Please note that this page is no longer updated as the pandemic situation evolves and businesses reopen.
If you have any questions about your rights as a consumer, you can consult our Information & Advice page or contact us via our Legal Information Service.
Seniors
Non-repayment of loans is a form of elder abuse.
To protect yourself, it's important to have a document signed confirming the amount of a loan made to a close friend or family member. This document should include the lender's name, the borrower's name, the date of the loan, the amount loaned, the start date of repayment, how the amount will be repaid (monthly instalments, etc.) and the interest rate, if applicable.
If the document is drawn up on paper, it is important that both parties sign it. If it's done electronically, an e-mail must confirm acceptance of the loan conditions.
With a written agreement, you'll have proof that a loan was indeed made. This proof is important when it comes to asserting your rights. Note that this approach applies not only to seniors, but also to any loan between relatives.
Then, if you have trouble getting your money back, you can take legal action in Small Claims Court or Civil Court, depending on the size of the loan. Option consommateurs or an ACEF (Association coopérative d'économie familiale) can explain how to assert your rights during the legal process.
However, lending money to a loved one is a last resort. You can invite your loved one in difficulty to contact us or their local ACEF.
Personal finance and credit
It all depends on your creditor's policy. In general, he or she is not obliged to grant a payment agreement.
On the other hand, some organizations have taken special measures to alleviate the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their customers. These measures will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
We therefore invite consumers to contact their financial institution directly to find out what its policy is and whether an agreement can be reached.
In addition, the federal government announced new measures to support workers financially.
Yes, but under certain conditions. Credit card holders can obtain a reduced interest rate on their credit card if they meet certain criteria. For example, the consumer must not have more than two late payments.
This is an attractive option for those who qualify. It allows them to obtain a lower interest rate than the regular rate, in return for an annual contribution.
We also ask financial institutions that have the option, in their credit card agreement, NOT to increase interest rates (e.g. 19.99% to 24.99%) when there are two or more late payments.
Financial institutions have also announced relief measures. You can contact your financial institution to negotiate an agreement.
Option consommateurs is also on hand in these times of crisis to answer your questions and help you manage your budget.
You can call us at 514 598-7288 or e-mail us at [email protected].
If you're having trouble making your payments, we urge you not to be tempted by lenders offering expensive credit (22% annual interest rate or more) who will try to take advantage of the situation.
It's a solution that may seem tempting in the short term, but you'll be paying the price for years to come.
These companies must be licensed by the Office de la protection du consommateur in order to operate. Consult this page to check whether the lender has the required permit:
https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/se-renseigner/
You should also know that annual interest rates higher than 60%, known as usurious rates, are prohibited under the Criminal Code.
We believe that payment exemptions should not result in a negative credit report, as they are mutually agreed upon by you and your financial institution.
However, it is preferable to obtain a commitment from your financial institution to this effect, and to consult your credit file regularly to ensure that no unfavorable mention has been made. To do this, you can access your credit file free of charge on the Internet at Equifax and TransUnion.
It is possible that the computer systems of a financial institution, if they have not been updated, will automatically report to the credit agency that you have defaulted.
If you notice a negative entry on your credit report, file a complaint with your financial institution.
You can also contact the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to have it corrected.
The first piece of advice we can give you is not to panic and, above all, not to make any hasty decisions.
You should also avoid listening to the opinions of unqualified people, i.e. people who are not financial advice professionals and who have neither the qualifications nor the skills to give an opinion on your personal situation.
Remember that the current crisis is of indefinite duration and should not be the sole reason for making changes to your portfolio. It's also important to remember that you're not going to withdraw all your savings on Day 1 of your retirement.
If you deal with a certified financial services advisor, don't hesitate to contact him or her to review your situation and share your concerns.
Together, you can review the decisions you made before the pandemic, based on your personal and financial situation and your investor profile. He or she will then be able to tell you if any adjustments are necessary.
Informing and reassuring you is part of your advisor's role, as is explaining complex concepts, helping you to stay focused on your projects and guiding you towards the decisions that suit you best.
