told me it’s like the word hot dog, so it’s like the same,” she said. “But it’s not that anymore. So now it has to be tatouage,” she has learned.

Confusion abounds

While Desindes believed she had crossed all her “T”s and dotted all her “I”s in the appropriate language back in 2018 to the satisfaction of the OQLF, it turns out that may not have been the case.

Speaking on background with The Record, a local elected council member explained that signage permit requests made to the City are evaluated exclusively on their size and architectural components. The goal is to ensure that any signs mounted blend in relatively well with what is already in place, and meet any size requirements laid out in the municipal bylaws.

The language on the sign is the jurisdiction of the province, specifically the OQLF.

So, whoever was counselling Desindes, however helpful, was either communicating with the OQLF on her behalf in an effort to help, or offering informal recommendations.

She also wonders if perhaps her signage was in fact compliant until the stricter language laws came into effect in June of 2025.
After receiving the complaint letter, Desindes said she reached out to the City for guidance.

The Record contacted Sherbrooke’s media relations to ask if the City was aware the OQLF had passed through the area recently, and if any businesses had reached out for support.

A day later, a media rep from the City emailed the following reply:
“The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) is a government agency independent of the City of Sherbrooke. The City therefore does not need to be notified when this agency conducts inspections at businesses. Businesses where sign-related violations have been identified must contact the OQLF directly, as the City has no authority or jurisdiction in this matter.

The City of Sherbrooke and its inspectors are not responsible for enforcing regulations regarding the use of the French language on signs.”

Following that statement, The Record reached out to the OQLF for more information, asking if the Office receives visual designs or samples of signage from new businesses so that it can provide feedback and ensure they comply with all applicable language laws before the signage is installed.

“Yes, the Office does indeed receive mock-ups of public signage from businesses to help them ensure they meet the requirements of the Charter of the French Language,” the response from a media rep read.

All businesses registered with the Office receive personalized support from an advisor. For those that are not registered, the Office has established—since the new rules governing the display of trademarks and business names took effect on June 1, 2025—a specialized team responsible for validating display designs, the rep explained in an email.

“Any business may therefore contact the Office to take advantage of this assistance and submit a public sign or commercial advertisement to the Office before installing it or presenting it to the city.”

The rep added that a municipality may also contact the Office if it has questions regarding businesses’ obligations regarding public signage and commercial advertising; however, it is up to the businesses to ask specific questions regarding a particular sign or advertisement directly to the Office, if necessary, since the Office—not the municipalities—is responsible for verifying the compliance of businesses’ signage.

What now?

Desindes, after two attempts and a voicemail, got through to the OQLF.

She was told that her complaint dates back to last year. An inspector visited her business in September of 2025, and the complaint would have been made four to six months before.

While Desindes did not get all the answers she was looking for, she said the OQLF agent she spoke with was polite and as helpful as she could be.

“In the letter it said there were like nine or ten articles, but in her file that she had with me, it’s just the outside face of the building and the side of the building,” Desindes said.

Explaining that working with the City for new signage could take months, Desindes was given until the end of July to address the issues highlighted by the OQLF.

There are renovations planned for the front of her building, so Desindes said she plans to wait as long as she can, and then strip away any English rather than come up with a whole new design for the front window. She has a friend with a Cricut machine to make some adjustments to signs inside.

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