Bill 60 explained in plain English
Wireless Services Agreements Act, 2013
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Wireless Services Agreements Act, 2013, enhances consumer protection for wireless service contracts by establishing disclosure requirements for suppliers and granting consumers rights related to agreement terms, cancellation, and fees.
This Act, called the Wireless Services Agreements Act, 2013, aims to protect consumers who sign agreements for wireless services accessed through mobile devices like cell phones and smartphones. It sets rules for suppliers regarding how they advertise and provide information about these agreements, and it grants consumers specific rights, including the ability to cancel agreements under certain conditions and limits on cancellation fees.
- Establishes new rules for agreements related to wireless services.
- Defines what constitutes a wireless agreement and who is considered a consumer or supplier.
- Sets disclosure obligations for suppliers before and during the agreement process.
- Grants consumers the right to cancel wireless agreements under specific circumstances, such as non-disclosure of information.
- Limits the fees suppliers can charge consumers for cancelling agreements.
- Provides for penalties for suppliers who do not comply with the Act.
- Allows for the creation of regulations to further specify details of the Act.
- Consumers who enter into agreements for wireless services accessed from mobile devices.
- Suppliers who provide wireless services under such agreements.
- The Minister of Consumer Services (or equivalent).
- Suppliers must clearly disclose specific information about wireless agreements.
- Suppliers must not advertise wireless costs in a misleading way.
- Consumers have the right to cancel wireless agreements if disclosure requirements are not met.
- Consumers can cancel wireless agreements at any time without reason.
- Limits are placed on cancellation fees that suppliers can charge.
- Suppliers must provide a copy of the agreement to the consumer.
- Suppliers cannot unilaterally amend wireless agreements without consumer agreement (with specific notice requirements for non-fixed term agreements).
- The Act came into force on November 6, 2013, after receiving Royal Assent.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Advertising for wireless agreements must include all-inclusive costs (excluding HST).
- Cancellation fees for consumers are capped, with specific formulas for fixed-term and non-fixed term agreements, and when goods are provided free or at a discount.
- Suppliers must refund payments made under improperly amended, renewed, or extended agreements.
- Suppliers must refund security deposits upon cancellation, potentially with interest.
- Penalties include fines for individuals (up to $50,000) and corporations (up to $250,000).
- It is an offence to contravene or fail to comply with many provisions of the Act.
- Individuals convicted of an offence can face fines up to $50,000 or imprisonment for up to two years less a day, or both.
- Corporations convicted of an offence can face fines up to $250,000.
- Proceedings must be commenced within two years of the facts becoming known to the Director.
- The Act's application to a transaction depends on the location of the consumer in Ontario at the time of the transaction.
- The Minister may designate other jurisdictions where the Act will not apply if their legislation offers similar consumer protection.
- The Act ceases to apply to a wireless agreement if it is amended, renewed, or extended and none of the parties are located in Ontario at that time, with some exceptions.
- The full details and specific requirements of certain aspects, such as prescribed matters, may be specified in regulations that are not detailed in the provided text.
- A court may order a consumer to be bound by an agreement even if it doesn't meet the Act's requirements if it's deemed inequitable otherwise.
Certain sections of this Act are made to apply to wireless agreements with modifications, while other parts of this Act do not apply to wireless agreements covered by the new Act. In case of conflict, the Wireless Services Agreements Act, 2013, takes precedence.
Source: Section 5
This Act establishes new rules and protections for consumers entering into agreements for wireless services.
Source: Preamble, Section 24
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced