Take Two: Quebec Introduces Bill 134 To Modernize The Consumer Protection Act

On May 2, 2017, the Quebec government introduced new legislation intended to modernize the Quebec Consumer Protection Act (CPA), as well as provide for new consumer protection measures. The CPA provisions on credit, in particular, are long overdue for change as they have not been significantly amended since 1978.

The liberal government, under Jean Charest, previously attempted to pass similar legislation in the form of Bill 24, introduced in June 2011. Bill 24 proposed extensive amendments that focused on the consumer lending and leasing provisions, with the underlying policy reason of improving consumer debt loads. However, the government was not able to push Bill 24 through the various legislative stages before the summer election call of 2012, and Bill 24 died on the order paper.