Warranty Rights in Canada

The Implied Warranty of Acceptable Quality

The Sale of Goods Act (Ontario) implies into every contract of sale that goods sold in the course of business are of merchantable quality, correspond with their description, and are reasonably fit for any particular purpose made known by the buyer to the seller. This implied warranty does not depend on any written promise by the seller.

Section 9 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 reinforces these implied conditions: in consumer transactions the implied warranties cannot be waived or excluded by any contract term. An ‘as is’ clause in a consumer sale has limited effect in Ontario, because the statutory implied warranties continue to apply.

• Merchantable quality: fit for the ordinary purposes of the goods
• Correspondence with description: matches the advertised or catalogued specification
• Fitness for purpose: where the buyer relied on the seller’s judgment for a particular use
• Durability: goods should last a reasonable period given their nature and price

The durability point deserves a qualification that the Ontario legislation does not supply. Ontario’s Sale of Goods Act does not name durability as a separate implied condition; it is reached through merchantable quality. Four provinces do name it expressly, and that is a meaningful difference: Quebec at art. 38 of its Consumer Protection Act, Saskatchewan at s. 19(g) of the Consumer Protection and Business Practices Act, Nova Scotia at s. 26(3)(j) of the Consumer Protection Act, and New Brunswick at s. 12 of the Consumer Product Warranty and Liability Act. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick also set out the factors that decide what period is reasonable.

Express Warranties vs Implied Warranties

An express warranty is any promise the supplier makes about a product, either in writing (a warranty card, a box claim, a webpage) or verbally during the sales interaction. An express warranty is enforceable on its own terms and for its stated duration.

An implied warranty is created by law and applies whether or not the supplier acknowledges it. In Ontario, the implied warranties under the Sale of Goods Act apply in parallel with any express warranty, and the consumer may rely on whichever gives the stronger remedy.

Several provinces put that parallel operation beyond argument, and two go further on what counts as an express warranty in the first place. Manitoba’s s. 58(8) deems every oral or written statement a seller makes about the quality, condition, quantity, performance or efficacy of goods or services to be an express warranty, whether it was made to the buyer or contained in an advertisement. New Brunswick’s Consumer Product Warranty and Liability Act abolishes the parol evidence rule for this purpose at s. 5, so oral evidence of a promise is admissible even where it contradicts the written contract, and at s. 6 it treats a promise to repair or replace as also warranting that the product will not break down during the warranty term.

Implied Warranties by Province

The implied terms themselves are close to uniform across the country, because most provinces inherited the same Sale of Goods Act wording. What differs, and what decides most disputes, is whether the seller can write those terms out of the contract. Seven provinces say no. Three allow it.

“Yes” in the exclusion column records that the province’s Sale of Goods Act permits an implied term to be negatived by express agreement. It does not mean an exclusion always succeeds: a clause has to be clear and brought to the buyer’s attention, and separate rules on unfair or misleading practices continue to apply. The three territories are not included because their regimes were not verified for this table.

Quebec: The Legal Warranty

Quebec is the strongest consumer warranty regime in the country, and it is the one most often missing from Canada-wide summaries. It calls the statutory protection the legal warranty, it applies free of charge to every consumer sale, and it exists independently of anything the manufacturer or the retailer chooses to offer.

Quality and durability. Article 37 of the Consumer Protection Act requires that goods be fit for the purposes for which goods of that kind are ordinarily used. Article 38 requires that they be durable in normal use for a reasonable length of time, having regard to their price, the terms of the contract and the conditions of their use. The Office de la protection du consommateur illustrates the second with a price comparison: an $850 television cannot be expected to last as long as a $1,500 model with the same features.

