Quebec’s auto dealers will face tougher penalties and fines for flouting Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act
The new year brings some substantial new powers to Quebec’s Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) in its quest to protect those shopping for new cars in La Belle Province. The upgraded regulations include increased fines as well as an all-new sanctioning system that can be used to more rapidly penalize errant dealers.
More specifically, two new provisions in the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) came into force on January 5. The first is a set of new administrative monetary penalties — such as tickets for speeding or running a red light — that allows the OPC to take immediate action against the offenders. The second sees the OPC’s traditional fines — those that end up going through the court system — doubled.
Between the new immediate penalty system and the more severe fines offered through the courts, wayward new and used car dealers in Quebec should prove more, shall we say, encouraged to respect good business practices.
Up to $3,500 in penalties per day
As of January 5, 2025, Quebec’s OPC can impose immediate administrative monetary penalties on dealers who fail to comply with the law. So, for instance, a Quebec car dealer that tries to force a consumer to buy “options” for a new vehicle or a used car dealer who sells a car for more than the advertised price could immediately see immediate penalties from the CPA.
When faced with “objectively observable breaches,” the OPC can now impose penalties of $3,500 per transgression for a corporation and/or $1,750 for an individual. And these are not just one-off sanctions. If the OPC finds this is an ongoing issue, the penalties can be imposed for each and every day of non-compliance observed.
In a telephone interview, OPC President Denis Marsolais explained: “Take the worst-case scenario — for example, a merchant with a history of rule infringements, who, the organization learns has been operating without the requisite permit for a week. The daily maximum sanction that could be imposed ($3,500) could mean a total penalty of $24,500.” Beaucoup bucks, in other words.
Hastier Justice
With these new administrative penalties, the aim is for a more immediate compliance. “This additional leverage will enable us to stop breaches more quickly,” says Mr. Marsolais. “It will surely entice the most recalcitrant merchants to comply with the law.”
Auto dealerships generate one in five complaints
The sale of automobiles (new and used) generates the most complaints to the OPC of all consumer sectors. Year in, year out, auto dealers account for 20% of the complaints received by the Office. Yes, one in five complaints throughout the entire province is from the automotive sector.
This is why the OPC has concentrated so much of its efforts on the auto industry. In its last fiscal year (2023-2024), it saw some 30 of its investigations of car dealers end in convictions or sentences in the courts. However, on the average, the courts only imposed fines of about $15,000 per dealer conviction.
George Iny, director of the Automobile Protection Association (APA), has long criticized these relative puny fines: “Such penalties are far from a deterrent, when we know that the merchant who doesn’t respect the law can earn up to a quarter of a million dollars a year.” Iny, who has been defending the interests of motorists for almost four decades now, is therefore delighted with the new doubling in punitive measures that has just come into force on top of the daily penalties.
Up to $175,000 in fines
In fact, as of January 5, merchants convicted or found guilty of infringements of the CPA now will face court fines of up to $175,000, or, in some cases, 5% of their company’s annual turnover. Again, this is in addition to the new administrative penalties.
Not only have these fines doubled, they are now divided into four levels of severity, up from the two used previously. The following are examples of the infractions and their potential fines:
Faced with both these increased court-imposed fines and the new administrative penalties, Quebec’s auto dealers should soon find out that the OPC bark now has (a lot) more bite.