Ontario Court Rejects Drip Pricing Class Action*

Canadian case law on price representations continues to develop since our recent post on the Federal Court’s decision dismissing a drip pricing class action. This time, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to certify a class action about pricing practices alleged to resemble drip pricing, and analyzed them under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (the CPA).

In Weinstein v. Sirius XM Canada Inc., 2026 ONSC 5805, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant's pricing practices for its satellite radio service constituted misrepresentations under section 14 of the CPA. Subscribers were required to pay a fixed “music royalty and administration fee” (MRF), but the defendants’ website and other advertisements displayed a base subscription price, accompanied by an asterisk pointing to statements such as “additional fees apply”, “plus fees + taxes” or “see offer details below”. The full amount payable to obtain a subscription was set out in materials accompanied by the asterisk.