The universal “cooling-off period” is a myth — here are the situations where the law actually lets you change your mind, and the other ways out of a contract.
One Saturday in May, Karine visits a dealership “just to look.” Three hours later, she drives off in a vehicle financed over 84 months. Sunday night, she redoes her budget at the kitchen table: $640 a month for seven years. Monday morning, she calls the dealership, a little panicked. “I have 10 days to cancel, it’s the law.” She’s told a contract is a contract and she should have thought of that before signing. Who’s right? Both of them, partly: it all depends on the type of contract signed and how many hours have passed since it was signed. Here is the real map of the ways out.
The myth of the universal cooling-off period
The bad news first: there is no general right to change your mind after signing a contract in Québec. Cancellation periods are exceptions set out case by case in the Loi sur la protection du consommateur, Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act (the LPC); they apply only between a consumer and a merchant acting in the course of its business. A private sale between two individuals on Marketplace is not covered.
A common trap: the clock generally does not start running on delivery, but from the moment each party holds a duplicate of the contract.
The time limits the LPC actually provides, case by case
A contract made by an itinerant merchant — the door-to-door heat-pump salesperson — can be cancelled at the consumer’s discretion within 10 days of the day each party holds a duplicate. That period stretches to one year in several situations: an unlicensed merchant, a non-compliant security bond, an incomplete contract, no Statement of Cancellation Rights attached, or non-delivery within 30 days of the expected date (section 59 LPC). A fault by the merchant, in other words, opens a much wider door.
A loan of money and a contract involving credit — Karine’s car financing is one — can be cancelled at the consumer’s discretion, at no charge or penalty, within two days of the day each party holds a duplicate of the contract (section 73 LPC). Short, but real. Since August 1, 2019, the same section allows 10 days for a high-cost credit contract, defined by regulation as one whose rate exceeds the Bank of Canada’s official discount rate by 22 percentage points. That regime also requires the merchant to assess the consumer’s ability to repay and to give the consumer that assessment in writing (section 103.4 LPC).
A distance contract — online, by phone — holds a surprise: there is no general right to return an online purchase. The consumer can cancel the contract within 7 days of receiving a copy of it, but only in the situations listed in section 54.8 LPC: required information not disclosed, no opportunity to accept, decline, or correct an error, a non-compliant contract, or an unusable copy. The period stretches to 30 days if no copy was ever sent, and the contract can also be cancelled if the merchant fails to perform its main obligation within 30 days of the agreed date. A retailer’s return policy is a business courtesy, not a legal right.
A contract for services performed over time — lessons, personal training, dating services — can be terminated at any time, at the consumer’s discretion, using the form attached to the contract or another written notice, with termination taking effect as soon as it is sent (section 193 LPC). A separate set of rules governs health studios, meaning gyms (sections 197 and following, LPC), with strict limits on term length, advance payment, and the indemnity a gym can charge. A gym that refuses any cancellation before the end of a three-year membership is simply wrong.
Travel agencies fall under the Loi sur les agents de voyages, the Travel Agents Act: licence holders are overseen by the Office de la protection du consommateur, and the Travel Agents’ Customers Compensation Fund can reimburse services paid for but never received. There is no general cancellation period here: your rights depend on the contract and the package you bought.
Instalment sales: when the merchant wants the goods back
In an instalment sale, the merchant remains the owner of the goods until they are paid for in full and, on default, may exercise a right of repossession. This protection is little known: “Where, at the time the consumer defaults, he has paid at least one half of the sum of the total obligation and the cash down payment, the merchant may not exercise his right of repossession unless he obtains leave of the court” (section 142 LPC). A court can refuse repossession outright, and can even revise the payment terms.
Do the math before you fight it: if the vehicle is worth less than the balance owing, repossession may actually be your best outcome. And a repossession notice that doesn’t meet the legal requirements can be challenged too.
When no time limit applies: a defect in consent
Outside the situations set out in the LPC, a contract isn’t set aside because you regret it, but because consent to it was defective.
Consent can be vitiated by error — about the nature of the contract, its object, or an essential element that led you to contract —, by fraud (dol): a scheme, a lie, or a misleading silence that led you to contract, or to contract on different terms; by fear of serious injury; or by lesion (lésion), a serious imbalance between what each party gives and gets. One caveat: an inexcusable error — made by someone who simply didn’t bother reading the contract — does not vitiate consent. And lesion, outside the cases expressly provided for by law, vitiates consent only in favour of minors and of adults under tutorship (the Quebec regime for representing an adult found incapable of managing their own affairs) or a protection mandate (article 1405 C.c.Q.).
In consumer law, the door opens wider: a consumer can seek to have the contract annulled, or the obligations reduced, where the imbalance between what each side gives amounts to exploitation, or where the consumer’s own obligation is excessive, harsh, or unconscionable (section 8 LPC). Courts do not all agree on how much weight to give the objective side — the imbalance itself — versus the subjective side — whether the consumer was actually exploited.
The legal warranty, durability, and what Bill 29 added
Another way out — often the right one: the goods are defective. The LPC requires that goods “be fit for the purposes for which goods of that kind are ordinarily used” for a reasonable length of time, “having regard to their price, the terms of the contract and their conditions of use” (section 38). This legal warranty exists regardless of any paid extended warranty.
Bill 29 — the Loi protégeant les consommateurs contre l’obsolescence programmée et favorisant la durabilité, la réparabilité et l’entretien des biens, Quebec’s Act to protect consumers from planned obsolescence and to promote the durability, repairability and maintenance of goods, assented to on October 5, 2023 — has been strengthening this regime in stages: October 5, 2023, April 5, 2024, January 5, 2025, October 5, 2025, and October 5, 2026. Among other things, it prohibits goods built with planned obsolescence, guarantees the availability of replacement parts and repair services, bans techniques that interfere with repair, and adds a “lemon law” measure for seriously defective vehicles.
The most anticipated piece, the warranty of good working order — an automatic, free right to repair for goods like refrigerators, dishwashers, televisions, and heat pumps — has been in force since October 5, 2026. It covers new goods bought or leased from a merchant on or after that date, for a period set by regulation for each type of good (three to six years). An appliance bought before October 5, 2026 does not benefit from it, but remains covered by the legal warranty of durability under section 38. Check the date of your purchase.
Key takeaways
- There is no general cooling-off period: every cancellation right comes from a specific LPC provision.
- Itinerant-merchant contract: 10 days, up to one year if the merchant failed to meet its obligations.
- Loan of money or credit contract: two days; 10 days for high-cost credit.
- Online purchase: no automatic return right, except under section 54.8 LPC or where delivery is more than 30 days late.
- A contract for services performed over time covered by the LPC (courses, training, dating services) can be terminated at any time by written notice.
- With no time limit available, look at defects in consent, section 8 LPC, and the legal warranty of durability.
Further reading
- Abandoned Construction Site: Your Remedies When a Contract Is Not Honoured
- Buying Land You Can’t Build On: The Sale Is Cancelled, but Who Pays? Lessons on Error and Defective Consent
- The Importance of Keeping Your Word
- Consumer Protection Act — Légis Québec
- Civil Code of Québec — Légis Québec
- Obsolescence programmée, durabilité et réparabilité — Office de la protection du consommateur (in French)
- Consumer Protection — Éducaloi
This column is published for general legal information purposes and reflects the state of the law as at the date it was written. It does not constitute legal advice. Because every situation is unique, you should consult a lawyer for advice tailored to your own case. Feel free to contact Virtulex avocats to discuss your situation.
William Desrochers, Attorney, Virtulex avocats — www.virtulexavocats.com
