Working with service providers

Annual Report

August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requires all phone, internet, and licensed TV service providers in Canada to participate in the CCTS, so customers have recourse for complaints they cannot solve with their provider.

If a service provider is not already a participant of the CCTS when one of their customers submits a complaint to us, they must join. A service provider who has joined the CCTS and follows the requirements of the program, is called a Participating Service Provider (PSP).

By the end of 2023-24, the CCTS worked with 436 brands operated by 311 participating service providers. Of the 436 brands, 257 had no complaints, and 95 brands had three or fewer complaints. Together, the 25 most complained-about PSPs or “top 25” PSPs (detailed below) account for 96% of all complaints accepted. The remaining 4% of accepted complaints were raised by customers of 154 brands.

In 2023–24, the CCTS welcomed 11 new PSPs to our program.

The top 25 service providers account for 96% of all accepted complaints.

Data-driven insights

Our reports provide information about the issues customers experience and have difficulty resolving with their service provider. We identify issues and trends that are occurring in the telecom-television landscape. By reporting on issues and trends by service provider, we help providers identify opportunities for improvement so they can better meet customer needs.

National PSP groups complaint analysis: five-year review

In this section, we review the percentage of customer complaints related to national service provider groups. These groups represent the largest telecom and TV providers. They offer wireless service nationally to consumers and internet, phone and TV service to large regions of Canada. These providers offer services to customers through various brands, subsidiaries and affiliates.

National PSP groups complaint proportion analysis across the last five years

  • Rogers group: Rogers Communications, Source Cable Ltd., Simply Connect, Kincardine Group, Fido, Compton Communications, Cityfone, Chatr Wireless, Cable Cable, Cross Country TV, RuralWave, Seaside Communications powered by Rogers, Seaside Wireless powered by Rogers, Zoomer, Shaw, Shaw Direct, KWIC Internet, Comwave, Call Select, NetReach, Telizon Inc.
  • Bell group: Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, Bell MTS, Dryden Municipal Telephone System (DMTS), Kenora Municipal Telephone System (KMTS), Lucky Mobile, PC Mobile (Pre-Paid), Solo Mobile, Virgin Plus, Bell Mobility, Vox, Bell Satellite TV, Axia FibreNet, Distributel, Acanac, Navigata, EBOX, Primus, Télébec, Cablevision du Nord de Québec, Groupe Maskatel Québec S.E.C., NorthernTel, Ontera, Northwestel, 10-10-580, 450Tel, Telecommunications Xittel, Téléphone de St-Victor, Téléphone de St- Éphrem, Telephone Upton, ThinkTel, Unlimitel, Wintel, Yak
  • TELUS group: TELUS Communications Inc., Koodo, Mascon, Public Mobile, TELUS Satellite, ABC Communications, Start.ca, Altima Telecom, GTA Telecom Inc., GoCo., Velocity Networks Inc.
  • Videotron group: Videotron, Fizz, Freedom Mobile, VMedia
Figure 8.1: Accepted complaints trend over four national PSP groups

NOTE: In 2023-24, we added the Videotron group to the national PSP groups. This is because it acquired Freedom Mobile which offers wireless services nationally.

Figure 8.2: Proportion of accepted complaints for the four national PSP groups

* In 2023-24, we added the Videotron group to the national PSP groups. This is because it acquired Freedom Mobile which offers wireless services nationally.

  • Rogers acquired Comwave and its affiliates Call Select, NetReach and Telizon Inc.
  • The Rogers, Bell and TELUS groups continued to show an upward trend in complaints this year. The three largest PSP groups accounted for 86% of all 20,147 accepted complaints, up from 81% last year and 72% in 2021-22. With the Videotron PSP group added in 2023-24, the four national PSP groups account for 93% of all accepted complaints.
  • Among three national PSP groups (Rogers, Bell and TELUS), the Rogers group had the most significant increase in the proportion of total complaints over the last five years. Its proportion of accepted complaints increased to 36% this year, up 3% from last year and up 12% from 2021-22.
  • The Bell group accounted for 24% of all accepted complaints across all service providers, down 1% from the previous year. Though down proportionately, the Bell group saw an increase in complaints of 37% this year.
  • Since 2018, the proportion of complaints accepted about the Bell group has decreased from 40% to 24%. At the same time, the Rogers group has shown an upward trend in their proportion of accepted complaints over the last six years, from 15% in 2018 to 39% this year.
  • This year, the TELUS group accounted for 23% of all accepted complaints across all service providers, up from 20% last year. TELUS saw an increase of 57% in complaints since last year’s report.

