Code of Conduct Reporting

When the CCTS investigates customer complaints about telecom and TV services, we try to determine if the service provider has reasonably met its responsibilities to its customer.

We use three CRTC codes of conduct as minimum standards against which we measure service provider conduct:

Wireless Code: For consumer and small business wireless (mobile) services.
Deposit & Disconnection (D&D) Code: For local phone services.
Television Service Provider (TVSP) Code: For subscription TV services (residential customers only).

For more detailed information about the preceding codes, see:

Beginning in January of 2020, the CCTS will also administer the CRTC-issued Internet Code, which was published in July of 2019. The Internet Code will apply only to services provided by Canada’s large facilities-based internet service providers to individual consumers.

“Once my service provider found out I escalated the problem with the CCTS, they promptly resolved the issue.”

Resolving complaints and analyzing code compliance

When we accept a customer complaint we record and track all of the issues raised in the complaint. Some complaints raise questions about whether a service provider has complied with a code of conduct. We call these “alleged breaches.”

The vast majority of complaints are resolved to the satisfaction of the customer and the service provider at an early stage of our process. When complaints are resolved, there is no need for us to investigate the underlying issues, including to determine if there have been any violations of a code of conduct. Therefore, these issues remain characterized as “alleged breaches.”

In the cases that we do investigate, we can determine whether there has been a violation. We categorize proven violations as “confirmed breaches.” When we investigate and determine that there has not been a violation, we categorize this as “no breach.”

In this section, we present statistical reports on breaches of the three applicable codes using the preceding terminology.

Wireless Code

In developing the Wireless Code, the CRTC sought to ensure that consumers of voice and data services are better informed of the rights and obligations contained in their contracts. The Wireless Code applies to individual and small business consumers, and all wireless service providers must follow its guidelines.

Figure 6.1: Summary of Wireless Code breaches

Graphic with statistics going from top to bottom: From 2,707 alleged breaches, 2,373 alleged breaches did not require investigation and 334 breaches were investigated. Out of the 334 breaches investigated, 158 breaches were confirmed and 176 were not confirmed as a breach.

Table 6.1: Wireless Code confirmed breaches by section

wdt_ID	Code section	# of confirmed breaches	% of total confirmed breaches	YoY change
1	A. Clarity	4	2.5%	-33.3%
2	A.1. Plain language	3	1.9%	-40.0%
3	A.2. Prices	0	0.0%	–
4	A.3. Unlimited services	1	0.6%	–
5	B. Contracts and related documents	52	32.9%	85.7%
6	B.1.(i-ii) Permanent copy of the contract and related documents	23	14.6%	109.1%
7	B.1.(iii) a-e Key contract terms and conditions	25	15.8%	66.7%
8	B.1.(iii) f-m Other aspects of the contract	3	1.9%	100.0%
9	B.2. Prepaid service contracts	1	0.6%	-50.0%
10	C. Critical Information Summary	14	8.9%	1300.0%

The most frequently breached requirement (almost 33% of all Wireless Code confirmed breaches) dealt with customer contracts. There were 52 breaches of this type, up from 28 last year. Most often there was the failure to include in the contract all of the information required by the Code and the failure to provide a permanent copy of the contract to the customer.

In terms of improvement over last year, complaints alleging breaches of the roaming notification and the data roaming and overage provisions (Section E, Bill management) accounted for only 15% of all Wireless Code confirmed breaches – 24 breaches, down from 41 last year.

Table 6.2: Wireless Code confirmed breaches by service provider

wdt_ID	Service provider	# of confirmed breaches	% of all confirmed breaches	YoY change	Section A. Clarity	Section B. Contracts and related documents	Section C. Critical Information Summary	Section D. Changes to contracts and related documents	Section E. Bill management	Section F. Mobile device issues	Section G. Contract cancellation and extension	Section I. Disconnection
1	Bell Canada	46	29.1%	100.0%	1	6	2	2	9	11	2	13
2	TELUS	31	19.6%	210.0%	0	28	0	0	1	0	1	1
3	Rogers	31	19.6%	-29.5%	2	8	10	1	6	0	1	3
4	Freedom Mobile	25	15.8%	257.1%	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	19
5	Fido	12	7.6%	33.3%	0	3	1	0	3	0	0	5
6	Virgin	8	5.1%	-20.0%	0	2	0	2	1	2	1	0
7	Videotron	4	2.5%	33.3%	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
8	Chatr	1	0.6%	100.0%	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Total	158	100%	42.3%	4	52	14	5	24	13	5	41

NOTE: 19 of the 158 confirmed breaches relate to the pre-December 1, 2017 version of The Wireless Code, and therefore, the section numbers would be different than the ones presented in table 6.1. For more information, see the detailed breakdown of the CRTC Code of Conduct Breaches.

Bell Canada had the highest percentage of all Wireless Code breaches (29%) with 46 breaches, double the number last year. TELUS had almost 20% of confirmed Wireless Code breaches with 31 breaches, up from 10 last year.

Rogers also accounted for almost 20% of all confirmed Wireless Code breaches with 31 breaches, down from 44 breaches last year.

Deposit and Disconnection Code

The D&D Code is a mandatory CRTC code of conduct that provides local phone customers with protection in some cases when they are required to provide a deposit as a condition of obtaining local phone service or when a service provider intends to disconnect the customer’s local phone service.

Confirmed breaches of the D&D Code have declined through the years, with 13 two years ago and 6 last year. This year—for the first time ever—there were no confirmed breaches of the D&D Code.

Figure 6.2: Summary of D&D Code breaches

Graphic with statistics going from top to bottom: From 77 alleged breaches, 70 alleged breaches did not require investigation and 7 breaches were investigated. Out of the 7 breaches investigated, no breaches were.

Figure 6.3: Summary of TVSP Code breaches

Graphic with statistics going from top to bottom: From 894 alleged breaches, 884 alleged breaches did not require investigation and 10 breaches were investigated. Out of the 10 breaches investigated, 3 breaches were confirmed and 7 were not confirmed as a breach.

Television Service Provider Code

The Television Service Provider Code (TVSP Code) is a mandatory CRTC code of conduct that is intended to make it easier for Canadians to understand their TV service agreements and empowers residential customers in their relationships with TVSPs.

The TVSP Code applies only to consumers (not small businesses), and all licensed TV service providers must follow its guidelines. We address complaints about subscription TV services provided by cable, Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and national satellite direct-to-home (DTH) TV service providers.

Table 6.3: TVSP Code confirmed breaches by section

Code section	# of confirmed breaches	% of total confirmed breaches
VII. Agreements and related documents	1	33%
XI. Notice for changes to programming options	2	67%
Total	3	100%

Table 6.4: TVSP Code confirmed breaches by service provider

wdt_ID	Service provider	Number of confirmed breaches	% of all confirmed breaches	YoY change	Section VII. Agreements and related documents	Section XI. Changes to programming options
1	Bell Canada	2	66.7%	100.0%	33.3%	33.3%
2	Cogeco Connexion	1	33.3%	100.0%	–	33.3%
3	Total	3	100%	200%

Given that the TVSP Code has fewer mandatory requirements for service providers than do the Wireless Code and the D&D Code, we were required to investigate very few alleged breaches. Three breaches were confirmed.