Ontario’s New "Consumer Protection Act": Implications for the Construction Industry

The Ontario government has recently put into law new consumer protection legislation which, in many cases, fundamentally affects the way in which consumers and businesses interact and conduct transactions.

The scope of the new statute is incredibly broad. For the purpose of this update, we have focused on those particular sections of the legislation that may effect the construction industry and individuals operating within it. The statute itself came into force on July 30, 2005 and is titled, somewhat confusingly, the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (CPA).

The CPA casts a wide net in that, subject to certain exceptions outlined below, every consumer transaction in Ontario is covered by its provisions. A consumer includes any individual acting for a personal, familial or household purpose but does not include a person who is acting for a business purpose. Accordingly, when individuals enter into a transaction with a business for other than a business purpose, they are afforded the