Useful links

You'll find all the information you need on theOffice de la protection du consommateur website:

• Price accuracy
• Misleading advertising
• Contracts
• Mandatory legal warranty, etc.

Reporting to the Quebec Minister of Justice, this public organization's main mandate is to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations under its responsibility, including the Consumer Protection Act.

It is the only body authorized to receive complaints from consumers in its areas of competence, and to record offences committed by merchants and consumer complaints in an information bank that can be used to draw up a profile of a merchant.

The Canadian Consumer Information Gatewaysection of Industry Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs, may be of use to you. Among other things, you'll find the indispensable Canadian Consumer Handbook.

Visit the Réseau de protection du consommateur website.

Visit Arrondissement.com to find out more about all the players and citizens of Montréal.

Go to the Drugs and Health Products section of the Health Canada website..

Cosmetics, toys, tools, utensils, furniture, treated wood or pesticides, for example. Go to the Consumer Product Safety section of the Health Canada website..

Visit the Food and Nutrition section of Health Canada's website for general information, orHealth Canada's Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for lists of food recalls and allergy alerts.

Genetically modified organism, living modified organism, "transgenic" organism... to find your way around, we suggest you consult the Health Canada glossary or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations glossary, Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture.

Specific information on food labeling can be found in the 2003 Guide to Food Labeling and Advertising, and more specifically on GMO labeling in Quebec at ogm.gouv.qc.ca.

For information on life and health insurance products and services, visit theOmbudsman for Life and Health Insurance website.

TheCanadian Life and Health Insurance Association publishes guides on life and health insurance and financial planning tools.

TheAutorité des marchés financiers can be another source of information.

Visit infoassurance.ca, or pick up the guides Tout connaître sur l'assurance automobile and Tout connaître sur l'assurance habitation, produced by Option consommateurs in collaboration with IBC.

IBC's Insurance Information Centre will help you if you have a dispute with your property and casualty insurer.

TheAutomobile Protection Association (APA) will be happy to inform you.

On theAssociation du transport urbain du Québec (ATUQ) website, you'll find links to the 9 main public transit systems in Quebec.

The Société de transport de Montréal website also listsother public transit systems. You can make comments or lodge complaints with the customer service department of the company concerned.

Visit theCanadian Transportation Agency (CTA) website. You'll find all the information you need to file a complaint, depending on the mode of transportation in question.

It also coverstransport accessibility for the disabled.

In the Residential Customers section of the Hydro-Québec website, you'll find tools and programs to help you save electricity, as well as instructions on how to file a complaint.

If you have a natural gas bill, visit the Gaz Métro website.

As a last resort, you can file a complaint with the Régie de l'énergie.

The Competition Bureau Canada, whose role is to promote and maintain fair competition so that Canadians benefit from low prices and a choice of quality products and services, has a section on gasoline prices on its website.

On the Régie du logement website, you'll find information on your rights and obligations as a tenant. The Régie du logement is a specialized tribunal with jurisdiction over residential leases.

You can also contact your local housing committee. You'll find the list on the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) website.

You can also consult this JuridiQc page, which focuses on the various stages in a tenant's journey, from finding accommodation to leaving it. : https://juridiqc.gouv.qc.ca/etre-locataire/

Housing committees are organizations that defend and promote tenants' rights. To find out which housing committee is closest to you, contact :

• The Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ)
• The Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU).

Visit theAssociation des consommateurs pour la qualité dans la construction (ACQC) website.

Our guide Basic Financial Services at a Glance you'll discover how to choose and use the various tools associated with your bank account.

On theOmbudsman for Banking Services and Investments andCanadian Bankers Association websites, you'll find a list of Ombudsmen for each of the banks operating in Canada, as well as information pages on banking, financial and investment services.

TheAutorité des marchés financiers website provides information on financial institutions under provincial jurisdiction, such as caisses populaires. Customers of a Desjardins caisse populaire can contact the Desjardins Group Ombudsman's Office.

We suggest you read our guide Deposit insurance: Protecting your savings. Produced in collaboration with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, this brochure explains the role of deposit insurance, what deposits are insured and what you need to do in the event of a merger or bankruptcy of your financial institution.

TheAutorité des marchés financiers can provide information on deposit-taking institutions under provincial jurisdiction.

Visit the Credit Cards page on the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada website.

When it comes to finance:

• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)
• Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
• Chambre de la sécurité financière
• Autorité des marchés financiers

To receive a copy of your credit file, you can request one from one of the two credit bureaus.

Don't forget to enclose photocopies of two pieces of identification with your letter of application, at least one of which must be from list A.

List of identification documents

• List A
  Social insurance
  Health insurance
  Driver's license
  Canadian passport

• List B
  Telephone account
  Electricity account
  Cable account
  Bank statement

If you've moved within the last 90 days, you'll need to include confirmation of your current address (utility bill, bank statement, driver's license, etc.).

Addresses of credit-reporting agencies and credit bureaus

Equifax Canada

National Consumer Relations Division
P.O. Box 190, Jean-Talon Station
Montreal, Quebec H1S 2Z2
Telephone (toll-free): 1 800 465-7166
Fax: (514) 355-8502
E-mail: [email protected]

TransUnion Canada

Consumer Relations Center
3115 Harvester Rd,
Suite 201 Burlington ON L7N3N8
Telephone (toll-free): 1-877-713-3393
Montreal: 1-514-335-0374

We suggest you read our guide to identity theft. You'll learn how to protect your information and what to do in the event of identity theft.

The mission of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is to defend the privacy rights of Canadians. It examines citizens' complaints about federal institutions, and monitors the application of Canada's two privacy laws.

In Quebec, the Commission d'accès à l'information (CAI) enforces two laws: the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information, and the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector. On the CAI website, you'll find sample letters for requesting access to your personal information or making changes to it.

Internationally, two major sites on this subject are worth mentioning: Privacy International and Electronic Privacy Information Center.

On the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website, the Government of Canada provides information on the many forms of fraud that consumers can fall victim to:

• Pyramid sales
• Phishing
• Fraudulent charities
• False "900" numbers
• Fraudulent e-mails, etc.

TheCanadian Direct Marketing Association offers a simple, free solicitation interruption service.

We suggest you visit the Université de Montréal's L.R. Wilson Chair in Information Technology and E-Commerce Law.

Visit the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission website. You'll also find online forms for filing a complaint or requesting information about a broadcaster or telecommunications company.

ThePrivacy Interest Advocacy Center works with institutions to defend the rights of consumers in matters involving public utilities. In particular, it represents the interests of vulnerable people.