Telus Wants CRTC to Override Provincial Cellphone Consumer Laws

Telus wants the CRTC to declare that provincial consumer protection laws don’t apply to phone, internet and TV services, and to make the regulator’s upcoming national consumer code the only set of rules that counts.

The carrier made the request in a filing with the CRTC back in August, as part of the regulator’s review that would merge the Wireless Code, the Internet Code and the TV code into a single consumer protection code. Telus has used the same filing to push for longer phone financing and an end to the $100 roaming cap.

In its proposed edits to the code itself, Telus adds this wording to the very top:

“The Code is the sole governing consumer protection standard for communications service across Canada. Consumer protection measures or any other measures enacted by any province, municipality or any other body that purport to apply to federally regulated communications services are constitutionally inapplicable and do not operate to supplement, duplicate, or modify the Code.”

Telus wants that to apply even when a provincial rule doesn’t directly conflict with the CRTC’s rules. Today the CRTC says its codes take precedence when there is a “direct conflict” with provincial law. Telus calls that approach “wrong as a matter of law” and says the CRTC should state outright that “provincial consumer protection measures that purport to apply to federally regulated communications services exceed provincial constitutional power.”

The carrier also argues that if the CRTC decides a rule isn’t needed, a province shouldn’t be able to add it anyway, because that “completely unwinds the Commission’s judgment and the will of Parliament.” It warns against “thirteen distinct provincial regimes with a hand on the steering wheel.”

Telus points to British Columbia as “a prime example of this provincial encroachment,” citing the province’s 2019 review of cellphone billing and contract terms. It also brings up Ontario’s Wireless Services Agreements Act, 2013. Ontario repealed that law in 2019, but a court still certified a class action against Telus under it, since the law was in force during the period in question.

Quebec adds an awkward wrinkle, because since October 5 the province’s new legal warranty of good working order covers new cellphones, tablets, laptops, desktops and game consoles for three years, with free repairs from the retailer or the manufacturer. Apple’s Canadian warranty now notes that iPhones and iPads bought new in Quebec get the three-year coverage.

Telus cites that same warranty in its filing, but as an argument for longer phone financing. “Without commenting on whether this particular regulation as drafted is constitutionally permissible, practical, or good policy,” Telus says, the warranty “clearly shows that consumers expect their devices to work significantly longer than 24 months.”

To be clear, Telus doesn’t say it wants the warranty gone, and the warranty covers devices sold by retailers rather than wireless service. Still, provincial law seems handy when it helps sell a longer payment plan.

Telus has already tested a version of this argument in Quebec’s courts, after prosecutors charged the carrier under the province’s Consumer Protection Act over contract practices from 2012 and 2013. Telus argued those rules couldn’t constitutionally apply to a federally regulated carrier. In March 2022, Quebec’s Court of Appeal disagreed and ruled the provisions applied to Telus. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear Telus’ appeal on November 10, 2022. Telus doesn’t mention that case in its filing.

Separately, Telus has asked the CRTC to make it harder to bring telecom complaints to the CCTS.

The CRTC hasn’t decided anything yet, and its public hearing on the new code starts November 30 in Gatineau. If it sides with Telus, your phone bill protections would be whatever Ottawa sets, no matter which province you live in.

Should provinces be able to add their own phone and internet protections?