Branding Questionnaire Template (Canada)
Updated on August 22, 2026
A branding questionnaire is the intake document a designer, agency or freelancer sends before starting work on a brand. Its job is to turn a vague brief into decisions: who the business serves, what it wants to be known for, who it competes with, what it must not look like, what the deliverables are and who signs off. A good one prevents most of the revision rounds that destroy the margin on brand projects.
The source template has strong demand and a strange problem: the page never shows the questions. Its copy explains which builder widgets the form uses, its own PDF link is broken, and the whole description was pasted into the meta description at nearly a thousand characters. This version publishes the full question set and adds three things Canadian intake forms usually skip — whether the client holds the rights to the fonts and images they are handing over, a trade mark check before anyone commits to a name, and the bilingual question that decides half the design decisions in this market.
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Branding Questionnaire
Completed by for on . The answers here become the agreed brief for the project. Where you do not know an answer, say so rather than guessing — an honest gap is more useful than a placeholder.
1. Business Basics
- Operating name:
- Legal entity name:
- Jurisdiction of incorporation:
- Main contact and role:
- Stage of business:
- Provinces and markets served:
What the business actually sells:
2. Language and Bilingual Scope
- Languages the brand must work in:
- Quebec language requirements:
- Name checked in French:
3. Audience
- Buys today:
- Should buy tomorrow:
- Influences the purchase:
- Deliberately not for:
4. Positioning
The promise, in one sentence:
Why anyone should believe it:
- Words to own:
- Words and claims to avoid:
5. Competitors and References
- Competes with:
- Brands admired, and why:
- Must not be mistaken for:
- Tried and rejected before:
6. Visual Direction and Constraints
- Existing assets:
- Colour notes:
- Tone of voice:
- Smallest use:
- Toughest application:
Digital accessibility or contrast requirements constraining the palette:
7. Deliverables and Practicalities
- Deliverables required:
- Formats and systems:
- Launch or deadline:
- Budget range:
- Spend already committed:
8. Rights and Materials
- Font licences held:
- Image and illustration licences:
- What the client expects to own:
Ownership of the finished design is dealt with in the services agreement, not in this questionnaire. Any assignment of copyright has to be in writing and signed, and moral rights can only be waived rather than assigned. Nothing here transfers any rights.
9. Approvals
- Signs off:
- Revision rounds included:
- Others who must see the work:
Anything else we should know:
Completed for the client by
Date:
Questions that produce decisions
Clients answer "what feeling should the brand have?" with words that mean nothing to a design decision. The useful questions are comparative and exclusionary: which three brands in any industry do you admire and why; which competitor must you not be mistaken for; what has been tried and rejected; what must appear on the packaging by law; where will the logo be smallest.
This questionnaire is organised to end in decisions — business and audience, positioning and competitors, visual direction and constraints, deliverables and practicalities, and approvals. The approvals section matters more than it looks: a project with three unnamed decision-makers is a project with unlimited revisions.
Bilingual by design, not by retrofit
In Canada the language question is a design constraint, not an afterthought. A wordmark that works in English may be awkward or meaningless in French; a tagline may not survive translation; packaging often has to carry both languages in the same space; and in Quebec there are specific requirements about French on products and in commercial publications.
So this questionnaire asks up front whether the brand needs to work in both languages, whether the name has been checked in French, how much of the packaging is bilingual, and whether Quebec-specific requirements apply. Answering that at intake changes the shape of the identity; discovering it at artwork stage changes the budget.
Rights in the inputs, and in the outputs
Two rights questions belong in intake. Inputs: does the client hold the rights to the photographs, fonts, illustrations and existing marks they are handing over? Font licences routinely separate desktop, web, app and logo use, and stock image licences often exclude use inside a mark.
Outputs: under the Copyright Act the author is the first owner, and an assignment is not valid unless it is in writing signed by the owner. Since the 2012 amendments photographs have no special rule either, so the photographer owns commissioned images unless the contract says otherwise. Moral rights add a second layer — they cannot be assigned in Canada but can be waived, which matters when a client wants to crop, recolour or extend a mark later. The questionnaire asks what the client expects to own and when, so the services contract can match it.
Check the name — corporate registration is not a trade mark
If naming is in scope, a clearance question belongs in intake. A name that collides with an existing registration in the same goods or services is a name the client will eventually abandon, usually after signage and packaging.
The Canadian trap is the corporate register. Incorporating federally or provincially under a name, or reserving it through a NUANS-style search, is not the same as holding trade mark rights, and a corporate name can still infringe someone else's registered mark. The questionnaire asks about both registers plus domains, handles and the markets and languages the name has to work in. It is a prompt to get a proper clearance search — the questionnaire is not one.
What each section covers
- Business basics
- Operating and legal name, jurisdiction of incorporation, what the business sells, stage and markets.