Top 25 Participating Service Providers

96% of all accepted complaints were about 25 service providers.

Together, the top 25 PSP brands account for 96% of all accepted complaints in 2023-24, up from 95% last year. The remaining 4% of accepted complaints were filed about 154 different service providers.

Top 3: Rogers, Bell and TELUS remain the top three service providers based on complaint volume. All three providers experienced a large increase from our previous annual report. Compared to the 38% increase in complaints across all service providers, the top three brands experienced significant increases:

    • Rogers Communications Inc. (Rogers): 68% increase
    • Bell Canada (Bell): 46% increase
    • TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS): 53% increase

Top 10: Overall, with one exception the service providers in last year’s top 10 stayed on the list in 2023-24. Public Mobile replaced Fizz in the top 10 list, up from 14th place last year. Public Mobile’s complaints increased this year to 793 from 115 in 2022-23.

  • Although most of the service providers in the top 10 had an increase in accepted complaints, Koodo had 5% fewer complaints than last year, and Videotron had 14% fewer complaints than last year.

Top 25: Together, the top 25 PSP brands account for 96% of all accepted complaints. These are the notable changes to the top 25 list:

  • While there was year-over-year growth of 38% for overall complaints, some PSPs had significant increases: Public Mobile, Altima Telecom, Distributel, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw, TELUS, and Bell. Complaint volume and year-over-year changes can be found in Table 8.1 below.
  • Last year, Altima Telecom (TELUS group) entered the top 25 list from number 30 and Distributel (Bell group) entered the top 25 list from number 38.
  • Comwave dropped from 18th to 25th place this year with the YOY decrease of 39% in accepted complaints compared to the 38% increase for all service providers. Comwave’s complaint numbers represent the largest YOY decrease within the top 25 list.

Below is an overview of the top 25 most complained about service provider brands.  The data reflects individual brands, not their ownership groups.

 

Table 8.1: Top 25 PSP brands by complaints accepted

* The number of concluded complaints can be higher than the number of accepted complaints because some complaints accepted in 2022-23 were concluded in 2023-24.
† The resolution rate is the percentage of all resolved complaints versus all concluded complaints (87.8% overall).
‡ The escalation rate is the percentage of all escalated complaints versus all concluded complaints (19% overall).

NOTE: Where a complaint remains unresolved after the Initial Referral period, the complaint escalates to Conciliation or Investigation.

Figure 8.3: Top 10 PSP brands by complaints accepted

 

Figure 8.4: Top 10 PSP brands by resolution rate

The resolution rate is the percentage of all resolved complaints vs. all concluded complaints (87.8% overall).

Rogers

Wireless Internet Phone TV

Highlights

  • We accepted 68% more complaints about Rogers Communications Inc. (Rogers) this year after a 44% increase in 2022-23. These are notable jumps, compared to a 38% increase in complaints for all service providers in 2023-24, and a 14% increase in 2022-23.
  • Rogers continued its upward trend in proportional complaint volume over five years from 11% in 2019-20 to 24% of all complaints accepted this year.
  • Wireless: This year, Rogers’ customers raised 77% more issues about its wireless services. Wireless issues account for 46% of all Rogers’ issues, up from 45% last year.
  • Internet and TV issues both increased for Rogers this year.
    • Rogers’ customers raised internet issues 85% more often than last year — compared to a 50% increase across all service providers. Internet issues account for 33% of all Rogers’ issues, up from 31% last year.
    • Rogers’ TV issues grew by 57% YOY, while issues about TV services across all service providers increased by 46%.
  • What contributed to the growth in complaints for Rogers this year:
    • incorrect charge for monthly price plan: 91% increase
    • contract disclosure issues: 79% increase
    • credit or refund not received: 128% increase
    • regular price increase of monthly price plans: 447% increase
  • Issues about service delivery made up a smaller portion of Rogers’ major issues this year, dropping from 31% to 23%. Across all service providers, these issues fell slightly from 30% to 28% this year. Despite this, total issues about service delivery at Rogers increased by 29%.
  • Code breaches: Rogers breached CRTC codes 13 times this year, up from four last year. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