Hidden defects and the merchant’s knowledge. Article 53 gives a consumer a recourse based on a latent defect directly against the merchant or the manufacturer, unless the consumer could have discovered the defect by an ordinary examination. The same applies where instructions needed to protect the user from a risk were missing. The provision then closes the argument that is otherwise available to a retailer: the merchant or manufacturer may not plead that it was unaware of the defect or of the missing instructions. Article 54 gives the same direct recourse for the quality and durability obligations in arts. 37 and 38, and both rights of action pass to a subsequent purchaser of the goods.

No contracting out.Article 261 provides that no person may derogate from the Act by private agreement, and art. 262 that no consumer may waive the rights it grants unless the Act says otherwise. An “all sales final” or “as is” clause therefore cannot displace the legal warranty in a Quebec consumer sale.

A new warranty of good working order. Quebec amended the Act in 2023 to add, at art. 38.1, a warranty of good working order for a listed set of household goods: a range, refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, television, desktop or laptop computer, tablet, cellular telephone, video game console, air conditioner and heat pump, plus anything added by regulation. The warranty covers parts and labour, takes effect on delivery, and obliges the merchant or manufacturer to bear reasonable transport or shipping costs and either carry out the repair or pay for a third party to do it. It binds a subsequent purchaser, and the merchant must display its duration near the advertised price. These provisions came into force on 5 October 2026. According to the Office de la protection du consommateur, they cover listed goods bought or leased new from a merchant on or after that date; goods acquired earlier remain covered by the durability warranty in art. 38. The related repairability obligation in art. 39 is already in force: parts, repair services and the information needed to maintain or repair goods, including diagnostic software, must be available for a reasonable time, and the merchant or manufacturer is released from that duty only by warning the consumer in writing before the contract is made.

The OPC route. The Office de la protection du consommateur administers the Act and publishes guidance on how the legal warranties are applied, including the sequence of contacting the merchant and then the manufacturer. Complaints about a merchant are received by the OPC, which enforces the Act; it does not award compensation, so a monetary claim proceeds separately in the Small Claims Division of the Court of Québec, whose limit is $15,000.

Extended Warranties and Service Plans

An extended warranty is a contract sold alongside the goods. It is not a statutory right, so its terms govern what it covers, and the rights already described continue to run in parallel with it whether or not it is bought.

Quebec regulates the sale directly. Article 228.1 of the Consumer Protection Act requires a merchant, before proposing a contract that includes an additional warranty, to inform the consumer orally and in writing of the existence and nature of the free legal warranty in arts. 37 and 38, and also to say orally that a manufacturer’s warranty exists and how long it lasts, explaining on request how the rest of it may be examined. A merchant who does not is deemed to have failed to mention an important fact and to have used a practice prohibited by art. 228.

Two features of extended warranties are worth reading before purchase in any province: what the plan excludes, since exclusions are usually broader than the sales conversation suggests, and whether the plan is backed by the retailer or by a third-party administrator, since that decides who is answerable if a claim is refused. Where a refused claim is the problem, the warranty claim denied page sets out the sequence and the small claims thresholds by province.

Real Example: Defective Appliance

A consumer purchases a washing machine from an Ontario retailer. The manufacturer’s express warranty is one year. Eighteen months after purchase, the main bearing fails. The retailer declines to help, citing the expired express warranty.

The Sale of Goods Act implied warranty of merchantable quality applies independently of the one-year express warranty. A reasonable consumer expects a washing machine to last substantially longer than 18 months. The consumer may have a claim in Small Claims Court under SGA s. 15 for breach of the implied condition of merchantable quality, seeking repair costs or a partial refund.

The same facts produce a different route in four provinces. In Quebec the claim runs through art. 38 and the durability warranty, and art. 54 allows it to be brought directly against the manufacturer as well as the retailer. In Saskatchewan it runs through the express durability warranty in s. 19(g) and, by s. 21, against the manufacturer too. In Nova Scotia it runs through s. 26(3)(j), and in New Brunswick through s. 12. In Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island the analysis would also have to account for any exclusion clause in the sale contract, because those provinces permit one.

