Google rolled Core Web Vitals into ranking signals years ago. In 2026, page speed is no longer a polish item — it’s a prerequisite. For Quebec local businesses competing for Google.ca rankings, the difference between a 1-second page and a 4-second page is measurable in lost ranking positions.
What page speed actually measures
Google measures three Core Web Vitals:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): how fast the biggest content element loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds.
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): how fast the page responds to user input. Target: under 200ms.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): how much the page jumps around as it loads. Target: under 0.1.
Lighthouse mobile scores in the 90s typically mean you’re passing all three.
Why Quebec local SEO penalises slow sites more
Two reasons:
- Quebec local searches happen disproportionately on mobile (~70% of local-intent queries). Mobile networks are slower than desktop. Slow sites compound the problem.
- Quebec users on Google.ca routinely have multiple equivalent local options in results. If your site loads in 4 seconds while a competitor’s loads in 1.5, you lose the click — and Google notices.
What kills page speed (in our audits)
- Page builders. Elementor + Divi sites carry hundreds of KB of CSS/JS that runs on every page, whether needed or not.
- Unoptimised images. Sending 2MB JPEGs when 200KB WebPs would do.
- Render-blocking JavaScript. Loading scripts in the <head> that delay first paint.
- Too many fonts. Loading 4 Google Fonts when 2 self-hosted would do.
- Heavy plugins. Slider revolution, popup makers, chat widgets — each one adds load.
What we do differently
Our custom block themes ship with the minimum code needed — typically under 100KB total per page. Images are converted to WebP and lazy-loaded. JavaScript is deferred. Fonts are self-hosted and subset. The result: Lighthouse mobile scores in the 90s by default, and Quebec local rankings that compound over time instead of fighting against ranking weight.
If your current site scores under 70 on mobile Lighthouse, your local SEO is paying a tax you don’t need to pay. Talk to us about a technical SEO audit — fixing speed is one of the highest-ROI moves a Quebec business can make.