4,855 accepted complaints
+67.8% YoY change in accepted complaints 24.1% of all accepted complaints
4,367 resolved complaints
3,958 resolved at initial referral 409 resolved at conciliation or investigation 90.5% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
16% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 15% disclosure issues 9% credit or refund not received
13 Code breaches
4 Wireless Code breaches 1 Internet Code breach 4 TVSP Code breaches 4 D&D Code breaches

Bell

Wireless Internet Phone TV

Highlights

  • We accepted 46% more complaints about Bell Canada (Bell) this year, up from 7% last year. This increase comes after three years of Bell complaint decreases.
  • Bell accounts for 17% of all accepted complaints, up slightly from 16% last year.
  • Wireless: Bell’s customers raised 50% more wireless issues than last year. These issues account for 46% of all issues raised by its customers. The average proportion of wireless issues across all service providers is 52%.
  • Internet: Internet issues account for 28% of all Bell issues, slightly down from 29% last year. Still, Bell customers raised 38% more issues this year about its internet services than last year.
  • TV: Bell’s customers raised 54% more issues about TV services than last year. TV issues account for 13% of all Bell issues, up from 12% last year.
  • Bell’s top issue this year was incorrect charge for monthly price plan, accounting for 15% of all issues raised about the service provider.
  • Code breaches: Bell breached CRTC codes 11 times this year, up from five last year. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

3,430 accepted complaints
+45.7% YoY change in accepted complaints 17.0% of all accepted complaints
2,645 resolved complaints
2,093 resolved at initial referral 552 resolved at conciliation or investigation 83.4% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
15% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 12% disclosure issues 10% quality of service
11 Code breaches
10 Wireless Code breaches 1 Internet Code breach 0 TVSP Code breaches 0 D&D Code breaches

TELUS

Wireless Internet Phone TV

Highlights

  • We accepted 53% more complaints about TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) than last year. This is a significant increase given that complaints about all service providers increased by 38%.
  • TELUS accounts for 14% of all complaints, up from 12% last year. This is the third year in a row where TELUS’ share of complaints has increased.
  • Wireless: Wireless issues represent 47% of all TELUS’ issues, down from 57% last year. However, TELUS’ customers raised 21% more wireless issues than last year. This is similar to the year-over-year increase of 27% across all service providers.
  • Internet: Internet issues account for 30% of all TELUS’ issues, up from 23% last year. Issues around internet services were a major pain point for TELUS’ customers this year. Customers raised 91% more issues with TELUS’ internet this year. The increase across all service providers was 50%.
  • TV: TV issues account for 12% of all TELUS’ issues, up from 9% last year. However, TELUS’ TV customers raised 82% more issues than last year. The increase across all service providers was 46%.
  • TELUS’ customers raised the following issues more often than last year:
    • incorrect charge for monthly price plan (top issue): 73% increase
    • disclosure issues: 48% increase
    • credit or refund not received: 155% increase
    • regular price increase – monthly price plans: 234% increase
  • Code breaches: Though TELUS had fewer code breaches this year, it still accounted for 26% of all Wireless Code breaches with 12 confirmed breaches. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

2,757 accepted complaints
+53.3% YoY change in accepted complaints 13.7% of all accepted complaints
2,263 resolved complaints
2,102 resolved at initial referral 161 resolved at conciliation or investigation 89.6% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
18% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 15% disclosure issues 9% quality of service
13 Code breaches
12 Wireless Code breaches 1 Internet Code breach 0 TVSP Code breaches 0 D&D Code breaches

Fido (Rogers group)

Wireless Internet

Highlights

  • We accepted 19% more complaints about Fido than last year. This is lower than the 38% increase in complaints across all providers.
  • Fido accounts for 10% of all accepted complaints, down from 12% last year.
  • Wireless: Issues raised about Fido wireless services account for 88% of all its issues. This proportion of complaints shifted slightly from last year, down from 91%. This year, Fido’s customers raised 16% more issues about its wireless services.
  • Internet: Internet issues account for 11% of Fido’s total issues, up from 9% last year and 8% the year before.
  • Fido’s customers raised the following issues more often than last year:
    • credit management issues: 61% increase
    • regular price increase of monthly price plans: 293%
    • credit or refund not received: 75% increase
  • Code breaches: We confirmed two Wireless Code breaches for Fido this year. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

