By Joshua Uebergang
Canadian retailers advertising nationally through Google Shopping may be overlooking an opportunity in Quebec. A business using a single English-language product feed can have its merchandise approved for sale across Canada while struggling to compete for searches conducted in French.
The problem may not be apparent in Google Ads reports. Campaigns can perform well nationally even when language-related limitations affect product visibility in Quebec. For retailers looking to grow beyond their home provinces, reviewing French-language product information could identify opportunities to improve advertising performance without increasing media spending.
Quebec had approximately 9.07 million residents as of July 1, 2026, representing nearly 22% of Canada’s population, according to Statistics Canada. The 2021 census also established the central role of French in Quebec, where 77.5% of residents spoke French most often at home.
Quebec consumers are active online shoppers. Université Laval’s NETendances 2025 survey found that 82% of Quebec adults made online purchases during the year, an eight-percentage-point increase from 2024. The research also found that Quebec and Canadian merchants accounted for a combined 31% of online spending by Quebec shoppers, compared with 54% for Amazon.
These figures illustrate the size of the market and the competition for online spending. They do not establish how much additional business an individual retailer might capture through French-language advertising. Product selection, pricing, shipping costs, competition and brand recognition all influence sales, making language accessibility one factor worth examining when evaluating performance in the province.
Product Approval Doesn’t Guarantee Visibility
Google Merchant Center determines whether products meet the requirements to appear in Shopping listings and advertisements. Approval for Canada does not guarantee that those products will perform equally well across different languages.
Product titles, descriptions and landing-page content help Google understand what a retailer sells and assess relevance to shoppers’ searches. An English-language title such as “Women’s Winter Boots” may be less closely aligned with a search for “bottes d’hiver pour femmes” than an accurately translated French listing.
Google’s guidance on showing products in multiple countries and languages explains how merchants can add translated product data and landing pages to reach additional audiences. Its language requirements warn that mismatches between product information and the language of a search can limit performance.
English-language products are not necessarily excluded from French-language searches. Google’s systems consider multiple signals when determining which advertisements and listings appear. The commercial question is whether retailers relying exclusively on English product information are limiting their ability to compete for relevant French-language searches.
Campaign language settings alone may not resolve the issue. Google’s language-targeting documentation states that Shopping advertisements within Performance Max are not affected by campaign language settings. Retailers therefore need to examine their product information and landing pages instead of assuming that selecting French in Google Ads will address the problem.
How the Problem Can Go Unnoticed
Consider a hypothetical Ontario homewares retailer using Shopify and Performance Max to advertise across Canada. Its English-language product feed is approved in Merchant Center, and campaigns generate steady sales in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Quebec contributes a relatively small share of conversions, which the retailer attributes to weaker demand. A closer review reveals that product titles and descriptions are available only in English, while competing retailers offer comparable merchandise with French-language information.
This scenario illustrates a possible diagnostic problem, not a documented case study. Lower sales in Quebec do not establish that language is responsible, because market demand, delivery costs, advertising competition and other factors must also be considered.
The next step is to determine whether French-language product information could improve relevance and reach. Retailers can then measure results against existing performance and evaluate whether the investment makes commercial sense.
A Ten-Minute Google Shopping Check
Retailers with access to Google Merchant Center and Google Ads can conduct an initial review without hiring an agency. Five checks can help identify whether a more detailed assessment is warranted.
- Review product data-source languages. In Merchant Center, check the languages associated with your product data sources. Determine whether French-language information is available and configured for Canada.
- Check product eligibility and warnings. Review product status and the Needs attention section for language, landing-page or other issues. Approval does not guarantee strong performance, while limited status can have causes unrelated to translation.
- Compare regional advertising performance. In Google Ads, examine the matched locations report, including Quebec’s clicks, conversions, conversion rates and advertising costs. Compare results with relevant commercial benchmarks rather than assuming Quebec should account for 22% of sales.
- Test French-language searches. Search for several leading products using terms Quebec consumers would naturally use. Note which retailers appear, recognizing that results vary by location, device, account and other signals. Manual searches provide clues, not definitive measurements of visibility.
- Review the experience after the click. Check whether French-language product information leads to appropriately localized landing pages and purchasing information. Google requires consistency between product data and key elements of the landing page and checkout experience.
These checks can reveal potential gaps, but a reliable performance assessment requires more detailed analysis. Retailers should examine account data and use controlled comparisons where practical before investing in translation or feed-management changes.
What It Takes to Address the Gap
For smaller retailers, addressing language-related visibility generally involves translating content, configuring product information and reviewing the customer experience.
Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app offers automated translation for supported storefront content. Canadian merchants can use its automatic translation capabilities for up to eight additional languages, subject to Shopify’s current conditions. The app can reduce the initial workload, but translations should be reviewed for accuracy before publication.
Product titles, sizes, colours and category-specific terminology deserve particular attention. These details influence search relevance and purchasing decisions, while inaccurate translations can undermine advertising performance and customer confidence.
Technical requirements depend on how a retailer manages its product feed and international markets. Businesses using Shopify’s Google & YouTube integration should review their market, language and product synchronization settings before assuming French-language product information is being supplied correctly. Translating a storefront does not, by itself, confirm that the intended French-language product data is available and eligible in Merchant Center.
Implementation costs vary with catalogue size, existing translation resources, platform configuration and the amount of manual review required. Retailers with smaller assortments and existing French descriptions may face relatively modest costs, while businesses with thousands of products or English-only storefronts could require more substantial investment.
A phased approach may make sense for businesses uncertain about the return. Translating a selected group of products, checking the resulting listings and monitoring performance can help establish whether broader localization is commercially worthwhile.
Quebec’s Language Requirements
Quebec’s Charter of the French Language establishes requirements concerning the use of French in commercial activities. The Office québécois de la langue française explains that customers of businesses operating in Quebec have the right to receive information and services in French, including information needed to make purchasing decisions.
Retailers should distinguish those legal requirements from Google’s technical rules for advertising and product information. Translating a Google Shopping feed does not establish compliance with Quebec law, and the obligations applicable to a particular retailer may depend on its activities and circumstances. Businesses should obtain appropriate legal advice rather than treating advertising configuration as a compliance solution.
The two considerations can nevertheless overlap operationally. Retailers developing accurate French-language product descriptions, localized storefront content and consistent customer communications may be better equipped to address both commercial and regulatory requirements.
Beyond Quebec
Quebec illustrates why national e-commerce strategies should account for language alongside geography. Retailers serving customers across Canada need to consider how their products appear to different audiences, particularly when their advertising systems were originally configured for English.
Similar questions may arise for businesses serving Chinese- and Punjabi-speaking consumers in major Canadian markets. Google Merchant Center supports multilingual product targeting, although supported languages, customer demand and platform capabilities determine what is practical. Retailers should test the potential opportunity before committing resources to additional translations.
For businesses already investing in national customer acquisition, reviewing language-related product visibility is a practical starting point. Better product information cannot create demand where none exists, but it may help retailers compete more effectively for customers already searching for their merchandise.
About the author: Joshua Uebergang founded Digital Darts, an Australian digital marketing agency specializing in Google Ads, SEO and Shopify e-commerce, in 2015. He has approximately 20 years of experience in e-commerce marketing and is the author of Google Shopping for Shopify: The Definitive Guide.
