By Ahmad Hathout
Effective next year, the CRTC is mandating additional notifications to customers that it says will prevent bill shock and improve the wireless and internet codes.
The CRTC is requiring service providers to send their customers a hyperlink to a list of plans available for purchase 90 days before the expiration of customer contracts; will require that they notify customers – both on their monthly bills and directly – 90 days before the end date of a time-limited discount or promotion that lasts longer than three months; and require that they notify international travelers when they reach $50 in roaming fees on top of their current obligation of the notification at $100, as well as provide them with information as to their roaming options.
More specifically, in the 90-day notice before contract expiry, service providers are required to outline the end date, whether the contract will be automatically extended with the same rates, terms and conditions on a month-to-month basis; the proposed new minimum monthly charge if the contract won’t be automatically extended; and what self-service mechanisms are available, where the customer can find them and what they can be used for.
The notice must also include that customers can switch plans, change service providers, or cancel without penalty. The plan options must include both bring-your-own-device and device financing options.
If a customer is already on device financing, the notice must inform them about their options to either return the device or pay the rest of it off and keep it.
The new rules take effect April 13, 2027.
The regulator contemplated requiring service providers to send a tailored list of plan offers based on a customer’s historical usage patterns but said that would be burdensome to the provider and customer needs change over time. It also rejected the idea of presenting the plan information in a standardized manner because that would require “significant system updates” and “create unduly lengthy notices.”
Service providers will need to provide the 90-day notices via any method of their customers’ choosing, including email, text message or postal mail.
The new rules apply to individuals and small businesses using wireless services and individual customers of retail fixed internet services.
“The Commission intends to examine whether to expand the application of the Codes to other providers in an upcoming proceeding to harmonize the consumer protection codes,” the CRTC said in the decision.
Ontario Commissioner Bram Abramson wrote a concurring opinion, but deviated on some matters. He said he regrets that the commission did not apply the new rules on the television code.
“This remains a missed opportunity to establish consistent consumer protections across the integrated service bundles offered by large providers and, potentially, global streamers, whose Canadian customers should benefit from equal treatment,” Abramson said. “The Commission has already signalled a proceeding to merge the four consumer codes it oversees, which should provide an opportunity to address asymmetrical outcomes.”
He also said that while the commission made the right decision not mandating more tailored plan feeds to customers, given the lack of data evidence on the record, that just means this decision should be viewed as interim.
“In future proceedings, the Commission must move beyond static disclosure and venture further into data stewardship,” he said. “This will require revisiting whether, and how, plan information should be published in standard, machine-readable feeds whose formats support third-party custom comparison markets.”
“Should consumers have a right to download usage and billing histories in structured formats to solicit competing offers?” he asked.
“Done well, data-focused measures will reduce friction and, over time, lessen the need for prescriptive command-and-control rules down the line,” he added. “On this record it is unsurprising that the Commission has not yet stepped far in this direction. Data stewardship will require the Commission to work closely with industry to avoid undue burden or inadvertently increasing the minimum efficient scale required to compete effectively.”
Last month, the CRTC eliminated certain fees to facilitate switching on wireless and internet plans. Both that and Monday’s decision are part of the commission’s broader Consumer Protections Action Plan, which also includes protecting consumers against service outage and disruption.