Make sure the person giving you advice is registered with the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Find out more about the role of your financial services advisor.
In collaboration with 
Withdrawing your investments may not be the right solution. It could even jeopardize your savings goals, such as your medium- or long-term retirement plans.
Since every situation is unique and requires a personalized analysis, first contact a certified financial services advisor to take stock of your personal and financial situation. Together, you can analyze your situation and consider the solutions best suited to your needs.
For example, you may be eligible for one of the government measures designed to help people who have lost their job or income.
Informing you, reassuring you and taking stock of possible solutions is also part of your advisor's role, as is explaining complex concepts, helping you stay focused on your objectives and guiding you towards the decisions that are right for you.
In collaboration with
Yes, an emergency fund helps reduce the risk of running out of cash due to a financial contingency. An emergency fund is an amount of money that you save in case of job loss or an unplanned expense, for example. It helps you avoid going into debt or being unable to meet your financial obligations.
It is generally recommended to save the equivalent of three to six months' worth of regular expenses. The emergency fund should not be used for other purposes, such as buying a car. Don't hesitate to talk to your financial services advisor, who will help you establish a realistic amount for your situation.
It's important to make sure you can access your emergency fund quickly in case of need. For example, this fund could be in a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), a savings account or a chequing account. We recommend that this account be separate from the one you use for your regular transactions.
For more information on the emergency fund, please visit the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada website.
In collaboration with
Fraud
Do not click on the link or call the number provided in a text or voice message. If it's a recorded message, don't press the keys you're asked to press (for example, don't press 1).
Don't give out personal information such as your name, address, date of birth or social insurance number.
Do not provide your credit card number or bank details.
If you think these organizations want to reach you, look up their official contact details on the Internet and contact them to check whether the call is really coming from them.
For more tips, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Don't buy vaccines or treatments sold online or over the phone. They are potentially counterfeit or unapproved. The only safe and effective vaccines are available from public health clinics.
For more information on vaccines approved in Canada, please refer to the following link: https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-publique/services/maladies/maladie-coronavirus-covid-19/vaccins.html
In addition, if you have received a similar call or have information about unapproved or counterfeit vaccines, please forward it to Health Canada: https://canadiensensante.gc.ca/apps/radar/MD-IM-0006.08.html
No. Only health care providers can test for COVID-19. There is currently no other test on the market that guarantees valid results. If you wish to obtain a rapid test, please contact the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) or go to a screening clinic.
If you receive this type of call or any other fraudulent communication, we recommend that you report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-fra.htm
Don't make any hasty decisions, and be extra vigilant if you receive a tempting investment offer or one promising high returns.
Avoid taking the advice of unqualified people, i.e. people who are not professional financial advisors and who have neither the qualifications nor the skills to propose a strategy that will suit your needs.
Before proceeding, don't hesitate to contact a certified financial services advisor. He or she will conduct a rigorous analysis to determine whether the proposal is right for your personal and financial situation.
Numerous frauds have been reported in connection with COVID-19. Fraudsters compete in imagination, but the objective is always the same: to take your savings.
Make sure that the person who contacted you is registered with the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Find out more about the role of your financial services advisor.
In collaboration with
Commercial practices
For example, if you bought a 30-day membership for $30, and the gym was closed as of the 7th day of the month, you'll have to pay $7, as the facilities were accessible for 7 days out of 30. When the gym reopens, the membership can resume with the remaining $23.
To compensate for the period during which services were unavailable, your gym may offer to renew your subscription for a period equivalent to the closure period. If this offer is acceptable to you, you can accept it.
However, you should be aware that the Consumer Protection Act stipulates that such contracts may not exceed one year in duration, and prohibits automatic renewal. We therefore suggest that you insist on a refund for services not rendered if you do not wish to extend your subscription.
Also, as the gyms were closed during the containment, they had to suspend the subscription as well as the direct debits. As soon as they reopen, the subscription must resume where it had been suspended. In other words, if there were three months left on the subscription, you would be entitled to use those three months at the contracted rate.
