No General Right to a Refund for Change of Mind
Canadian law does not recognize a general consumer right to a refund simply because the consumer has changed their mind. Return policies are set by the retailer and are enforceable if they were disclosed before purchase. A posted ‘all sales final’ policy is typically enforceable for change-of-mind returns.
Statutory refund rights exist only in specific situations where the law intervenes to protect the consumer.
That is the position in every province and territory. The provincial table below sets out what each jurisdiction does require, which is a narrower and more specific list: cancellation of a contract signed away from the seller’s premises, cancellation of a remote or internet agreement where disclosure or delivery failed, and the remedies attached to defective goods and unfair practices.
When the Law Intervenes
The law requires a refund in several specific situations: the goods are defective, not as described, or not fit for their ordinary purpose (implied warranties under the Sale of Goods Act and CPA s. 9); the consumer is cancelling a direct agreement within the 10-day cooling-off period; an unfair practice under the CPA has occurred; or the consumer is cancelling an internet agreement under the CPA s. 40 disclosure and delivery rules.
Outside these situations, the consumer is limited to the retailer’s voluntary return policy.
Ontario has passed a replacement for the CPA 2002, the Consumer Protection Act, 2023, which would extend the unfair-practice rescission window and void seven categories of contract term. It comes into force on a day named by proclamation and is not yet in effect, so the CPA 2002 rules described here are the ones that apply today.
Quebec is the jurisdiction where the quality remedy reaches furthest. Its Consumer Protection Act carries a legal warranty that applies to every consumer sale, independent of any manufacturer’s warranty and independent of what the seller’s own policy says. The warranty rights guide sets out how the implied and written warranties interact across the country.
Practical Guidance
Documenting the purchase, the defect (if any), and the communication with the supplier is central to making any statutory refund claim. Credit card purchases provide an additional route through the chargeback mechanism.
Where a statutory refund right applies and the supplier refuses, escalation options include a chargeback, a complaint to Consumer Protection Ontario, and a civil claim in Small Claims Court within the limitation period.
Outside Ontario the equivalent body is that province’s consumer affairs office, and the federal Complaint Roadmap published by the Office of Consumer Affairs identifies which office handles which issue. The refund refused page covers the sequence in more detail.
Refund and Cooling-Off Rules by Province
The pattern is consistent across the country: no statutory change-of-mind refund, a 10-day cooling-off period for contracts signed away from the seller’s place of business, and a cancellation right where an order is not supplied within 30 days of the date the contract states. What differs is how long the consumer has to exercise the second right, and what happens when the seller failed to disclose the required information. The cooling-off periods guide covers the contract types beyond door-to-door sales.
| Province | Governing statute | Change-of-mind refund required | Direct-sales cooling-off | Internet / remote agreement rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Consumer Protection Act, 2002 | No | 10 days from receiving a written copy of a direct agreement | Where ordered goods or services are not supplied within 30 days of the date in the contract, the agreement may be cancelled; most refunds are due within 15 days |
| Quebec | Consumer Protection Act (CQLR c. P-40.1) | No | 10 days from receiving the contract from an itinerant merchant | Where a distance contract is not performed within 30 days of the stated date, it may be cancelled for up to one year; the right is lost if delivery is accepted after the 30 days |
| British Columbia | Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act | No | 10 days from receiving a copy of a direct sales contract | A distance sales contract must state a supply date; where goods or services are not provided within 30 days after it, the contract may be cancelled within 30 days of that date, and the refund is due within 15 days |
| Alberta | Consumer Protection Act | No | 10 days from receiving a written copy of a direct sales contract | An internet sales contract over $50 may be cancelled within 7 days where the required disclosure was not given, and at any time before delivery where goods are not delivered within 30 days of the delivery date; the refund is due within 15 days |
| Manitoba | The Consumer Protection Act (Part XVI, Internet Agreements) | No | 10 days for a direct sale | An internet agreement may be cancelled before delivery where the disclosure requirements were not met, or where the goods or services are not delivered within 30 days of the agreed date |
