A Provincial Divide: BC Court Refuses To Certify "System Access Fee" Case Despite A Saskatchewan Court Certifying A Similar Case

On June 5, 2014, the B.C. Supreme Court refused to certify a proposed class action against a group of cell service providers (Rogers, Fido, Bell Canada, and Telus). The action related to a "system access fee" charged by each of the defendants. The plaintiff claimed that the defendants misrepresented that the fee was a tax or license fee that went directly to the government. He alleged that this was a "deceptive act or practice" and therefore a breach of the BC Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act ("BPCPA") and that the defendants were "unjustly enriched" by the collection of these fees.

A More Rigorous Approach to Certification

The BC Court did not follow the Saskatchewan Court's lead, who certified a similar action involving several of the same defendants and similar cell-service contracts. ¹  Instead, the BC Court took a more rigorous approach.