Since June 30, 2010, a series of amendments to the Consumer Protection Act has resulted in important obligations for retailers.

In summary, these amendments are of two types. First, Bill 60 sets out the general rules. Second, exemptions and specific rules are set out in detail in a regulation ensuing from this Act.

Documents are available to help you better understand the new provisions. Besides the text of Bill 60 and the regulation, the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) has prepared a number of “lettres d’affaires,” which you can access by following this link. In addition, you will find here the presentation made by the OPC during a seminar on Bill 60 organized by the CQCD on July 7, 2010.

The amendments to the law pertain to the following four elements:

• Prepaid cards, including gift cards
• Additional warranties
• Price indications
• Contracts involving sequential performance for a service provided at a distance

In an effort to inform you adequately about these important changes, the CQCD invites you to familiarize yourself with these provisions by reading the following notice and clicking on the links provided.

Prepaid cards
Main change: no more expiry dates for prepaid cards. Quite simply, expiry dates no longer exist, with certain exceptions.

What is a prepaid card under the Act? A certificate, card or other medium of exchange that is paid in advance and allows the consumer to acquire goods or services. Gift cards and gift certificates come under this definition, but not if they are offered free of charge.

Other important changes also apply. With certain exceptions, it is no longer permitted to charge the consumer for the issue or use of a prepaid card. The retailer must, when the consumer so requests, refund the balance on the card to the consumer when that balance is $5 or less. Furthermore, the retailer must inform the consumer of the conditions of use of the card and explain how to check the card balance. Other provisions apply depending on the type of card, including those associated with a specific service or those that may be used with different retailers, for example, in the same shopping centre (multi-store cards).

For more information, consult the OPC’s “lettre d’affaires” – “Les cartes prépayées : de nouvelles règles à respecter”.

Additional warranties (also known as extended warranties)
If you offer to sell this type of warranty on certain goods, you have a strict obligation, under the Act, to disclose certain information to the consumer. This information must pertain to the legal warranty and the manufacturer’s warranty.

For the legal warranty, the merchant must inform the consumer orally and in writing BEFORE proposing the purchase of this warranty. The following text MUST BE READ to the consumer: “The law provides a warranty on the goods you purchase or lease: they must be usable for normal use for a reasonable length of time”. The merchant must also provide the consumer with a notice in paper form in the specific format prescribed by the regulation, which you will find on the OPC’s site.

For the manufacturer’s warranty, the retailer has only a verbal obligation. He must inform the consumer of the existence and the duration of the manufacturer’s warranty that comes with the goods. At the consumer’s request, the retailer must also explain to the consumer orally how to examine all the other elements of the warranty. Other rules apply to the sale of an additional warranty at a distance, whether by Internet, by telephone or by mail.

Finally, this mandatory disclosure of information has an important consequence. Any retailer who does not comply with it IS DEEMED TO HAVE FAILED TO MENTION AN IMPORTANT FACT and is thus exposed to various legal proceedings.

Indication of prices
The Act includes details on how prices must be displayed, in advertising, on in-store signs, or elsewhere. The first principle: The price advertised must be the price billed to the consumer. The second principle: This price must include the total of the amounts to be paid by the consumer. The third principle:  More emphasis must be put on the price advertised than on the amounts that make up that price.

The only amounts that may be excluded from the price advertised are fees payable under a provincial or federal statute that must be collected directly from the consumer and paid to a public authority, for example the GST, the QST and environmental fees on tires.

An important clarification concerning the display of environmental fees: Nothing prevents a merchant from specifying that the price advertised includes environmental fees, as long as the merchant complies with the three principles mentioned above.

Essentially, the changes to the Act pertain to the information that must appear in the contracts (in particular the clauses concerning renewal, cancellation, unilateral amendment or repair of goods necessary for the use of the services, and the clauses pertaining to the consumer’s deposit).

Finally, it is important to distinguish between contracts for a service provided at a distance and distance contracts, for which the consumer and the merchant are not in one another’s presence when the contract is entered into (e.g. via Internet or telephone).

For more information, consult the OPC’s “lettre d’affaires” – “De nouvelles règles relatives aux contrats à exécution successive de service fourni à distance”.

For more than 30 years, the CQCD, the undeniable leader of the retail sector, has carried out its mission to represent, promote and enhance the image of the sector in Quebec and to develop ways to foster the advancement of its members. The CQCD represents 70% of retailers in the sector. With $94 billion in retail sales in 2009, it employs one Quebec worker in five, for a total of 420,000 jobs.

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For more information: 

Me Françoise Pâquet
Director of Government Relations
Conseil québécoi du commerce de détail
514-842-6681, ext. 208

Jocelyn Desjardins
Director of Communications,
Marketing and Membership
Conseil québécois du commerce de détail
514-842-6681, ext. 200