Consumer/commercial law

Question 1

The Consumer Protection Act applies to

Answer 1

all consumer transactions if the consumer or the person engaging in the transaction with the consumer is located in Ontario when the transaction takes place.

Question 2

A consumer is defined as

Answer 2

an individual acting for personal, family or household purposes and does not include a person who is acting for business purposes

Question 3

A consumer agreement is defined as

Answer 3

an agreement between supplier and consumer in which the supplier agrees to supply goods or services for payment or to provide rewards points to the consumer when the consumer purchases goods/services/otherwise

Question 4

The most significant provisions of the CPA are:

Answer 4

• you can’t contract out of the CPA
• arbitration clauses are unenforceable against consumers in relation to exercising a right to commence an action in the Superior Court of Justice, with the exception of any issues that arise under the contract or some other provision
• a consumer cannot be prohibited from commencing a class action w respect to a dispute arising out of a consumer agreement
• the implied conditions and warranties applying to goods under the SGA also apply to goods in any consumer agreement.
  a consumer cannot be forced to pay for unsolicited goods or services

Question 5

The CPA contains provisions relating to cooling off periods, which are

Answer 5

time periods that allow a consumer to cancel, without any reason, particular agreements within a certain number of days. 10 days from the receipt of the written agreement

Question 6

Private remedies given to consumers by the CPA include

Answer 6

• the right to cancel

Question 7

When a contract has been cancelled, the merchant has

Answer 7

15 days to return the money paid under the contract, with a reasonable deductible permitted to account for the amount of goods received by the consumer during the contract that cannot be returned