Service Disconnection

Know Your Rights

If you’ve recently been struggling with service disconnection, it’s important to know what your provider can and can’t do. According to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS), a provider can disconnect your services if:

• You have failed to pay an account that is past due with a sum of over 50$ for more than two months
• You have agreed to a payment plan with the provider, but have failed to comply with its terms
• You have failed to provide or maintain a reasonable deposit or alternative

However, before disconnecting your services, the provider must provide you with a notice 14 days prior to disconnection that contains:

• The reason for disconnection
• The amount owing
• The date of disconnection
• Availability of a payment plan, should the provider offer one
• The reconnection charge, if applicable
• A number at which the customer can call to discuss to dispute the disconnection

A provider can only disconnect your service at the following times (your timezone):

• Weekdays between 8am and 9pm
• Weekends between 9am to 5pm
• Statutory holidays between 9am and 12pm

A second notice must be sent by the service provider at least 24 hours before the disconnection. However, if they have made numerous attempts to reach you to no avail, they will no longer be required to do this.

Your Options

Contact a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) as soon as you can. If you cannot enter into a payment agreement with your provider, your LIT will explain what options are available to you. In these situations, the most common are Consumer Proposals and Personal Bankruptcies.

In order for your provider to be included in your consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy, you should first cancel your service with them. Your provider will send you a final bill, which can then be part of your consumer proposal or bankruptcy debts.