However, if your subscription was taken out after the start of the pandemic, the health measures cannot be considered force majeure, as they were not unforeseeable. In this case, the merchant may have included clauses obliging you to postpone the lost weeks, up to a maximum of 1 year.
Yes, you can cancel your subscription.
If you cancel your subscription before the start of the service or within one tenth of the subscription period from the start of the service, the merchant may only demand payment equivalent to one tenth of the total contract price.
If you wish to terminate the contract once this period has passed, the merchant will be entitled to claim payment for the services provided, as well as an additional payment if he is able to demonstrate the damage caused by the cancellation. The merchant will also be obliged to reimburse you for any payments made in advance.
The merchant will have 10 days from the date the cancellation form is sent to refund the sums due.
If you do not receive the goods ordered on the Internet within 30 days of the agreed delivery date (or 30 days after the date of purchase if no delivery date is specified in the contract), you may cancel your contract.
However, you must request cancellation before you receive the goods. For example, if you have not yet requested cancellation and you receive the goods 35 days after the scheduled date, you can no longer request cancellation, even if the 30 days have passed.
To cancel, you must notify the merchant, who will then have 15 days to refund all amounts paid, including taxes, insurance and delivery charges.
If the merchant refuses, you will then have 60 days to contact your credit card issuer to request a chargeback. This request must be made in writing and contain all the information required by law.
Please note! These rules don't apply to goods likely to spoil quickly, such as flowers or fresh produce (fruit, meat, etc.). This means that if your delivery problem involves a grocery store, your recourse may be more limited.
If your credit card is being debited and the merchant refuses to stop, the Consumer Protection Act states that you can contact your card issuer to stop the payments.
All you have to do is send him a copy of the notice sent to the merchant where you are requesting the refund. Your card issuer then has no reason to reject your request. If your card issuer refuses, you can file a complaint with the Office de la protection du consommateur (consumer protection office) and pursue your recourse through the courts, such as small claims court.
If the debits are made directly from a bank account, you will need to provide your financial institution with proof that the debits are no longer authorized and that you have revoked your agreement with the merchant. For example, you'll need to send a copy of the letter or e-mail you sent to the merchant requesting that payments be stopped.
If the debits continue, or if your financial institution charges you a fee to stop the payment, you can invoke Payments Canada's H1 rule to obtain a refund. This rule stipulates, among other things, that a financial institution must reimburse you for an unauthorized debit, free of charge. Please note: you must make this request within 90 days of the unauthorized debit.
If your financial institution refuses to apply this rule, before turning to the courts, you can appeal to your financial institution's Ombudsman.
If the business is temporarily closed and you don't have an exchange or refund policy, you can negotiate with the merchant or contact a merchant in the same banner to see if they can use your prepaid card.
If the business has gone bankrupt, it must repay all its debts in order of priority. If the prepaid card amount is substantial, customers are advised to consult a lawyer. Otherwise, you can contact the trustee of the bankrupt business.
Please refer to this site to find out if the business has indeed gone bankrupt and to find the trustee representing it: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-osb.nsf/fra/accueil
If the venue owner cancels your reception, or if a service provider (caterer, florist, DJ, etc.) is unable to provide its services due to the preventive measures issued by the government to combat COVID-19, this constitutes a force majeure that completely releases them from their obligations. Merchants must then reimburse you.
If you want to keep the same concept, but postpone the wedding, you can enter into new contracts with suppliers, but this may mean higher costs, particularly due to inflation and the cost of sanitary measures. On the other hand, no merchant can force you to postpone your wedding and assume higher costs.
If it's possible to hold your event within certain guidelines, but you want to cancel because sanitary measures are preventing you from living out your dream day as imagined, your rights may vary depending on the type of contract you've signed.
If you have rented a hall or grounds for your outdoor wedding, and have entered into separate contracts for other services (music, flowers, catering, etc.), the rental of a hall or grounds constitutes a rental of real estate.he rental of a hall or grounds constitutes a rental of real estate. The merchant is entitled to keep the deposit you have paid as a penalty, if such a clause is included in the contract.
