Unfair Practices Under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act: What Not to Say or Do

Most business owners would say they do not deceive their customers. But Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, 2002 defines "unfair practice" broadly enough that ordinary sales enthusiasm, aggressive marketing language, or a rushed conversation with a vulnerable customer can cross a line the business never meant to cross.

Understanding the two general categories of unfair practice, and what a consumer can do once one has happened, helps a business build guardrails before a customer complaint turns into something more serious.

Two Kinds of Unfair Practice

Ontario consumer protection law is generally understood to treat unfair practices as falling into two broad buckets: representations that are false, misleading, or deceptive, and representations that are unconscionable given the circumstances of the specific consumer.

False, Misleading, or Deceptive Representations

This category generally covers claims about a product or service that are not true, even if the seller did not intend to deceive anyone. Common examples include:

• Claiming a product has a benefit, quality, or characteristic it does not actually have
• Claiming a used or reconditioned product is new
• Suggesting a sale, discount, or special price when the "regular" price is not genuine
• Suggesting the transaction has an approval, sponsorship, or endorsement it does not actually have
• Creating a false sense of urgency about the need to buy now or lose the opportunity

Unconscionable Representations

This category is generally understood to focus less on whether a specific claim was literally true, and more on whether the seller took advantage of the particular consumer in front of them, for example:

• Taking advantage of a consumer’s inability to protect their own interests because of age, illness, disability, or difficulty understanding the language of the transaction
• Charging a price that grossly exceeds the price at which similar goods or services are readily available to similar consumers
• Pressuring a consumer into a transaction that is not reasonably in that consumer’s interest
• Including terms so one-sided that no reasonable person acting in their own interest would have agreed to them if they understood what was happening

The unifying theme is the specific consumer’s actual vulnerability and circumstances, not just the objective content of the pitch.

What a Consumer Can Do About It

Where an unfair practice has occurred, a consumer may generally have the right to rescind (cancel) the agreement and recover what they paid, or to pursue other remedies, depending on the circumstances and how long ago the transaction happened. A pattern of unfair practices can also draw regulatory attention that goes well beyond any one customer’s complaint.

Guardrails for Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service Teams

• [ ] Every advertised discount reflects a genuine prior price, not an inflated "regular" price invented for the sale
• [ ] Product and service claims are ones you can actually back up, not aspirational marketing language
• [ ] Sales scripts do not pressure a customer to decide immediately or lose a "limited time" opportunity that is not actually limited
• [ ] Staff are trained to slow down, not speed up, when a customer appears confused, distressed, or otherwise vulnerable
• [ ] Pricing is consistent across customers for the same goods or services, absent a legitimate, disclosed reason for a difference
• [ ] Contract terms are written in plain language a typical customer could reasonably be expected to understand
• [ ] Someone reviews marketing copy and sales scripts periodically for claims that have quietly drifted from accurate to aspirational

Where This Overlaps with Other Rules

Unfair practice rules under Ontario consumer protection law exist alongside, but are legally distinct from, the federal Competition Act’s rules against deceptive marketing practices, which apply more broadly across Canada and are not limited to consumer transactions. A business dealing with a misleading-advertising complaint may need to consider both frameworks, not just one.

Frequently asked questions