The verdict in three sentences
For a Montreal-based industrial or engineering group selling into North Africa and the Gulf, a serious trilingual FR/EN/AR corporate website costs CAD 45,000 to 120,000 with a local agency, as a 2026 estimate. The most underestimated line is the Arabic RTL version: technical translation, mirrored layouts and Arabic typography take 20 to 35% of the budget. The right vendor is the one that handles editorial governance, meaning who approves what, in which language, before anything goes live.
What a FR/EN/AR site really costs in Montreal
A multilingual site is not a translated site. In Quebec, French must be at least as prominent as any other language under Bill 96, so French is the reference version, not an afterthought. The Arabic version needs a mirrored stylesheet (navigation on the right, flipped directional icons, tables read right to left), a screen-friendly Arabic font (Noto Kufi, Cairo, IBM Plex Arabic) and testing on every template. Technical product sheets (standards, load ratings, packaging) must be translated without approximation.
| Item | 2026 range (CAD, before tax) | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|
| UX and mockups (FR + RTL adaptation) | 7,000 to 18,000 | 15% |
| Front-end build and RTL integration | 12,000 to 34,000 | 28% |
| Headless CMS with approval workflow | 8,000 to 20,000 | 17% |
| Professional AR and EN translation (40 to 60 pages) | 6,000 to 18,000 | 15% |
| Technical proofreading and RTL testing | 3,000 to 8,000 | 7% |
| Multilingual SEO (hreflang, URL per language) | 3,500 to 10,000 | 8% |
| Editor training and acceptance testing | 2,500 to 12,000 | 10% |
Add hosting: CAD 150 to 450 per month for managed hosting with CDN, daily backups and SSL. Hosting in Canada (OVHcloud Beauharnois, AWS ca-central-1) simplifies compliance with Quebec's Law 25 on personal information, which requires a privacy impact assessment before transferring data outside Quebec.
Local agency, nearshore French-speaking agency or in-house WordPress
Three options come up in most procurement processes. They do not solve the same problem.
| Criterion | Montreal agency | Nearshore French-speaking agency | WordPress + WPML in-house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial budget | CAD 45,000 to 120,000 | CAD 25,000 to 70,000 | CAD 10,000 to 25,000 |
| Arabic RTL expertise | Variable, check references | Variable, strong if North African team | Depends on theme |
| Multi-level approval workflow | Standard on enterprise CMS | Standard on headless CMS | Plugins, fragile |
| Average timeline | 12 to 18 weeks | 8 to 14 weeks | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Mobile performance (LCP) | 1.5 to 2.5 s | 1.5 to 2.5 s | 3 to 5 s |
| Bill 96 French-first compliance | Native | Native if francophone | Manual checks |
| Monthly maintenance | CAD 400 to 1,500 | CAD 150 to 600 | In-house, hidden cost |
A Montreal agency wins on proximity and Quebec regulatory reflexes. A nearshore French-speaking agency in West or North Africa wins on cost and often on Arabic fluency, with the same modern stack (Next.js, Sanity or Strapi, CDN deployment). WordPress multilingual suits a small firm, rarely a group that publishes investor news approved by legal.
Editorial workflow, the deciding factor for a group
A group publishes press releases, tenders, job offers and product sheets. Each piece goes through three steps: drafting in French, translation into English and Arabic, then approval by communications and legal. A headless CMS (Sanity, Strapi, Directus) can block publication until all three languages are approved, keep version history and schedule simultaneous release.
Put these in your requirements: distinct roles (writer, translator, approver), RTL preview before publishing, alerts when one language lags behind, and content export for archiving.
Mini case study
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Nadia, communications director of an engineering group in Montreal with projects in Algeria and Qatar, compares two quotes. The first, at CAD 52,000, relies on machine translation reviewed in-house. The second, at CAD 78,000, includes professional translation of 50 pages at CAD 260 per page (CAD 13,000) and an approval workflow. Her team estimates in-house review of the first option at 120 hours of senior staff time at CAD 95 per hour, or CAD 11,400, with a risk of errors on technical sheets. The real gap drops to CAD 14,600 for a site the group will keep five years, about CAD 245 per month. She picks the second quote.
FAQ
How much does the Arabic version of a corporate site cost in Montreal?
Budget 20 to 35% of the total, so CAD 9,000 to 42,000 on a CAD 45,000 to 120,000 project. That covers translation, RTL integration and testing every template.
Which CMS works best for a FR/EN/AR site?
A headless CMS like Sanity or Strapi handles per-language fields and approval workflows natively. WordPress with WPML is workable under 30 pages but becomes fragile beyond that.
Does Bill 96 affect a trilingual site?
Yes. French content must be available and at least as prominent as other languages for a Quebec business. Fines for non-compliance range from CAD 3,000 to 30,000 per day for companies.
What timeline should we plan?
Twelve to 18 weeks with a local agency, including 3 to 4 weeks of translation and proofreading. Translation should start as soon as French content is approved, not after development.
Is machine translation enough?
For corporate pages, reviewed machine translation can work. For technical sheets and financial releases, professional translation at CAD 0.20 to 0.30 per word avoids costly mistakes.
Let's scope your project. Send us your sitemap, target languages and approval chain, and we will price the architecture, translation and timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
