Ontario Will Ban The Expiration Of Reward Points

On December 8, 2016, legislation to ban the expiration of reward points received Royal Assent in Ontario. While not yet proclaimed into force, Bill 47 –  Protecting Reward Points Act (the "Act") – will amend Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (the "CPA") to prohibit expiry of consumer reward points based on the passage of time alone, and will render void any provision to the contrary in a consumer agreement.

Consumer frustration was widely reported over the plans of some large loyalty program providers to amend their program terms and have reward points expire over time.  The first legal responses came in the form of consumer class actions filed against each of Pharmaprix, Aeroplan and LoyaltyOne in recent years (without a final adjudication against any company).  Bill 47, a private member's bill, was first introduced in October but quickly picked up momentum to pass in under two months.