This article focuses on surtitling in francophone theatres of Western Canada in order to illustrate how this translation modality distinguishes itself in the field of audio-visual translation. Theatre being a living art, surtitles must adapt to the instable nature of the source text delivered on stage and take into account the various linguistic profiles of the audience. Adopted by Franco-Canadian theatres, surtitling offers many advantages to companies working in a minority language as it renders the production accessible to a larger audience while retaining its linguistic and aesthetic specificity. However, since it imposes a cohabitation of the source and target languages in a space traditionally dedicated to promote and defend francophone cultural products, this translation mode can be prejudicial to the vocation of francophone theatre companies in a minority context. Now firmly established in Franco-Canadian theatres, surtitles remain absent in anglophone theatres thus underlining the asymmetry between the official languages of Canada.