{"id":82392,"date":"2026-06-10T15:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/82392\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:07:40","slug":"consumer-protection-associations-civil-groups-sound-alarm-over-ottawas-catastrophic-funding-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/82392\/","title":{"rendered":"Consumer protection associations, civil groups sound alarm over Ottawa\u2019s \u2018catastrophic\u2019 funding cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

In an open letter to the federal innovation department, 15 national and provincial consumer protection agencies called the program cancellations ‘catastrophic’ and ‘incomprehensible.’Cole Burston\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Consumer protection agencies across Canada are sounding the alarm after the federal government cut funding programs that delivered millions toward safeguarding consumer rights.<\/p>\n

The department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development announced last month it was shutting down the Office of Consumer Affairs and scrapping the Canadian Consumer Protection Initiative (CCPI). The move is part of a suite of federal cost-cutting measures that aim to eliminate billions in annual government spending by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

The CCPI awarded more than $7-million in its latest funding period to projects investigating everything from unscrupulous sales tactics by car dealers to aggressive tipping practices and elder fraud. Any initiatives not wrapped up by 2027 are not eligible for further funding.<\/p>\n

In an open letter to the federal innovation department shared with The Globe and Mail, 15 national and provincial consumer protection groups and civil society organizations, including the Qu\u00e9bec Bar association, called the cancellations \u201ccatastrophic\u201d and \u201cincomprehensible,\u201d adding that they anticipate some organizations will have to close their doors or significantly reduce their work.<\/p>\n

Christian Corbeil, executive director of Option consommateurs, a Quebec-based consumer advocacy group and one of the letter\u2019s signatories, said CCPI-funded research directly shaped laws that put more money back in consumers\u2019 pockets. That included penalties for companies using deceptive sales tactics and policies barring businesses from automatically enrolling consumers in paid subscriptions after a promotional period.<\/p>\n

Most recently, his organization\u2019s research into merchant tipping practices contributed to the adoption of one of the first laws in the world regulating the solicitation of tips by businesses, in Quebec. \u201cWe need associations like us to make sure that the public interest will be represented when we do policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shari Prymak, senior consultant at automotive consumer advocacy non-profit Car Help, said the latest round of funding her organization received went toward investigating the impact of dealership sales tactics on consumers and assessing the need for Canadian \u201clemon laws\u201d \u2013 rules to protect buyers from unrepairable vehicles, which already exist in the United States. <\/p>\n

\u201cAbsent alternative financial support, the conclusion of these studies will mark the end of our organization\u2019s research operations,\u201d Ms. Prymak said. <\/p>\n

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Changes to the federal programs were part of cost-cutting measures bundled into the Comprehensive Expenditure Review announced in the fall budget, designed to rein in government spending and save $13-billion annually by 2028-29.<\/p>\n

The savings associated with cuts to consumer advocacy initiatives will reach $2.6-million per year by that period, said Hans Parmar, a spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.<\/p>\n

Consumer protection already falls under the jurisdiction of several departments and agencies, Mr. Parmar said, \u201cproviding a range of protection for consumers.\u201d <\/p>\n

In Canada, these responsibilities are shared by federal and provincial governments. Provinces regulate most day-to-day disputes between businesses and consumers, such as those around warranties or payday loans. The federal government oversees competition in the marketplace as well as consumer transactions in certain federally regulated sectors such as banking and telecommunications. <\/p>\n

But many of the non-profits subject to the funding cuts are doing research that affects both provincial and federal policy, said Mr. Corbeil. Funding from the scrapped programs supported project-based research rather than general operations, with organizations submitting proposals every two years and successful applicants receiving funding to carry out designated work. <\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s move echoes a similar pull-back from consumer protection funding south of the border. Shortly after returning to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> administration argued that the \u201cultra-left\u201d Consumer Financial Protection Bureau imposed unnecessary costs on banks and businesses; the bureau has since undergone major restructuring.<\/p>\n

Mr. Corbeil said there is room to improve Canada\u2019s funding system, though not the way the government is doing it. Instead, he proposes that funds collected from businesses for consumer protection violations be directed into a dedicated fund supporting consumer advocacy organizations. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is an opportunity to build something stronger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: In an open letter to the federal innovation department, 15 national and provincial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[61,12458],"class_list":["post-82392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ottawa","tag-pf-ca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}