TORONTO — Todd McCarthy, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, issued the following statement:
“Today, we are pleased to join the international community in recognizing World Consumer Rights Day to raise awareness about the importance of knowing your rights and being protected when purchasing goods and services in an increasingly digital marketplace.
For the Ontario government, every day is Consumer Rights Day as we work tirelessly to ensure people can shop with confidence when spending their hard-earned money on goods and services at home, online, and in their communities.
While most businesses play by the rules and act with integrity, we are not standing by and allowing bad actors to take advantage of hardworking Ontarians through unfair business practices like high-pressure aggressive sales tactics and misleading claims.
Today’s World Consumer Rights Day!
As we mark this occasion, rest assured that Premier @fordnation & I are committed to protecting the fairness that Ontario’s consumers deserve when interacting with our ever evolving marketplace.
My statement: https://t.co/RUss3aEiYd #onpoli pic.twitter.com/gdTalpFmdr
— Todd McCarthy (@ToddJMcCarthy) March 15, 2024
We are regularly updating rules that protect consumers when shopping or entering contracts with businesses, so we can better adapt to today’s marketplace.
Our new Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023, the greatest advancement in consumer protections in our province in the past 20 years, is enhancing enforcement and prohibiting unfair business practices. It will also help protect against identity theft by expanding consumers’ access to their credit information and enabling them to limit how their credit information is shared with third parties.
We are also addressing the fraudulent use of Notices of Security Interest (NOSI) against unsuspecting consumers. A NOSI is a notice that can be registered on the land registry system by a business when it finances or leases certain equipment on a property such as an HVAC unit.
We have heard from homeowners, businesses and law enforcement about scammers deliberately targeting the most vulnerable members of our province, including seniors, by registering NOSIs on their properties without their knowledge and charging them exorbitant fees to discharge them when they try to sell their homes or access additional financing. We have been working tirelessly on this issue and I intend to table legislation in the coming months to address the harmful use of these notices.
We also encourage consumers to protect themselves by checking if a business is on the Consumer Beware List before dealing with them.
I urge everyone to read about the progress our government continues to make to protect consumers, and to know your rights and shop with confidence in Ontario’s marketplace.
This World Consumer Rights Day – and every day – rest assured that together, we are building a smarter, safer, and stronger economy for all Ontarians.”
SOURCE Province of Ontario
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