Consumer and Debt Law
Consumer law relates to the buying and selling of products and services. Products include everything from small everyday items to big items like cars. Services can include fitness club memberships, home repairs, car repairs, vacations, etc.
There are a variety of Consumer laws in Ontario. The laws that may apply depend on the type of product or service. The Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services website has links to Ontario consumer protection laws: https://www.ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario.
The Ontario Government website also includes:
- information on many different consumer law topics: https://www.ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario.
- information about your rights when signing or cancelling a contract: www.ontario.ca/consumers/your-rights-when-signing-or-cancelling-contract.
- fraud and scam information: https://www.ontario.ca/page/scams-and-identity-theft www.ontario.ca/law-and-safety/report-scam-or-fraud.
I owe money / Je dois de l’argent guide
Our consumer debt guide for people in Ontario includes information about debt, collection agencies, bankruptcy, being sued in court, resources, getting legal help, and more. The guide is available in English and French on our website:
- I owe money…I am having trouble paying my bills: www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/I_owe_money-HALCO-debt-guide.pdf.
- Je dois de l’argent…J’ai de la difficulté à payer mes factures : www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/I_owe_money-FR-Je_dois_argent-HALCO.pdf.
If you are living with HIV and have questions about Consumer law, please contact us for advice, information and referrals.
Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has booklets about consumer and credit topics that are available on-line and in print in English and French, including:
- Your credit report www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/credit.
- Credit repair www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/crrepair.
- Credit counselling and debt settlement services www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/credebts.
- Payday loans www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/payday.
- Identity theft www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/idtheft.
- Unfair practices: When sellers break the rules www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/unfair.
- Door to door sales http://www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/doorsales.
- Online, telephone, and mail-order shopping www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/otmshop.
- Telephone and internet scams www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/scams.
- Buying or leasing a used vehicle www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/vehdeal.
- Motor vehicle repairs www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/vehiclerep.
These CLEO publications are also available in French on the CLEO website: www.cleo.on.ca/fr/resources-and-publications/pubs?language=fr&field_legal_topic_tid_i18n=306.
Getting legal help
The law can be very complicated so if you have a question or problem, we recommend that you get legal advice about your situation:
- People living with HIV in Ontario can contact usabout any legal issue.
- You can contact your local community legal clinicto find out about services in your community. You can find your local community legal clinic as well as specialty legal clinics using the Legal Aid Ontario website: https://www.legalaid.on.ca/services/legal-clinics/.
Pro Bono Ontario provides legal information, resources and services for people in Ontario, including information about suing, being sued, Small Claims Court and the Superior Court of Justice: www.probonoontario.org/.
The Law Society Referral Service (LSRS) of the Law Society of Ontario is an on-line service that provides a referral to a lawyer or paralegal for an in-person or phone consultation of up to 30 minutes at no charge: https://lsrs.lso.ca/lsrs/welcome. The LSRS crisis telephone for people in custody, in crisis, in a shelter or in a remote community without internet access is 416-947-5255 or toll-free 1-855-947-5255, Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm. For more information please see the Law Society Referral Service information on the Law Society of Ontario website: https://lsrs.lso.ca/lsrs/welcome. The Law Society of Ontario was formerly the Law Society of Upper Canada.