Bill 58, Franco-Ontarian Bookstore Promotion and Protection Act, 2025

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill enacts the Franco-Ontarian Bookstore Promotion and Protection Act, 2025. The major elements of the Act are set out below.

The Act requires the Minister of Francophone Affairs to appoint a Registrar of Franco-Ontarian Bookstores. Bookstore owners and operators may apply to the Registrar to have their bookstore registered as an accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstore. Publicly funded institutions must only purchase French-language books from accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstores.

The Act sets out a prohibition on book sellers engaging in predatory pricing practices or providing disguised advantages. A failure to comply with this prohibition could result in the revocation of accreditation for accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstores.

The Act allows the Minister of Francophone Affairs to establish a provincial support fund to help Franco-Ontarian bookstores modernize and sustain their operations.

An amendment is made to the French Language Services Act to require government agencies under that Act to actively contribute to the maintenance and development of Franco-Ontarian cultural institutions, including Franco-Ontarian bookstores.

Bill 58 2025

An Act respecting Franco-Ontarian bookstores and other Franco-Ontarian cultural institutions

CONTENTS

 

Preamble

Bookstores play a vital role in promoting literacy, education and cultural expression in communities across Ontario.

Franco-Ontarian bookstores serve as essential pillars of French language culture, contributing to the vitality of Ontario’s Francophonie by ensuring access to literature, educational materials and cultural works in French.

The sustainability of Franco-Ontarian bookstores is increasingly threatened by market conditions that favour larger out-of-province retailers, online platforms and institutions not subject to the same regulatory or financial constraints.

It is in the public interest to establish a framework that ensures fair competition, protects the integrity of public investments in cultural and educational materials and supports a diverse and accessible French-language book ecosystem.

The preservation and development of the French language and culture in Ontario are recognized as matters of provincial importance and as fundamental to the province’s social and cultural fabric.

Therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Interpretation

Interpretation

1 In this Act,

“accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstore” means a bookstore that is accredited under section 3; (“librairie franco-ontarienne accréditée”)

“Minister” means the Minister of Francophone Affairs or such other member of the Executive Council to whom the administration of this Act is assigned under the Executive Council Act; (“ministre”)

“publicly funded institution” means,

  (a)  a publicly funded organization within the meaning of the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010,

  (b)  the Office of the Assembly or the office of an officer of the Assembly,

   (c)  a ministry of the Government of Ontario,

  (d)  an agency of the Government of Ontario,

  (e)  a municipality,

   (f)  a local board as defined in section 1 of the Municipal Act, 2001 and section 3 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006,

  (g)  a long-term care home, or

  (h)  a prescribed entity; (“institution financée par des fonds publics”)

“prescribed” means prescribed by the regulations; (“prescrit”)

“Registrar” means the Registrar of Franco-Ontarian Bookstores appointed under section 2; (“registrateur”)

“regulations” means the regulations made under this Act. (“règlements”)

Accreditation of Franco-Ontarian Bookstores

Registrar

2 (1)  The Minister shall appoint a Registrar of Franco-Ontarian Bookstores.

Duties

(2)  The Registrar shall maintain a register of accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstores.

Register to be open for inspection

(3)  The Registrar shall make the register available for inspection on request.

Application

3 (1)  A person may apply to the Registrar to have a bookstore they own or operate be registered as an accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstore.

Accreditation

(2)  The Registrar shall register a bookstore as an accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstore if,

  (a)  the bookstore sells French-language books from a physical location in Ontario;

  (b)  the applicant demonstrates a substantial commitment to serving the Franco-Ontarian community, including by maintaining a significant inventory of Franco-Ontarian books and other French-language books; and

   (c)  the applicant actively participates in the cultural and community life of Franco-Ontarians by, for example, organizing events, organizing author talks or engaging in community partnerships.

Certificate to be issued

(3)  The Registrar shall issue a certificate of accreditation to every accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstore.

Publicly Funded Institutions

Mandatory purchasing

4 Every publicly funded institution shall only purchase French-language books from accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstores.

Prohibitions on Bookstores

Prohibitions

5 (1)  No person who sells books in Ontario shall engage in predatory pricing practices, or provide disguised advantages, with the purpose of unfairly capturing institutional market share.

Definitions

(2)  In subsection (1),

“disguised advantage” means the donation of books to a purchaser, a discount that is not made public or any other advantage that is not made public; (“avantage caché”)

“predatory pricing practice” means selling books below a price that is determined in accordance with the regulations or engaging in other pricing practices that are prohibited by the regulations. (“pratique de prix prédateurs”)

Loss of certificate

(3)  If the Registrar determines that a person who owns or operates an accredited Franco-Ontarian bookstore has contravened subsection (1), the Registrar shall revoke the certificate of accreditation.

Support Fund

Support fund

6 (1)  The Minister may establish a provincial support fund to help Franco-Ontarian bookstores modernize and sustain their operations.

Purposes

(2)  The funds in the provincial support fund may be disbursed to support digital transformation initiatives, infrastructure improvements, community outreach or cultural programming.

Appropriation required

(3)  The Minister may only establish a provincial support fund or make a payment from it if money has been appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.

Regulations

Regulations

7 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing anything that, under this Act, may or must be prescribed or provided for in the regulations.

Amendments to the French Language Services Act

French Language Services Act

8 (1)  The French Language Services Act is amended by adding the following section:

Requirement to actively contribute to Franco-Ontarian cultural institutions

5.1  Every government agency shall, in accordance with the regulations, actively contribute to the maintenance and development of Franco-Ontarian cultural institutions, including Franco-Ontarian bookstores.

(2)  Section 8 of the Act is amended by adding the following clause:

(c.1) governing the requirement to actively contribute to the maintenance and development of Franco-Ontarian cultural institutions in section 5.1;

Commencement and Short Title

Commencement

9 (1)  Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

(2)  Section 4 comes into force on the day that is six months after the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

Short title

10 The short title of this Act is the Franco-Ontarian Bookstore Promotion and Protection Act, 2025.