CRTC bans activation fees and no-subsidy exit charges
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued a regulatory policy (CRTC 2026-43) to prohibit certain fees that act as barriers to Canadians switching or modifying their cellphone and Internet service plans. Effective June 12, 2026, service providers cannot charge activation, modification, or early cancellation fees in contracts without a device subsidy, with exceptions for reasonable physical installation fees or explicitly chosen additional products/services. This policy amends the existing Wireless Code and Internet Code to implement new consumer protections mandated by recent changes to the Telecommunications Act.
Key Takeaways
- Activation or modification fees are banned when they are incurred by starting a new retail plan or changing an existing one, except for reasonable physical installation fees at a customer’s premises.
- Wireless Code section G.3.i will bar early cancellation fees when no subsidized device is included in the contract.
- The new rules apply to individual and small business mobile wireless customers, plus individual home Internet customers served by providers subject to the Internet Code.
- The Commission asked the CCTS to report complaints about activation and modification fees in its annual and mid-year reports.
- Service providers can still charge for optional products or services, such as additional equipment or Wi‑Fi configuration, if customers explicitly choose them.
Why It Matters
The immediate effect is a narrower set of fees that can be used to slow down plan changes: activation, modification, and no-subsidy early cancellation charges are now barred under the Codes from 12 June 2026. The policy also preserves room for physical installation costs and explicitly chosen add-ons, which matters for broadband rollout and contract design. More broadly, the CRTC is using the Wireless Code and Internet Code, rather than a new framework, to implement the Telecommunications Act changes. Watch the CCTS’s annual and mid-year complaint counts on these fee types for the first compliance signal.
Read full article at crtc.gc.ca
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