| Saskatchewan | The Consumer Protection and Business Practices Act | No | 10 days from receiving a copy of a direct sales contract | Where goods or services are not supplied within 30 days of the date in the contract, the contract may be cancelled within one year; the refund is due within 15 days |
| Nova Scotia | Consumer Protection Act and the Internet Sales Contract Regulations | No | 10 days from receiving the contract or the cancellation statement | An internet sales contract may be cancelled within 7 days where the required disclosure or an express opportunity to accept or decline was not given, and within 30 days where no copy of the contract was supplied; the refund is due within 15 days |
| New Brunswick | Direct Sellers Act | No | 10 days from receiving the contract or the cancellation statement | Cancellation rights extend to one year where the goods or services are not supplied within 30 days of the delivery date; the refund is due within 15 days |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Consumer Protection and Business Practices Act | No | 10 days after a copy of the direct sales contract is received | Where goods or services are not received within 30 days of the date in the contract, the contract may be cancelled within one year; the refund is due within 15 days |
| Prince Edward Island | Direct Sellers Act and its Direct Sales Contract Regulations | No | 10 days after a copy of the contract is received | Where goods or services are not received within 30 days of the date in the contract, the contract may be cancelled within one year; the refund is due within 15 days |
This table scrolls sideways. Drag or shift-scroll it to see every column.
“No” in the change-of-mind column records the absence of a statutory requirement, not a prohibition: a seller remains free to offer a more generous return policy, and where one is advertised it forms part of the bargain. The three territories are not included because their consumer protection regimes were not verified for this table.
Online Orders That Never Arrive
An online purchase is a contract with the seller. Where the parcel is late, lost, or never shipped, the consumer’s statutory right runs against the seller, and the claim against the carrier is a separate matter that usually belongs to whoever paid for the shipping.
Ontario. An online purchase over $50 is an internet agreement under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (s. 40 and O. Reg. 17/05), which sets what the seller has to disclose before the agreement is made and how it may be cancelled. Consumer Protection Ontario states the delivery rule plainly: where a contract gives a date on which products or services can be expected, the business has 30 days from that date to provide them, and where it does not, the agreement may be cancelled and a refund requested in writing without giving a reason. For most contracts the refund is due within 15 days. Keeping an item that arrives late gives up the right to cancel for that item.
Quebec. A distance contract that is not performed within 30 days of the date stated may be cancelled, and Quebec gives the longest window to act on it: up to one year. As in Ontario, accepting delivery after the 30 days ends the right.
The chargeback route. Where the seller does not refund, a card issuer dispute is the parallel path. It is a network mechanism rather than a statutory right, so the grounds and the deadlines come from the card network rather than from provincial law, but non-delivery is one of the standard grounds. A federally regulated bank must fully investigate a disputed transaction, and its complaint process ends at an external complaints body if the bank does not resolve it. The credit card chargebacks guide sets out the sequence and the evidence usually asked for.
Canada Post claims.Where the parcel was shipped by Canada Post and is missing, both the sender and the receiver can start an inquiry, but only the sender can request and receive a claim payment, which is why a buyer chasing a lost parcel is normally directed back to the seller. Compensation is the lowest of the item’s value, the insurance purchased at the time of mailing, and the coverage included with the service used; many services include base coverage of CAN$100.
Vehicle Purchases and Dealer Refunds
Vehicle sales are the sharpest exception to the expectations most buyers arrive with. There is no cooling-off period on a vehicle purchase anywhere in Canada. A signed purchase or lease agreement with a registered dealer is binding, and the dealer is under no obligation to unwind it.
Ontario (OMVIC).Once a contract to purchase or lease a vehicle is signed it is final and binding unless the dealer failed to meet a specific legal obligation. Where a dealer does agree to cancel, it is entitled to claim liquidated damages and to retain part or all of the deposit. The Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002 provides a limited right to cancel within 90 days of delivery where the dealer did not disclose, or did not disclose in time, matters such as previous use as a taxi, limousine, police or emergency vehicle or daily rental, a branded history, the make, model or model year, or the actual distance travelled. OMVIC’s complaints department reviews allegations against registered dealers and salespersons and may facilitate a resolution.
