In advance of the coming into force on October 5, 2025 of the provisions relating to the warranty of availability of replacement parts, repair services and information necessary to maintain or repair goods (the “Warranty”) under the Québec Consumer Protection Act, as amended by Bill 29, the Québec Consumer Protection Bureau (the “OPC”) has issued guidance for merchants and manufacturers on how they can disclaim the Warranty (the “Guidance”; available in French only), if they choose to do so.
The Guidance provides the OPC’s interpretation of how the new rules under Bill 29 and the Regulation should be implemented, with specific emphasis on how disclaimers concerning the Warranty must be provided by merchants and manufacturers to consumers in Québec prior to and during sales transactions. While the Guidance has no force of law, it does offer valuable insight into how the OPC will likely interpret and enforce these new requirements.
Background
As a reminder, Bill 29, An Act to protect consumers from planned obsolescence and to promote the durability, repairability and maintenance of goods, introduced important changes to the consumer protection landscape in Québec, notably strengthening the existing Warranty by:
- extending the Warranty to information necessary to maintain or repair the goods; and
- specifying that both the merchant and manufacturer must disclose whether they entirely, partially or in no way guarantee the availability of replacement parts, repair services, and information necessary to maintain or repair the goods.
The Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act (the “Regulation”) further specified the conditions that must be met before the merchant and/or manufacturer is able to validly disclaim the Warranty:
Conditions applicable to manufacturers
Manufacturers must disclose whether they entirely, partially or in no way guarantee the availability of replacement parts, repair services, and/or information necessary to maintain or repair the goods. The disclosure must be available online, made in a prominent and comprehensible manner; and presented in a format that can be easily printed and retained. It must also be included in a prominent and comprehensible manner in any user or maintenance manual provided with the good, if applicable. In the case of a partial warranty, the manufacturer must also disclose, in the same manner, information making it possible to easily identify the replacement parts, repair services or information necessary to maintain or repair the goods whose availability it does not guarantee.
Conditions applicable to merchants
Merchants are subject to the same obligations as manufacturers but must make the disclosure prior to concluding the sales contract. In their case, the disclosure could take the form of a written disclosure presented to the consumer in a prominent and comprehensible manner, but it can also be published online provided that such online disclosure:
- is presented in a prominent and comprehensible manner;
- can be easily retained and printed by the consumer; and
- is in proximity to a hyperlink to the manufacturer’s disclosure regarding its replacement parts and repair services warranty (unless no such hyperlink exists).
Additionally, for online sales, the merchant must publish near its own disclosure the hyperlink (if such a hyperlink exists) leading towards the manufacturer’s disclosure regarding its Warranty. The merchant is relieved of this obligation if the manufacturer has not made such a link available.
Additional information
These requirements apply to all goods offered for sale or lease as of October 5, 2025, regardless of when or where the goods were manufactured. Please note that satisfying the above conditions is not necessarily sufficient to disclaim the Warranty. As discussed later in this post, additional steps are generally required. Note also that the government may, in the future, publish a regulation specifying goods for which the warranty may not be disclaimed.
For more information on these changes, see our blog posts from July 2025 and October 2024.
Examples from the Guidance
The Guidance provides the following example of the information a merchant is required to disclose, before entering into a contract, regarding whether it entirely, partially or in no way guarantees the Warranty:
The Guidance also provides the following example of the information a manufacturer is required to disclose regarding whether it entirely, partially or in no way guarantees the Warranty:
How Businesses may Disclaim the Warranty
According to the Guidance, while posting a disclaimer online or in the user manual is compliant with the requirements under the Regulation, it is not sufficient to validly disclaim the Warranty. Instead, the disclaimer must always be explicitly provided to the consumer in writing before the contract is concluded. Importantly, the consumer must be able to easily understand to which product the disclaimer applies.
The Guidance provides several examples to illustrate how the OPC considers that merchants and manufacturers may validly notify consumers that they disclaim the Warranty.
Online transactions: example of a compliant disclaimer
A merchant or manufacturer indicates on its e-commerce website that it does not provide replacement parts for a vacuum cleaner. The same notice appears in a summary of the order. The notice is easy to understand, clearly presented and requires confirmation from the consumer that he or she has read it in order to make the online purchase.
In-store transactions: examples of compliant disclaimers
A cellphone merchant does not provide replacement parts for the phone.
The notice is clearly and legibly displayed beside the price of the goods displayed in the store.
A merchant does not supply replacement parts, repair services, or information necessary for the maintenance or repair of any of the goods it sells.
It notifies customers by means of one or more visible signs placed at the entrance to the store and at the cash register to ensure that consumers are notified before purchasing goods.
A manufacturer offers a bicycle for sale at a merchant’s store (i.e., a retailer) but does not provide repair services for it.
The notice is prominently displayed on a label that the manufacturer affixed directly to the bicycle before it was delivered to the retailer.
A manufacturer offers a dishwasher for sale at a merchant’s store (i.e., a retailer) but does not provide repair services for it.
As an alternative to affixing a label to the good (as in the preceding example), it enters into an agreement with the retailer to ensure that the notice appears clearly and legibly beside the price of the dishwasher displayed in the store.
Counterexamples
According to the OPC, the following measures are not sufficient to disclaim the Warranty:
- A manufacturer publishes the disclaimer online, as provided for in section 79.18 of the Regulation. This is not sufficient, because the manufacturer cannot be sure that the consumer saw the information before entering into a contract with a merchant. A merchant publishes the disclaimer on its website, as provided for in section 79.20 of the Regulation. This is not sufficient, because the merchant cannot be sure that the consumer saw the information before entering into a contract in-store.
These counterexamples confirm that the OPC considers publishing a disclaimer online in accordance with the Regulation to be insufficient to disclaim the Warranty without providing additional written communication to the consumer prior to concluding the contract.
Take-aways
In light of the Guidance, manufacturers and merchants doing business in Québec should review and update their consumer-facing disclosures, and consider adjusting their product documentation, product packaging, in-store signage, and online checkout flows to ensure that the appropriate Warranty disclosure is provided. Manufacturers may also need to revise their contracts with merchants to ensure that they provide consumers with the manufacturer’s disclosure relating to the Warranty.
We will continue to closely monitor developments regarding the interpretation and application of these new rules.
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