Available Remedies

Where an implied warranty is breached, the possible remedies include rejection of the goods, rescission of the contract, repair, replacement, price reduction, and damages for consequential loss. The appropriate remedy depends on the severity of the defect, the time since purchase, and the conduct of the parties.

A claim under the implied warranty must be commenced within two years of discovering the breach under the Limitations Act, 2002 (Ontario). Documentation of the defect and of communications with the supplier supports the claim.

• Rejection and refund for a substantial breach discovered soon after purchase
• Repair or replacement for a defect during the reasonable life of the goods
• Price reduction where the goods are retained with a minor defect
• Consequential damages where a defect caused additional loss

Outside Ontario the limitation period differs, and two provinces are markedly longer: Quebec allows three years under art. 2925 of the Civil Code, and Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island allow six. The collection agency rules page carries the full ten-province limitation table. Where the complaint is that a refund was refused rather than that goods failed, the refund rights guide sets out when a refund is required.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an implied warranty and a written warranty in Canada?

A written or express warranty is a promise the seller or manufacturer chooses to make, and it runs on its own terms for its own stated period. An implied warranty is imposed by statute whether or not anyone mentions it, and it is not limited by the length of the manufacturer's card. In most provinces the implied terms are that the goods are of merchantable or acceptable quality, correspond with their description, and are reasonably fit for a purpose the buyer made known. Four provinces go further and imply durability for a reasonable period as well: Quebec, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Where both apply, the buyer is not confined to the weaker of the two, and in New Brunswick the statute says so directly.

Is an “as is” or “no warranty” clause legal in Canada?

It depends on the province, and this is the largest single difference in Canadian warranty law. Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick each void a contract term that removes the statutory implied terms from a consumer sale: Ontario through s. 9(3) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, Quebec through arts. 261 and 262 of its Consumer Protection Act, British Columbia through s. 20 of the Sale of Goods Act for retail sales of new goods, and the others through the equivalent provisions in the table above. Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island have no such rule: their Sale of Goods Act expressly permits an implied term to be negatived by express agreement, so a clearly worded exclusion can be effective there.

How long does an implied warranty last in Canada?

No province sets a fixed number of months. The test is what is reasonable in the circumstances, and where a statute spells out the factors they are the same everywhere: the nature and description of the goods, the price paid, the express warranties given, the terms of the contract, and how the item has been used and maintained. Saskatchewan lists exactly those four factors in s. 19(g). Quebec's regulator makes the same point with an example, that an $850 television cannot be expected to last as long as a $1,500 one with the same features. Separately, the time limit for starting a court action is set by the province's limitations statute, which is usually two years from the day the problem was discovered.

Does the implied warranty apply to the retailer or the manufacturer?

In most of the country the implied terms bind the seller, because they are implied into the contract of sale, and the buyer's contract is with the retailer. Two provinces reach past the retailer. Saskatchewan's s. 21 deems the manufacturer to give the same statutory warranties as the retail seller, and s. 26 removes the requirement of privity of contract. Quebec's arts. 53 and 54 let a consumer take action directly against either the merchant or the manufacturer, and those rights pass to a subsequent purchaser of the goods. Elsewhere the manufacturer is generally answerable on its own express warranty and the retailer on the implied terms.

Is an extended warranty worth buying in Canada?

That is a commercial judgment rather than a legal one, but two legal points bear on it. First, an extended warranty is an additional contractual promise sold on top of rights that already exist for free, so its value depends on what it adds to the implied or legal warranty in that province. Second, Quebec regulates the sale of one directly: under art. 228.1 of its Consumer Protection Act a merchant proposing a contract that includes an additional warranty must first inform the consumer, orally and in writing, of the existence and nature of the free legal warranty in arts. 37 and 38, and must also say orally that a manufacturer's warranty exists and how long it lasts. A merchant who does not is deemed to have failed to mention an important fact and to have used a practice prohibited by art. 228.