B.C. Legislature Signals Major Shift To Consumer Protection Legislation

The B.C. Government has proposed major changes to the province's consumer protection legislation which would render class action waivers, mandatory dispute resolution, and arbitration clauses void in respect of consumer transactions and inoperable in non-consumer transactions where claims are of low value. If the amendments pass as currently drafted, businesses will lose the ability to stop or limit a class action through a pre-certification stay order premised on their contracts including either of these clauses.

The proposed amendments

The Business Practices and Consumer Protection Amendment Act, 2025 (the Amending Act) would amend the existing Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (BPCPA). The Amending Act introduces the "Consumer Contract"¹, defined as a "contract relating to a consumer transaction", relying on the existing definition of "consumer transaction" as "a supply of goods or services or real property by a supplier to a consumer for