It's important to be aware of this before cancelling events far enough in the future that it's reasonable to assume that the crisis may have passed. For example, if you cancel your winter wedding today, the landlord may keep your deposit.
Other contracts, on the other hand, are service contracts, and these merchants are not entitled to charge you a penalty or keep your deposit. However, they are entitled to claim the damages you have caused them by breaking your commitment to them, and they can turn to the courts to enforce their claim.
If the room and other services are provided entirely by a single merchant. We tend to think of this contract as more akin to a service contract than a building lease. So, whether there is a crisis or not, no fees or penalties can be imposed for terminating these services. However, the merchant retains the right to claim damages from you.
Finally, if, because of the pandemic and health measures, you or the merchant wish to cancel or postpone the event, this situation will not be considered a force majeure if you made these commitments after the crisis began. Force majeure must be unforeseeable. In this case, a clause in the contract could oblige you to postpone the event or assume additional costs.
Yes, any new dates proposed can be accepted or refused by the consumer. In principle, merchants must reimburse you for a show cancelled on the original date, unless the contract contains a valid force majeure clause.
If the retailer refuses to reimburse you on the grounds that he has proposed a new date for the event, you can send him a formal notice.
If the merchant does not reimburse you within 15 days of canceling the purchase, you can benefit from chargeback by asking your credit card issuer. You will then have 60 days to request a chargeback.
Please refer to the following site for information on how to submit a chargeback request: https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/consommateur/sujet/achat/internet/annulation/remboursement/
In the event of theft in front of the door, the goods are always the responsibility of the retailer.
The merchant is obliged to guarantee delivery of the goods. In the event of theft, you can cancel the order and obtain a refund. These remedies are valid even if the delivery company sends you a photo of the parcel at destination.. The only exception where the retailer is not liable for theft is when he has specifically asked your permission to leave the parcel at the door even in your absence.
If the refund is not made within the statutory period and you have paid by credit card, you can use the chargeback procedure to obtain a refund.
Yes, even though the Currency Act gives cash the status of "legal tender", a merchant can choose by contract to exclude cash payments by, for example, posting a clear sign in his establishment.
We also believe that there are other ways to protect against the coronavirus qthan refusing cash payments outright. The retailer could, for example, set up a checkout with a gloved employee to handle exceptional cases of cash payment. He could also provide prepaid cards.
In this way, we can prevent people who depend on cash from finding themselves in a difficult situation where they are unable to purchase essential goods. We're thinking in particular of the elderly or people on low incomes.
Travel and accommodation
Following the agreements reached between the federal government and Air Transat and Air Canada, you must first ask your travel agency to apply for a refund.
If they refuse to do so, we suggest you contact Air Canada, Air Transat, or Sunwing, depending on your situation, and file your claim with them.
If you are unable to obtain your refund and a Canadian government warning was in effect 72 hours or less prior to departure, you may file a claim with the Fonds d'indemnisation des clients des agents de voyages (FICAV). This service is free if your travel agency is licensed by the Office de la protection du consommateur.
If the refund from Air Transat or Air Canada covers only a portion of your trip (for example, it only covers your airline tickets, even though you purchased a week's all-inclusive package), you can file a claim with FICAV for the unreimbursed portion of your trip.
Please refer to the following website for information on how to contact FICAV: https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/consommateur/bien-service/voyage/fonds-indemnisation/demarche/
See our dedicated page on consumer remedies for flight and travel cancellations due to the pandemic: https://option-consommateurs.org/covid-19-recours-possibles-pour-les-consommateurs-lors-de-lannulation-dun-vol-ou-un-voyage/
It all depends on the circumstances. Every reservation contract is different, so each contract must be analyzed individually. It is advisable to carefully read and consider the cancellation scenarios in the contract before agreeing to the rental terms.
As a general rule, if the merchant is able to provide the service and the cancellation is the result of your choice or impediment, you will be liable for certain penalties.
With deconfinement, there is no longer a ban on travel between regions in Quebec. Therefore, if you decide to cancel your reservation, you will no longer be able to invoke force majeure. A cancellation penalty may apply. This can be determined in advance in your rental contract.