- Audience
- Who buys, who influences the purchase, and who the brand is deliberately not for.
- Positioning
- The one-sentence promise, the reason to believe it, and words to own and avoid.
- Language and bilingual scope
- Whether the brand must work in English and French, and whether Quebec requirements apply.
- Competitors and references
- Who they compete with, who they admire, and who they must not resemble.
- Visual direction and constraints
- Existing assets, colours, tone, and the smallest and roughest applications.
- Naming and clearance
- Optional. Whether a name is in scope, what searching has been done, and which markets and languages matter.
- Rebrand specifics
- Optional. Equity to preserve, stock and signage in use, and how the change is communicated.
- Deliverables and practicalities
- Deliverable list, launch date, budget range, committed spend and formats needed.
- Rights and materials
- Licences held in supplied assets, and what the client expects to own and when.
- Approvals
- Who decides, how many revision rounds are included and how sign-off is recorded.
Practical and legal points for Canadian brand projects
Check the client's licences for supplied material
Font licences commonly separate desktop, web, app and logo use, and stock image licences often exclude use within a trade mark. Ask for the licence terms rather than assuming the client checked.
Put the transfer of design ownership in the contract, in writing
An assignment of copyright is not valid unless in writing signed by the owner, and photographs have had no special rule since 2012. If the client is to own the identity, the services contract needs that assignment.
Copyright Act, s.13Deal with moral rights by waiver
Moral rights cannot be assigned in Canada but may be waived. If the client will crop, recolour or extend the identity, the contract needs a waiver of defined scope.
Search the trade mark register before committing to a name
A clearance search across the relevant goods and services is cheaper than rebranding after launch. Check each market and both languages where relevant.
Canadian Trademarks DatabaseDo not treat incorporation as trade mark rights
A corporate or business name registration is not a trade mark and does not prevent a registered owner from objecting. Both registers need checking.
Ask about French and Quebec requirements early
Bilingual packaging and Quebec language requirements for products and commercial publications constrain layout and copy. Surface them at intake rather than at artwork stage.
Agree contrast expectations for digital work
If the identity will be used in a website or app subject to accessibility standards, the palette must work at the required contrast.
How to use this questionnaire
- Send it before the kick-off call. Let the client answer in writing first so the call is spent on the interesting disagreements.
- Turn on the sections you need. Switch on naming, rebrand, packaging, bilingual or accessibility depending on the project.
- Settle the language question. Confirm whether the identity must work in English and French, and whether Quebec requirements apply.
- Resolve rights and clearance. Check the client's licences in supplied assets and flag any unsearched name before design starts.
- Confirm approvals. Get the named approver, the rounds included and the sign-off method agreed in writing.
- Attach it to the contract. Download the DOCX or PDF and attach the completed questionnaire to your services agreement as the agreed brief.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a branding questionnaire be?
Long enough to reach decisions and short enough to be finished. Around forty questions, grouped so a client can answer a section at a time, is the practical range. This version uses optional sections so a logo-only project is not asked packaging and naming questions.
Why is the bilingual question so important in Canada?
Because it changes design decisions rather than just copy. A wordmark that reads well in English may not in French, taglines rarely survive translation intact, bilingual packaging competes for the same space, and Quebec has specific requirements for French on products and in commercial publications. Answering it at intake is cheap; discovering it at artwork stage is not.
Who owns the logo when the project is finished?
In Canada the designer generally owns copyright as author unless they are an employee, and an assignment is not valid unless it is in writing signed by the owner. Paying the invoice does not transfer it. The questionnaire asks what the client expects so the services contract can contain the right assignment and, where needed, a moral-rights waiver.
Does incorporating under a name protect the brand?
No. A corporate or business name registration is not a trade mark and gives no right to use the name as a brand against a registered owner. The registers are separate and both need checking, which is why the questionnaire asks about both.
Does this questionnaire replace a design contract?
No. It is the brief, not the agreement. It captures what the client wants and what constrains it; the services contract covers fees, stages, ownership, moral rights, revisions, termination and liability. Attach the completed questionnaire so both documents describe the same project.
What should I do if the client's chosen name looks risky?
Say so in writing and ask them to get a clearance search before you build the identity around it. You are not giving a legal opinion; you are flagging that a collision in the same goods or services can force a rebrand after signage and packaging are printed.
What about fonts?
Ask for the licence every time. Font licences routinely distinguish desktop use from web, app and logo use, and a licence covering the client's studio may not cover embedding in their product or using a glyph inside a mark — and accented French characters are a common gap in cheaper licences.
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Disclaimer
This questionnaire and guide are general information about Canadian practice, not legal, trade mark, language-compliance or accessibility advice, and nobody has reviewed your project. A clearance search and a written services agreement are separate steps this document only prompts.
