Buses in Montreal remove ‘Go! Canadiens Go!’ phrasing due to Quebec language watchdog

Buses in Montreal wanted to feel the Stanley Cup Playoff spirit for the Montreal Canadiens, but they won’t be able to do so in English anymore. 

After displaying “Go! Canadiens Go!” on electronic signs in the early parts of Montreal’s series with the Washington Capitals, the Quebec language watchdog has cracked down, saying they can no longer display the message because “Go” is an English word, according to a report from the Montreal Gazette. 

Buses will instead display “Allez! Canadiens Allez!” through the remainder of the series and the 2025 playoffs. The forced change comes after complaints towards “GO! CF MTL GO,” which was seen on buses in 2024, supporting the city’s Major League Soccer team, CF Montreal. 

A spokesperson from the Office québécois de la langue française advised the transit company at the time that under Quebec’s law,  “government bodies must set an example by using French, which means refraining from employing English terms in their signage.” 

The use of the English language has always been a contentious topic in Quebec. However, it became more stringent in 2022 after a new bill tightened the Charter of the French Language in the Province. 

Still, it hasn’t stopped Quebecois leaders from using the word “Go” recently, with Premier François Legault using #GoHabsGo on social media in 2021, and Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon doing so in recent weeks.

Bus signage problems aren’t isolated to Montreal, and French issues aren’t the only ones either. In 2024, Vancouver’s TransLink came under fire for putting “Go Team Go!” on buses, rather than “Go Canucks Go,” prompting an uproar from fans and an eventual change. 

The Canadiens will hope to keep the bus messages on in whichever language for a bit longer, as they look to crawl back from a 2-0 series deficit with the series shifting to the Bell Centre.