An Act to protect consumers from planned obsolescence and to promote the durability, repairability and maintenance of goods (the “Act”) was passed on October 5, 2023. It brings significant changes to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and adds new requirements for the quality, durability, and repairability of goods.
The Act introduces a range of provisions, including new monetary administrative penalties that take effect on January 5, 2025. Objectively observable failures to comply with a CPA provision, CPA regulation, or a voluntary undertaking may now result in the imposition of a penalty by the president of the Office de la protection du consommateur. Entities may contest such penalties before the Administrative Tribunal of Québec.
On August 21, 2024, the Québec government published two draft regulations describing the monetary administrative penalties that may be imposed:
- The Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act, and
- the Regulation respecting monetary administrative penalties with respect to the Consumer Protection Act.
In the preamble, Québec’s Minister of Justice notes that these draft regulations have no impact on citizens or businesses…
The combined effect of these two draft regulations is that breaching nearly any provision of the CPA, or adopting practices or measures that run counter to it, could result in a monetary administrative penalty of between $300 and $1,750 against a natural person and between $600 and $3,500 against a legal person. Note that under the CPA, a monetary administrative penalty can be imposed each day that the alleged offence continues, and the legal person’s directors and officers are solidarily liable with the person for paying the penalty, unless they can show that they exercised due care and diligence to prevent the offence.
The Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act also introduces new penal provisions on top of the penal sanctions already provided for in the CPA. Breaches can incur penalties ranging from $600 to $37,500 for a natural person, and $1,200 to $175,000 for a legal person.
Moreover, a legal person’s directors, officers, and mandataries will now be presumed to also have committed the offence, unless they can show that they exercised due diligence to prevent the offence.
Barring any amendments, the Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act and the Regulation respecting monetary administrative penalties with respect to the Consumer Protection Act, as well as the new regime for monetary administrative penalties, will come into effect on January 5, 2025.
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The new monetary administrative penalties are sure to be the subject of much debate. This may spur the creation of a new legal order linked to consumer protection law.
Additional regulatory provisions regarding the Act’s other amendments to the CPA are still anticipated, especially to do with the repairability of certain goods and how new warranties of good working order will be applied to them.