2,030 accepted complaints
+19.1% YoY change in accepted complaints 10.1% of all accepted complaints
1,867 resolved complaints
1,714 resolved at initial referral 153 resolved at conciliation or investigation 90.7% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
16% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 13% disclosure issues 13% credit or refund not received
2 Code breaches
2 Wireless Code breaches 0 Internet Code breaches

Koodo (TELUS group)

Wireless Internet

Highlights

  • We accepted 5% fewer complaints about Koodo this year. This is much lower than the 38% increase in all complaints across all service providers.
  • Koodo accounts for 5% of all accepted complaints, down from 7% last year.
  • Customers raised 18% fewer issues about Koodo than last year. This is significant because issues with all service providers increased by 35% at the same time.
  • Wireless: Most (99%) of the complaints Koodo’s customers submitted to us were about its wireless services.
  • Internet: Within the last year, Koodo began to offer internet services. We saw a small number of complaints about this.
  • Driving Koodo’s decreases in issues: disclosure (35% decrease), roaming (64% decrease), incorrect charge for monthly price plan (22% decrease) and third-party charges (83% decrease).
  • Code breaches: This year, Koodo breached the Wireless Code three times, down from five times last year and eight times in 2021-22. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

965 accepted complaints
-5.0% YoY change in accepted complaints 4.8% of all accepted complaints
796 resolved complaints
733 resolved at initial referral 63 resolved at conciliation or investigation 88.1% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
14% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 12% disclosure issues 10% quality of service
3 Code breaches
3 Wireless Code breaches 0 Internet Code breaches

Freedom Mobile (Videotron group)

Wireless Internet

Highlights

  • We accepted 6% more complaints about Freedom Mobile (Freedom) this year, compared to 38% across all service providers. Freedom accounts for 4% of all accepted complaints, down from 6% last year.
  • Wireless: Most of Freedom’s issues remain about wireless services (98%, up from 97% last year).
  • Internet: Freedom’s customers raised 13% fewer issues about internet services this year. At the same time, customers raised 50% more issues about internet services across all service providers.
  • Billing issues were raised 14% less than last year by Freedom’s customers. These account for 38% of the total issues from Freedom, down from 44% last year. The decrease in billing issues for Freedom was largely due to a decrease in issues about roaming charges, down 62% since last year’s report.
  • Code breaches: Freedom had one code breach this year. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

885 accepted complaints
+5.7% YoY change in accepted complaints 4.4% of all accepted complaints
819 resolved complaints
755 resolved at initial referral 44 resolved at conciliation or investigation 94.0% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
15% disclosure issues 11% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 11% quality of service
1 Code breach
1 Wireless Code breach 0 Internet Code breaches

Virgin Plus (Bell group)

Wireless Internet TV

Highlights

  • We accepted 2% more complaints about Virgin Plus this year, compared to an increase of 38% across all service providers.
  • This year, Virgin Plus accounts for 4% of all accepted complaints, down from 6% last year.
  • Wireless: Virgin Plus’ customers raised 1% more wireless issues since last year. This accounts for 85% of all its issues. Comparatively, wireless issues increased by 27% across all service providers.
  • Internet: Virgin Plus’ customers raised 18% fewer internet issues than last year. In contrast, this issue increased 50% over all service providers. Internet issues account for 14% of all issues for Virgin Plus down from 16% last year. The decrease in the number of internet issues customers raised against Virgin Plus follows last year’s first drop after seven years of increases.
  • Issues reported about incorrect charge for monthly price plans and credit or refund not received increased this year for Virgin Plus, by 3% and 20%, respectively. Disclosure issues moved down from top spot last year, to the second most reported issue by Virgin Plus’ customers this year with a 23% decrease in issues.
  • Issues reported about incorrect charges for monthly price plans and credits or refunds not received increased this year for Virgin Plus, by 3% and 20%, respectively. Disclosure issues moved down from top spot last year, to the second most reported issue by Virgin’s customers this year with a 23% decrease in issues.
  • Code breaches: We confirmed that Virgin Plus breached CRTC codes five times, down from 14 times last year. All Virgin Plus’ breaches were of the Wireless Code. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

850 accepted complaints
+1.7% YoY change in accepted complaints 4.2% of all accepted complaints
690 resolved complaints
527 resolved at initial referral 163 resolved at conciliation or investigation 85.4% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
13% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 12% disclosure issues 10% credit or refund not received
5 Code breaches
5 Wireless Code breaches 0 Internet Code breaches 0 TVSP Code breaches

