Implementing a new piece of legislation, instead of just amending existing laws, is typically done in order to implement sweeping new rules or reforms or improvements. If that is the Ontario government’s intention with its proposed consumer protection legislation, there is plenty of room for speculation as to what, if anything is being changed and just how much effect any changes will have.
As the provincial government sets forth in its introductory backgrounder of the proposed Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023, the new act is supposed to supplant the existing Consumer Protection Act and amend the Consumer Reporting Act. “If passed,” the government writes, “it would strengthen protections and make life easier for consumers and businesses.” But just how it would do that remains up in the air, especially since, at its core, the new legislation appears to cover much of the same ground as the existing legislation.
“So much of what’s in the new text is already in the old text,” says Jon Foreman. Based in London, Ont., Foreman is founder and partner at Foreman & Company, a law firm that specializes in consumer-led class actions. “There isn’t much in it that is new. There are a few minor details that I would call new but otherwise the old text did all of this.”