Alberta (AMVIC).Alberta has no cooling-off period either; once the contract is signed the dealer can enforce it, whether or not a better deal appears afterwards. AMVIC accepts complaints against licensed automotive businesses and reviews each on its facts, but it does not order payment of expenses or damages — that is a civil matter between the parties or a claim in court.
British Columbia (VSA). There is no return or cooling-off period on the purchase or financing of a vehicle in British Columbia. A lease is treated differently: unless the right was waived in writing, a one-clear-day cooling-off period applies. A vehicle may still be returnable where it did not meet the minimum standards required to be driven on the road at the time of sale, or where there was a material misrepresentation. The Vehicle Sales Authority investigates complaints alleging a licensee breached the Motor Dealer Act, its regulations, or certain sections of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
In all three provinces the regulator’s role is enforcement against the dealer rather than compensation of the buyer, so a refund that the dealer refuses is usually pursued through the civil route in parallel with the regulatory complaint.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is a store in Canada required by law to give a refund?
- Not for a change of mind. No Canadian province or territory creates a general statutory right to return a purchase because the buyer no longer wants it. Return windows, exchange-only policies and restocking fees are set by the seller and are enforceable where they were disclosed before the purchase. A refund is required where a specific rule applies instead: the goods are defective or not as described, an unfair practice occurred, the contract is being cancelled inside a cooling-off period, or an order was not delivered on time.
- Is a "no refund" or "all sales final" policy legal in Canada?
- For change-of-mind returns, generally yes, provided the policy was disclosed before the purchase was made. What such a policy cannot do is displace the statutory rights that exist independently of it. A posted "all sales final" sign does not remove the implied conditions that goods be of merchantable quality and fit for their ordinary purpose, does not shorten a cooling-off period, and does not defeat a cancellation right that arises because an order never arrived.
- Is there a buyer's remorse period in Ontario?
- Only for particular kinds of contracts, not for shopping generally. The cooling-off period most people have in mind applies to a direct agreement — a contract negotiated or concluded away from the seller's place of business, which is what a door-to-door sale is. That period is 10 days from the day a written copy of the agreement is received, and no reason has to be given. A purchase made in a store, or online from a business with a normal return policy, carries no equivalent right.
- What are the rules when a dealer refuses a refund in Ontario?
- Vehicle sales are the clearest case where no cooling-off period exists. Once a purchase or lease agreement for a vehicle is signed with a registered dealer in Ontario it is binding, and a dealer that agrees to cancel it may keep part or all of the deposit as liquidated damages. The Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002 does allow a contract to be cancelled within 90 days of delivery where the dealer failed to disclose specified facts, such as prior use as a taxi, police or daily rental vehicle, a branded history, or the actual distance travelled. OMVIC receives complaints about registered dealers and salespersons.
- What happens when an online order is never delivered?
- Every province in the table above provides a cancellation route. The common shape is that the contract states a delivery date, and where the goods or services are not supplied within 30 days of that date the consumer may cancel and be refunded. The outer limit differs: Ontario and British Columbia work from the supply date, while Quebec, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island allow up to one year. In every case the right is generally lost once late delivery is accepted, so a decision to keep a late parcel is a decision to give up the cancellation right.
- Does provincial consumer law cover a shipment that the courier lost?
- The consumer's contract is with the seller, not the courier, so the non-delivery cancellation rules above still apply even when the parcel was lost in transit. The shipping claim is separate and belongs to whoever contracted with the carrier: with Canada Post, both sender and receiver can start an inquiry but only the sender can receive a claim payment, and compensation is the lowest of the item's value, the insurance bought at mailing, and the coverage included with the service.
- When is a credit card chargeback available?
- A chargeback runs through the card network rather than through consumer protection legislation, and it is a separate route from a statutory refund claim. Card issuers accept disputes for goods or services that were not received, transactions that were not authorized, and amounts that do not match what was agreed. Each network sets its own filing deadline, commonly measured from the transaction or expected delivery date, and a federally regulated bank must fully investigate a disputed transaction and has a complaint process that ends at an external complaints body.