Public Mobile (TELUS group)

Wireless

Highlights

  • Complaints about Public Mobile increased from 115 last year to 793 accepted complaints this year.
  • The increase in complaints about Public Mobile was largely driven by the retirement of its legacy rewards program. This program let customers use loyalty credits to reduce the monthly cost of their pre-paid wireless services. Customers looked to us to confirm whether Public Mobile’s terms of service permitted this change. They were concerned that they would lose reward program credits. We reviewed the circumstances of each customer’s unresolved complaint to ensure that Public Mobile complied with relevant codes and its contractual obligations to each customer who raised an issue with us.
  • Public Mobile’s customers raised 477% more issues than last year (from 149 issues in 2021-22 to 860 in 2022-23).
    • The primary driver of the rise in issues is due to increased reports about credits or refund not received, which increased from five issues last year to 232 this year. Comparatively, credit or refunds not received increased by 108% across all service providers for wireless services.
    • The second major driver is the increase in reported issues about changes to the contract increased from eight issues to 228, an increase of 2,750%. In contrast, issues about changes to the contract for wireless services increased by 33% across all service providers.
  • Code breaches: Public Mobile had no confirmed code breaches this year.

Statistics

793 accepted complaints
+589.6% YoY change in accepted complaints 3.9% of all accepted complaints
362 resolved complaints
236 resolved at initial referral 126 resolved at conciliation or investigation 70.3% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
27% credit or refund not received 27% changes to the contract 10% quality of service
0 Code breaches
0 Wireless Code breaches

Shaw (Rogers group)

Wireless Internet Phone TV

Highlights

  • We accepted 62% more complaints about Shaw this year compared to a 38% increase in complaints for all service providers.
  • Shaw accounts for 4% of all accepted complaints, up from 3% last year.
  • Shaw’s customers raised 56% more issues, while issues across all service providers increased by 35%. Many of Shaw’s issues increased disproportionately since last year’s annual report when compared to all service providers.
  • Wireless: In the fall of 2023, following the Rogers-Shaw merger, Rogers migrated Shaw’s wireless customers to Rogers. Issues with Shaw’s wireless services decreased 11% this year and account for 6% of all issues raised by Shaw’s customers.
  • Internet: Shaw’s customers raised 64% more internet issues year-over-year, compared to the 50% increase across all providers. Internet issues account for 55% of all issues raised about all Shaw’s services, up from 52% last year.
  • TV: Shaw’s customers raised 75% more issues about its TV services than last year. In contrast, there was a 46% increase on the same issue across all service providers. Issues about TV services account for 28% of all Shaw issues, up from 25% last year.
  • Some of Shaw’s leading issues about intermittent service (37% increase), disclosure (52% increase) and incorrect charge for monthly price plan (56% increase) all increased disproportionately to global changes (i.e. 12%, 21% and 47% across all service providers, respectively).
  • Code breaches: Shaw had no confirmed breaches this year, down from eight breaches of the Wireless Code last year.

Statistics

705 accepted complaints
+62.1% YoY change in accepted complaints 3.5% of all accepted complaints
593 resolved complaints
516 resolved at initial referral 77 resolved at conciliation or investigation 88.2% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
15% quality of service 11% disclosure issues 10% incorrect charge for monthly price plan
0 Code breaches
0 Wireless Code breaches 0 Internet Code breaches 0 TVSP Code breaches 0 D&D Code breaches

Videotron

Wireless Internet Phone TV

Highlights

  • We accepted 14% fewer complaints about Videotron Ltd. (Videotron) than last year. This is much lower than the 38% increase in all complaints across all service providers.
  • Videotron accounts for 2% of all accepted complaints, down from 3% last year and 5% the year before. With the decrease in complaint volume, Videotron shifted from the eighth most complained about provider last year to the 10th this year.
  • Videotron customers raised 11% fewer issues this year.
  • Wireless: Videotron’s wireless issues make up 29% of all its issues, down from 34% last year. Its customers raised this issue 25% less than last year. At the same time wireless issues increased by 27% across all service providers.
  • Internet: Videotron’s customers raised 1% fewer issues about its internet services than last year. At the same time, internet issues across all service providers increased by 50%. Internet issues account for 38% of Videotron’s issues, a slight increase from 34% reported last year. At the same time internet issues increased by 46% across all service providers
  • Billing accounted for two of the top three issues raised by Videotron’s customers this year. Many of these were about incorrect charge for monthly price plan (10% decrease), disclosure issues (25% decrease), and credit or refund not received (45% increase).
  • Code breaches: Videotron breached the Internet Code once this year, down from five last year and 10 in 2021-22. See Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct section of the Annual Report for more detail.

Statistics

422 accepted complaints
-13.9% YoY change in accepted complaints 2.1% of all accepted complaints
381 resolved complaints
333 resolved at initial referral 48 resolved at conciliation or investigation 87.4% resolution rate
(all PSPs – 87.8%)
Top 3 issues across all service types
16% incorrect charge for monthly price plan 16% disclosure issues 10% credit or refund not received
1 Code breach
0 Wireless Code breaches 1 Internet Code breach 0 TVSP Code breaches 0 D&D Code breaches

Monitoring service provider compliance

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requires all providers of retail telecom services and licensed TV service providers in Canada to participate in the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS). This requirement ensures that all consumers in Canada can benefit from our free and effective services no matter which service provider they choose to do business with.

We regularly update information about service provider non-compliance on a dedicated webpage. We publish the names of providers that have been referred to the CRTC for failure to join the CCTS when required, or who were expelled for not complying with their obligations. We publish this information to help consumers make informed choices when choosing service providers. We also publish annual compliance reports: in May 2024, we published the 2023 Compliance Report Cards. These identify service providers and their compliance with CCTS participation requirements.

There are two categories of service provider requirements:

Compliance with the requirement to join the CCTS

We currently have 311 participating service providers, operating 436 brands. But there are still some providers, mainly smaller ones and those who are new to the industry, who have not yet joined. Any service provider not yet enrolled must join when one of their customers files a complaint with us. Sometimes service providers choose to sign up with us of their own accord.

We do everything in our power to help service providers join the CCTS and we are generally successful. Between August 1, 2023, and July 31, 2024, we enrolled 11 new service providers. This took an average of 30 days from when we contacted them to when they enrolled.

Unfortunately, some providers refuse to join. If we cannot persuade them to follow this CRTC requirement, we refer the matter to the CRTC for further action. In 2023-24, we referred two providers, FVN Alliance Inc. and Crystal HDV Communications, to the CRTC for failure to join the CCTS.

On January 11, 2024, the CRTC issued a decision against Optitel Mobile Inc., a provider that we had previously referred to the CRTC for failure to join the CCTS. The CRTC found that Optitel was no longer operating but that it had violated the Telecommunications Act by failing to join the CCTS when required.

Compliance with Participating Service Provider requirements

After a provider has become a PSP, it must adhere to the requirements outlined in the CCTS Participation Agreement. The following are some things they must do:

  • Comply with the CCTS Procedural Code, including implementing all remedies awarded to customers by CCTS. This Code contains the rules for the CCTS’ complaint-handling process.
  • Carry out their obligations under the CCTS Public Awareness Plan, including the obligation to inform customers about their right of recourse to the CCTS.
  • Pay fees and disclose certain financial information.

We monitor PSP compliance with these requirements regularly and work with PSPs to bring them into compliance. If a PSP continues to be non-compliant, we have a range of enforcement tools. We can even expel non-compliant PSPs from the CCTS. This triggers a referral to the CRTC for further action.

In 2023-24, we terminated the participation of InnSys Inc. for failure to comply with a number of mandatory CCTS requirements and referred it to the CRTC for further action.

To ensure that the CCTS complaint-handling process is efficient and effective, the CCTS monitors PSP compliance with our process. Where a PSP does not comply with our process, we will step in. We concluded more than 19,000 complaints this year and found 15 cases of major non-compliance with our complaint-handling process.

  • We confirmed 11 cases in which the PSP failed to provide its customers with the remedy they were entitled to following our complaint-handling process. Those providers are:
    • Rogers Communications (3)
    • TELUS (2)
    • Bell Canada
    • Public Mobile
    • NFTC Telecom
    • Fido
    • Tamaani Internet
    • Surf Media Inc.

After we engaged with each PSP, the PSP provided the customer with the required remedy.

  • Four providers threatened customers with legal action, fees or disconnection of service because the customer filed a complaint with us. These were:
  • WISP Online
  • Vaxxine.com
  • Mazagan Telecom
  • Cooptel

In each case, we told the PSP that this was not allowed, and the PSP confirmed it would not proceed with the threat.

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